Dyslexia: a difference that reflects diversity and what a fab reflection being dyslexic is

https://www.gofundme.com/DyslexiaPathwaysCIC

 

I am dyslexic. I don't have dyslexia. I don't suffer with dyslexia. I don't hate being dyslexic. I am not a person with dyslexia.

Once I was assessed I began my own journey of understanding  of what being dyslexic means and the many positives that came with being dyslexic.

That's why a dyslexia assessment is so crucial because without one how can we as dyslexics understand who we are. Begin to understand that being dyslexic is fab. Stop ourselves from becoming negative self fulfilling prophecies.

Being dyslexic has many many positives: Strong emotional intelligence, fab creativity, big picture thinking, empathy and so much more. Hey give me more positives comment please.... 

Ok reading is a pain but it does not stop me reading.

My spelling can be a trifle bazar but it does not stop me spelling or writing.

My memory eeep my memory can be a trifle emmmm what was I going to say? forgetful.

Don't ask me about remembering names hmmmmm wassyour name again?  Lol I was on a date once and for the life of me I couldn't recall what her name was the whole night sigh.

I would say the way the social moel of dyslexia defines being dyslexic is positive. I own the label and it does not own me. Its our model and not a model that has been imposed on us by a non dyslexic society.

I see the world through a dyslexic prism and very happy in my dyslexic skin. But I am far from happy by the way society defines dyslexia.

It is my view that society has a very one dimensional view of dyslexia and dyslexics. One that does tend to focus negatives.

Comparing dyslexics to non dyslexics is a bit like comparing a cow to a kangaroo. You ask a kangaroo to jump and it will jump. You ask a cow to jump and it quite simply cant. Then you label the cow disabled, you diagnose it you send it for remission jumping lessons and so on lol. Ok daft example lol but you get my drift lol. 

Dyslexia: a difference that reflects diversity. It is society that disables us.

Then I would say that not being dyslexic has its own negative aspects. I would not want to be not dyslexic, if that makes any sense. We as dyslexics need to define dyslexia for ourselves not let a society that lacks any real understanding about being dyslexic define dyslexia for us.

I bang on about the medical / deficit model of dyslexia and how negative it is. All the medical / deficit model tells us is we are ill in some way. That we need to be cured.

There is far too much focus on remediation on trying to make us into a non dyslexic image that we will never achieve, and I would never want to achieve because being dyslexic is fab. Not enough focus on enabling us to develop our strengths as a whole person so that we can embrace our dyslexia and succeed because of it.

Unless we break away the medical model of dyslexia many of us will keep on becoming negative self fulfilling prophecies and keep on being marginalised by wider society.

Anyway that's enough of me rattling on

PS

To coin a phrase I don't want to build a wall I want to make a brick to build a strong and positive global dyslexic community that can forge a new positive social model of dyslexia future for dyslexics everywhere. That’s the idea behind our little crowd funding. To start making a brick that will enable us to come together to build a dyslexic community.

 

Enable us to build our brick donate to our crowd funding today. Start making your own bricks and we can build a better positive future for all dyslexics together.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/DyslexiaPathwaysCIC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what does being dyslexic mean for you? crowd funding news too

Hi blog readers hope you are feeling fab

Being dyslexic is like being punched on the nose by the invisible man, we can feel the effects we can see the results of the punch but we don't know where it came from. There has been so much research into the causes of dyslexia and so little progress. We still cannot agree on any definition for dyslexia, we have a myriad of theories but little solid evidence on why people are dyslexic.

A dyslexic student will come for support and I am presented with someone who has lived a lifetime as a dyslexic. We work together to develop stratagies that will enable them to become more effective and efficient learners. Moreover, we can then explore how being dyslexic may have impacted their learning in school, on their confidence and self esteem and hopefuly enable them to become more comfortable and confident in their dyslexic skin.

We all need to be able to feel comfortable and confident in our dyslexic skin.

What does being dyslexic mean to you?

For me I think, make decisions and see the world through a dyslexic prism. For me being dyslexic is fabtastic

Crowdfunding news

What do you guys think of my dyslexia positive tee shirt designs? Please leave feed back. Let me know if you would buy one of the new tees I have designed?

We have started a new dyslexia positive crowd funding campaign. Just click on the link to visit our page. please consider donating or copy the link above and share it with your contacts. Many thanks

To share just copy and paste the link into your social media.

https://www.gofundme.com/DyslexiaPathwaysCIC

Below are some of the designs we want to put onto tee shirts with funding raised from this crowd funding.

