Why mulit sensory?

When I am working with my dyslexic uni students I often say that in school we are taught in off the peg , or size fits all strategies.

So for a dyslexic kid in school the teaching strategies used do not feel comfortable, they do not fit and they do not feel right and most importantly they do not work for them or their dyslexia.

What dyslexics need are a set of made to measure or tailor made strategies that work well for them, that fit well with them and are comfortable to use and enable them to work with their dyslexia instead of against it.

That's why we need to have more multi sensory teaching going on is school. Its not only dyslexic kids that would benefit from this but all kids.

They want a PAY RISE!

All our national politicians from the three main parties, Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems would have us believe that it is disabled people, low paid workers, the unemployed and old people having the temerity to live longer who are to blame for the economic woes of this country.

 

However, who is it who decides economic policies? Who is it who makes the laws of this country? Who decides what is ta...ught and how our children are educated? Who is it who manages this country? Who was it who deregulated the banks? Hmmmm yes you got it in one it is the same politicians who play the blame game at easy targets.

 

The only thing that 99% of our politicians do well is lie through their teeth at every opportunity. Who is paying the price for the bad management and decisions of our politicians? Well it certainly is not our politicians.

 

Now our politicians want to award themselves a massive pay rise. I wonder if our politicians were paid using performance related criteria how much they would actually be worth?

How far has dyslexia come since the 1970s?

Paul Ross asked the question in his blog. How far has dyslexia come since the 1970s. This was my response. What would yours be?

We still do not have an agreed single definition for dyslexia. There is to much focus on the medical model, our dyslexic brain is broken, we need to be cured and remediated deficit model of dyslexia. Still to many dyslexic kids are being let down by an education system that fails to teach them In ways they can access the learning that takes place in schools. There are still too many dyslexics in our prisons because they have been failed by the education system. There is still to much misinformation and too many incorrect myths surrounding dyslexia. In most schools all dyslexics kids learn to be are failures.

I am dyslexic and a dyslexia specialist.....I believe that dyslexia is not a disability that it is a difference and that it is society that disables us. I believe in the social model of dyslexia. Dyslexia is a result of our evolution and as such reflects human diversity. Thus dyslexia is a difference not a disability. That all kids in school have the right to be learn and achieve according to their potential. This disabling begins in school where we are not taught in ways we can access the learning effectively. Of course there are some great dyslexia friendly schools, colleges and universities out there but they are far and few between.
 
Yes we have accessible technology that some dyslexics can use to enable them to overcome literacy barriers. But they are not a panacea and do not work for everyone. More to the point the high cost of this software makes it inaccessible in terms of cost for many dyslexics.
 
Yes dyslexia has a little higher profile now but in the main its a quite negative profile that focusses on what we do struggle to do. But we are just like everyone else out there in the non dyslexic world. We do struggle with some things but we can excel in others. Dyslexia is a difference not a disability and its a difference that needs to be embraced, nurtured and encouraged from day one in school.

My biggest frustration with a non dyslexic word

There is no doubt I find the process of writing a long and laborious one. Its not that I cannot do it and do it well. It just takes me a longer time to do. I have written successful funding bids for large projects, business plans, dissertations, creative writing and developed new education courses and write to a post grad level etc.  The one part of the writing process I find most frustrating is proof reading. It does not matter how many times I do it, which strategy I use or how long I do it for there will always be things I will miss.  This is because I am a visual dyslexic. So whenever I do write I tend to ask someone I trust to help me with the proof reading and in the end the writing gets done. But that is not always possible to do.

Some of you might ask me why not use speech to text software to assist me with writing? But I find this gets in the way of my writing and with expressing my ideas. Of course software such as Office have spell checkers which can help at times. But this again interferes with expressing myself on paper.  They also can miss out on words that are homophones. Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spelt differently. Not so long ago I wrote arraigned instead of arranged. The spell checker did not pick this up and neither did I because of the visual dyslexia.

Whenever, I write to my blog or social media I do not have time to spend proof reading and proof reading. Nor is there anyone else to proof read it for me. Hence some of the errors that can be seen in my blogs. But I am not going to let that fact stop me from expressing myself in writing.

Now we are getting to one of my biggest frustrations with the non-dyslexic word. Some in the non-dyslexic world will just look at the errors in my writing and  contact me to criticise me for a spelling mistake, or to let me know that my grammar is not quite correct etc. They will not mention anything about what I have written, or to argue for or against what I have written. They will only concentrate on the errors they have found. They will try to remediate me like I am a child in school and they are the teacher lol. Ok you could say they are just trying to be helpful but it misses the point. I will not let their criticisms stop me from writing.

Many dyslexic children in schools in countries all over the world still go through school without being assessed, or have been assessed and get little or no support from the school. They get will be constantly criticised for mistakes in their spelling, and for difficulties with their reading etc. All they learn in school is they are failures. In the end many dyslexic kids give up writing, stop reading for pleasure and stop give up on school.

However, its not they cannot read, or write or learn. Rather it is they are not taught in ways that enable them to do these tasks effectively. They are not taught using accessible learning materials and practises or by teachers who have been trained to teach dyslexic kids in their classes.  It does not cost a fortune to do this. Sometimes all it can take is changing the background colour of the computer screen or changing to a dyslexia friendly font. 

Every child, dyslexic, non dyslexic, disabled etc has a right to an education that will enable them to achieve according to their abilities. Unfortunately for too many dyslexic kids this still does not happen.

That is my biggest frustration with the non dyslexic world

Unique Dyslexic project update

Had a very interesting meeting with an artist yesterday called Terry Adams. He believes he is dyslexic and has a dyslexic daughter. He has done some very interesting work around dyslexia and imagery.

Here is a link to his web site:

http://tadams.org/dyslexia-and-dyscalculia-2/

I have written to our local Fife MSP Tricia Marwick to see if I garner her support for the project and  also to Inclusion Scotland for inclusion in their next internet bulletin.

Progress with Unique Dyslexic project

One of the reasons I have developed this new, Unique Dyslexic is to promote a more positive profile of dyslexia. One that does not focus on a discrepancy model of dyslexia. A model that tells us dyslexia is a disability, that we dyslexics have something wrong with us that needs to be remediated and cured.

Unique Dyslexic wants to promote a more social model of dyslexia. A model that says it is society that disables us not dyslexia. A model that focusses on what we can do and on enabling dyslexics to break down barriers and achieve according to their potential.

I have just finished putting together a small funding bid for a digital camcorder, an I pad and laser printer and other equipment for our exciting new, "Unique Dyslexic", project.

If we can win the funding I want to document the whole project from beginning to end on film. I want the film to show people in the dyslexic and non-dyslexic world what we, as dyslexics, are capable of doing and thus promoting a more what we can do positive profile of dyslexia. This film will show the highs and the lows of this project wart and all and I hope will promote a more positive profile of dyslexia.