Reddit mentions of Crystal Children and Teacher Supply Guided Reading Strips Asst. Set of 7 (Colored Overlays)

They are several programs and apps that can help with spelling. I didn't have the luxury of using them but I am sure someone here can suggest some.

I learned how to write in cursive and how to use a calligraphy pen. It helped me write neater and kept me from writting down the page. It takes some time and practice and isn't for everyone.

You already mentioned overlays. I use these to help keep me from dropping or skipping lines when I read.

Color printer paper if you need to print something out for him to read. My color is goldenrod.

Another thing you may want to look at in the future is a text to speech app. I use dragon but it cost alot and they are some free or less expensive out there. This is because he could hear or see a word many times but not correlate it as the same word.

The last thing is a calendar and a note pad. Even though people know we have reading problems, we also have problems with memory. Having someway of keeping track when something is going to happen or due helps alot. He can use the note pad to just write down anything he needed to remember like meeting with friends or doing homework. Teach him this early and it will become 2nd nature.

As a follow-up. The theory of different colors for reading has pretty much been debunked, but he may be able to focus better on different colors. Here is a pack from Amazon that has clear and different colors.

There are the usual's, set up a place to study, reduce distraction, yadda yadda, and that helps to a degree, but for me, I can't just have one place to study, sometimes my usual place just bugs the crap out of me, so have a few places you can study, like in your room, at the table, at maybe at the library or something similar, I used to love going to my local bookstore/coffee shop until the hipster crowd decided it was "in" and now it's crowded all the time (good for the store owners, not so much for me).

Next, take stock of the things that distract you. For me it's sounds more than anything, so I use the headphones and grey noise to mitigate that. Plus using the headphones habitually helps to train my brain that when their on, it's time to focus. There are also acoustic soundtracks on youtube and spotify that are designed for study sessions, give them a listen, you may find they help you focus better.

My biggest problem, and a huge reason that studying felt like smashing my head on a brick wall, is because I have issues with visual processing. Things that feel visually cluttered, too compact, or otherwise "off" will make it nearly impossible for me to register what I'm trying to read. This means I can read something a million times and it's just not going to sink in if it's not formatted properly. So, when you can, get your books in e-format and adjust the size of the font, this reduces the visual noise that comes with small font. Also download a blue light filter like lightbulb, and put on an antiglare screen protector to reduce eye strain. Some e-books/e-readers also have an audio option where you can listen to the text as you read along and this can really help a lot.

When e-books and audio books are not an option, try using a reading guide like this one, this one, or made out of a piece of paper with a slot cut in it to help you focus on just one line at a time. If your problem is visual clutter you'll notice a difference in a hurry using these methods.

On top of these methods, when you are reading/studying, take one paragraph at a time, read it, then write a single sentence that summarizes the paragraph. It doesn't have to be anything spectacular, it can be as simple as "birds dance and sing to attract mates" to summarize a paragraph describing the mating ritual of the peafowl. This forces you to break up large amounts of information into bits small enough to process easily. Then when you go back over your notes you're more likely to recall some of the finer details from the chapter, even if you didn't specifically write them down.

Most importantly, be patient with yourself. You know you are smart, your brain just processes differently so you have to find what works best for you. Once you do, you'll do a lot better and things will start to fall into place for you. But the journey to get there can be hard and very disheartening, so don't give up.

This is a good idea! They sell transparent ruler-type things (example) to be held over the page and moved downward as you read that can be really helpful for this, too. They're usually recommended for people with dyslexia or other eye/attention issues but are pretty awesome across the board (bonus - they make convenient bookmarks!).