We could possibly run a dyslexia tee shirt design competition as well.

Many thanks for reading and your feedback

An interview I did for Nuword a new dyslexia organisation with a positive focus

One of our new dyslexia positive tee shirt logo designs

Hi blog readers hope you are all feeling fab

Fab to see a new dyslexia organisation talking the negative stereotypes that surround dyslexia.

‘I strongly believe that the time is right to

look at dyslexia in a more positive way –

that it is not a disability, but a strength.’

– Sally Gardner

Multi-award winning, dyslexic children’s

author Sally Gardner is launching a pioneering new website

for dyslexic thinkers that aims to radically change the

discourse surrounding dyslexia and increase understanding of

the strengths of the dyslexic mind.




NUWORD logo

What do you think defines dyslexia? Can you tell us about some of the strengths?

I would say it’s a difference that reflects human diversity. If we look at nature and humanity, nature thrives because of diversity–it would be boring if there were only one kind of tree, one kind of animal etc. 

To say that there’s only one way the brain works is preposterous. Just go back to primordial times and look at how we’ve developed–the amount of diversity and the amount of difference that makes what we are today. There is a way that the dyslexia mind works that links us as a group. 

There are a lot of strengths–we see in three dimensions (there are a lot of good dyslexic architects), we’re good oral communicators, creativity is a strength talked about a lot. We have a smorgasbord of positive things that link to dyslexia–lateral thinking, entrepreneurial ability, problem solving–35 % of entrepreneurs are dyslexic.

Can you briefly explain the social model vs. the medical model please?

The medical model is imposed upon us, with that comes terms and labeling. It sees dyslexia as an impairment and this becomes the only focus. But I make sense of the world through a dyslexic prism; it’s so much more than one thing. 

The medical model talks about remediation and takes kids out of classes. Kids get isolated – often remediated during playtime, with more work at home. They get a lot of text-based homework. It erodes self-confidence and self-esteem and can lead to long-term mental health issues.

The social model has been developed as an extension of the social model of disability. Rather than saying the child is faulty, the child is valued. Barriers are identified and solutions are developed. 

The social model says society disables us. This starts with school being a dyslexia unfriendly place, with teaching that doesn’t understand dyslexia. Lots of parents have individual battles with the school trying to get the human right of equal education for their children. 

I got bored at school. I walked away from school at 14 – because I didn’t feel that I had any academic ability at all. We need schools to welcome and nurture diversity, where the child is included. 

Training for teachers is of paramount import. Teachers must be able to provide learning opportunities for dyslexic/all children. If we don’t have inclusion in our schools how are we going to have inclusion in society? How will non-dyslexics understand what it means if we continue to segregate and isolate?

What do you think needs to change in order to better understand dyslexia today?

I feel that medical model thinking is confused thinking–there are so many messages out there that are conflicting–it’s a tsunami of negative information. Many dyslexics take on that negative interpretation because that’s what they see. 

I put together a project called ‘Unique Dyslexic’, with my Dyslexia Pathways CIC team. We took the project out to dyslexics in Fife and got them together through creative activities. All had had negative experiences at school. One of the biggest barriers is that we believe we can’t read or write or spell. I think it’s that school hasn’t given us the right tools or the right teaching to enable us to access the written word. 

Reading from a book is just a strategy; you can have audio books or text to speech. There is still so much information that focuses on the negative that’s never been challenged. The social model has a simple message about diversity and difference, it can empower the dyslexic to overcome societal barriers. 

The social model is cohesive, the medical model is divisive. So instead of individual parents tackling a school, we can have groups of parents tackling a school. When we talk about the medical model, many teachers just think that they should lower their expectations for dyslexics – because they don’t have the tools to embrace neurodiversity. 

Dyslexics become segregated and isolated through to their adult life. In the ‘Unique’ project we had people who had never talked to another dyslexic, who had taken on the medical model and struggled with self-confidence. 

One of the biggest things that came from the Unique project was that people were talking about their dyslexia and sharing their stories. We have a strong empathy and emotional intelligence–by getting people together we’re starting to end the segregation.

Why is building a community so important?

A community with a shared identity is so important. We don’t have that at the moment. If there was a cohesive dyslexic community we

could have a dyslexic culture (read Dr. Ross Cooper). I looked at building an online community and it worked to an extent–but what we need is a tangible community where people can meet face to face and have discussions. 

One of the issues is that the big dyslexic organisations have become businesses–they’re pulled in lots of different directions. I became a social enterprise and we do have to charge a small amount for our work, but we strive to do it as low cost as possible. 

Funders want you to be income-based rather than trying to get funding. They expect you to show them money. Before, you could get funding with no strings attached, but now there’s a fight for funding with lots of strings attached.

What advice would you give an adult or child struggling with dyslexia?

For a child, school can be a horrible place. But that experience doesn’t necessarily stop you from going on to have a career in what you want. When I left school I would have said I was least likely to become academic. 

When I was assessed at 35 and began to understand what being dyslexic means for me, I was able to go on and become academic. I talked to a lot of dyslexic entrepreneurs who didn’t go along the academic route, but did well because of their way their mind works–laterally rather than logically. I think we need dyslexic mentors from universities and business for young people. It would be a way to show that dyslexia is not a life sentence in a negative way, meaning unable to attain, unable to read, unable to write.

For adults, from the survey I did, around 65% said they were positive about being dyslexic. When asked them about how society viewed dyslexia over 80% felt society viewed dyslexia as a negative. We need real life community meetings to raise awareness, to offer support, to give ourselves a louder voice. 

Online is not enough. We want open first dyslexia hub here in Fife. It’s difficult as we’re such a small organization, with little funding. The only money coming in is what I earn. Hopefully in Fife we will put together a steering committee. We were the first dyslexia-focused social enterprise in the world. In a recent Erasmus European paper Dyslexia Pathways CIC were seen as leading the way for social inclusion.

We here at Dyslexia Pathways CIC are looking for 

people to help us in or goal of opening a dyslexia

hub. We need funding, people with experience of

setting up and running a community project, people

who share our social model of dyslexia vision

We see dyslexia as a difference that reflects diversity and not a disability.

What do you think the future looks like for dyslexic thinkers?

If we can move on and challenge the medical model and grow a dyslexic community, where we can challenge and ask our politicians to do more and we can affect change better together. 

At the moment we have to wear the dyslexic label and the disabled label, but dyslexia doesn’t disable me. We believe that social enterprise together with the social model of dyslexia offers dyslexics with a new and innovative way forward. A way forward that is positive, inclusive and values diversity and dyslexic strengths.

What are your thought on the questions asked and my responses? Please leave your comments here.

ta for reading

regards

Steve

PS many thanks to Concept Northern for their offer of support and help with our new tee shirt designs. 



Is having a good cursive style of handwriting still relevent today?

Good day to everyone hope you are all well and ready for the week end.


I have been talking to and reading on social media about other dyslexics experiences and parents of dyslexics with hand writing. I have to say some of what I hear and read it seems like a nightmare for many of us.

So I was wondering about anyone else's experiences with hand writing and being given hand writing practise at school? 

Please leave me your thought and comments.

I know all the arguments for handwriting and hand writing remediation including developing fine motor control, learning spelling from motor memory etc.

But what about speech to text or even just the lowly computer keyboard is having good handwriting as important as it once was?

Isn't the content of the writing the important thing not how it was written either by hand or speech to text or just by keyboard?

Speech to text software and assistive tech. I personally don't get on with it because it gets in the way of my train of thought. But it can and does work for many other dyslexics. I have never been able to writing using a cursive style.

I believe handwriting will become like a lost art maybe 30 years from now. I read somewhere that emojs are the way forward for communication. Business will lead here because speech to text is so much more efficient than typing by hand.

The computer keyboard freed me from that particular little handwriting nightmare. I left school with no qualifications mainly because of my hand writing. Now with a computer keyboard I have my masters degree, I am a dyslexia and inclusion specialist etc.

The expectation that everyone should be able to write using cursive and neatly is disabling. It is a non dyslexic world expectation and its disabling. My job as a dyslexia and inclusion specialist is about enabling, finding ways that enable dyslexics to succeed. If I can do that then I have succeeded.

Dyslexia is a difference that reflects diversity. We must enable the diversity to achieve, to thrive and to learn not shackle it to non dyslexic expectations such as we must write by hand using cursive.

many thanks for taking the time to read my blog.......if you think it has something to say please share it.

peace love and groovyness to all

Steve McCue

What should we be doing more of to meet the needs of our kids in school?

Hi blog readers

What should we be doing more of, or less of or keeping the same to improve our kids experiences in education? Here are a couple of mine. What are yours?

More = inclusion and training inclusion for all teachers. Not only dyslexia but disability and neuro diversit also.
More = time for teachers to develop inclusive learning opportunities to meet the learning needs of all kids in the classroom.

Less of = standardised testing it does not work only provides statistics for league tables.
Less of = the quagmire of paperwork many teacher face on a daily basis. Children's need before paperwork.

Is there anything that should remain the same? I cannot think of anything for this. Can you?

Thanks for reading much appreciated

I see, make sense of, feel, understand, think as a dyslexic. how fab is that? for me its fabtastic

Many dyslexic kids go through so much stress and anxiety at school having time for play is that much more important

Hello there blog readers hope you are all feeling fab

#iamdyslexic😎 I see, make sense of, feel, understand, think as a dyslexic. If I were a stick of rock it would have dyslexia written all through it. I see through a dyslexic prism and don't want to be cured.

Nature and humanity thrives because of diversity. Just think of all the fab accomplishments of dyslexics throughout history. #dyslexia is a difference that reflects #diversity rocks What would be lost to all of us if there were such a thing as a cure for dyslexia or diversity?

For me personally it would not be a cure it would be an amputation.

What are your thought on this?

Positive or negative?

In some research we did at Dyslexia Pathways CIC we found that 67% of dyslexics were positive about being dyslexic. However, 82% felt that society saw being dyslexic as a negative.

Do you think society views being dyslexic or neuro diverse in a negative way?


What are your thoughts on this?

Below are a couple links to our web sites and one of our Facebook pages:

http://www.uniquedyslexic.com/ 

http://www.dyslexiapathways.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Unique-Dyslexic-1431413910440768/



Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog peace love and groovyness to you all.

PS:

My dyslexia blog has nearly had 200.000 reads. Please share, share, share and share my #dyslexia blog

#iamdyslexic😎 And that's fab, who wants to be a mundain neuro typical anyway? Not me

Hellay hellay and thrice hellay blog readers hope you are all well
Some time ago I read a statement that said dyslexia does not define us.

What do you think? Please comment

I would totally disagree. Now there is a surprise lol. I am not ashamed to be dyslexic. I don't suffer with dyslexia Yes it has been somewhat of a pain in the past but that was before I was assessed.

I am dyslexic, I don't have dyslexia, I don't suffer with dyslexia. I don't hate being dyslexic. 

Once I was assessed I began my own journey of understanding  of what being dyslexic means and the many positives that came with being dyslexic.

Strong emotional intelligence, fab creativity, big picture thinking, empathy and so much more. Hey give me more positives comment please.... 

Ok reading is a pain but it does not stop me reading. My spelling can be a trifle bazar but it does not stop me spelling or writing. My memory eeep my memory can be a trifle forgetful and don't ask me about remembering names hmmmmm wassyour name again?  Lol I was on a date once and for the life of me I couldn't recall what her name was the whole night sigh.

I would say the way I define being dyslexic is positive. I own the label and it does not own me. I see the world through a dyslexic prism and very happy in my dyslexic skin. But I am far from happy by the was society defines dyslexia.

It is my view that society has a very one dimensional view of dyslexia and dyslexics. One that does tend to focus negatives.

Comparing dyslexics to non dyslexics is a bit like comparing a cow to a kangaroo. You ask a kangaroo to jump and it will jump. You ask a cow to jump and it cant. Then you label the cow disabled, you diagnose it you send it to remission jumping lessons and so on lol. Ok daft example lol but you get my drift lol. 

Then I would say then not being dyslexic has its own negative aspects. I would not want to be not dyslexic, if that makes any sense. We as dyslexics need to define dyslexia for ourselves not let a society that lacks any real understanding about being dyslexic define dyslexia for us.

I bang on about the medical / deficit model of dyslexia and how negative it is. All the medical / deficit model tells us is we are ill in someway. That we need to be cured.

There is far to much focus on remediation on trying to make us into a non dyslexic image that we will never achieve Not enough focus on enabling us to develop our strengths so that we can embrace our dyslexia and succeed because of it.

Unless we break away the medical model of dyslexia many of us will keep on becoming negative self fulfilling prophecies and keep on being marginalised by wider society.

Anyway that's enough of me rattling on

PS

To coin a phrase I don't want to build a wall I want to make a brick to built a strong and positive global dyslexic community that can forge a new positive social model future for dyslexics everywhere.