The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Lesley Silvester on February 08, 2012, 12:29:43 am
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I am doing a course to qualify me to teach learners with dyslexia and I'm really struggling with it. Yesterday I was tested and....... I'm dyslexic.
I've suspected it for some time but, despite having a Batchelors' degree, a Masters and a Post Gtaduate Certificate in Education, and struggling with all of them, no one has picked it up before.
At least I can understand where my learners are coming from.
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And you've written your book too so a great achievement. :)
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I suspect a lot of us are to a small degree. I put it down to us being so clever, our brains go faster than our pen ;D I know I have to read through everything twice, read and written and it often doesn't make sense then ::)
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This quallifies you for a job writing Welsh road signs.......
There are several specialist schools and a very good private school near Romsey in Hampshire called Stanbridge Earls, My wife used to teach there part time.
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Welcome to the club :wave:. As you teach pepole that are dyslexic you know there are lots of different degese of it. Your is ovicely a very miner case, don't worry about it, I've known lots of dyslexics right letters backwards and spell in a very odd way. As a dyslexic I have truble reading and if it's not spelt right I don't stand a chance (i'm my own warst enamy ;D) One of the bigest ways it afects me is my balence. I often veer off course like I've had half a shandy to meny ;D.
I've not used spell check hope you can read all this..
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my eldest daughter has dyslexia primary school we alerted the teachers that she could be dyslexic they rubbished the idea secondary school the same problem until one night on the news they were doing a feature on dyslexia one of the key words was to write kilsyth (i think that was it) and they showed you how a dyslexic would spell it asked daughter to write kilsyth down and she wrote it the dyslexic way informed the school and they immediately assisted with her school work and went on to college and assistance again
not so sure about veering to the left i always thought that was a sign of a stroke/heart attack minor one :farmer:
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Very interesting all. MGM do you think it is important to know - I am unsure wether to push for testing for son (aged 10) as the school say they dont get any extra help (so nothing changes potentially) but he does get a 'label' . Like me he does have many of the signs but can read fine (after a very late start). Good luck with your course, you are a very busy and talented lady!!
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its very important to get him tested. he will be at a disadvantage against the "normal" student. with out the assesment he will miss out on the extra support that there is. he will need extra support when it comes to exams and to be honest until i was assessed at college i alway felt like a failer.
of course it could be that you son is lucky and can function without any extra help but it could be he just needs minor changes to improve his learning. from coloured sheets to extra lession that teach coping stratages. without the assesment he will not get aqny help. im sure my fellow dyslexics will agree finding out why we are diffrent really takes a stress off you.
and the best person to teach dyslexics is a person who has an understanding of the condition so you go for it mad goatwoman you have done amazing you keep it up.
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it's a weird one, Dyslexia. My eldest is borderline but only according to the optometrist - it is an issue with the muscles in her eyes. My eldest stepson is - but only with our Roman derived script, he is absolutely perfect in reading and writing Tibetan and is now learning Arabic too. I felt when my daughter was in primary school that the tests are mildly put not adequate to diagnose according to all the different causes and degrees... :&>
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it was not until I left school that I was told about Dyslexia, (This was when in the Army Collage school had said I would only end up in the pit) they give me the advice of read lots and don't let people tell you, that you can not do anything. I had a career in the Army came out went to Uni and was CEO of a national charity- not bad for some one that the schools said was a bit thick (that's what they say in Yorkshire)
I would say if you feel your little ones have a problem get them reading anything and support them in anything they wish to do,
And remember the impossible we do today miracles take a little longer..
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worked beside a guy that the headmistress had told him you will be working on the streets
he did outside his former school he went in and said to her if you come outside you will see me working in the streets ;) :farmer:
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It just makes me cringe what horrid things some teachers say - why do they teach, if they don't like kids >:( (I'm a headteacher, and would discipline any of my staff I found out had said anything similar, cos it does such damage >:()
My Dad's dyslexic but very stubborn :D He reads at snail pace, but read he does, all the time and got himself an OU degree too :thumbsup:
Of course some things make life more difficult for certain kids. But if we make sure they know we believe in them, and that their value as people is not related to how easy they find academic stuff, and they can stay determined, I'm coming to the view that in the long-term that determination will see them get further in life than the ones who find it so easy they never fail, and then collapse at the first major hurdle.
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I love these posts. I would agree that getting tested is important. The trouble is that schools don't like doing it as it costs them money. I don't know about elsewhere but here children are only screened for the possibility not actually tested. My friend was worried about her son but the school kept saying nothing was wrong; he was just naughty. When I saw his work I said I thought he could be so she marched to the school and said, "My friend who is a teacher thinks he is." This time they took notice. Not only is he dyslexic, he has mild learning disabilities and a form of ADHD. He is severe enough for the parents to be able to get Disability Living Allowance for him.
I wanted to know because I was struggling to take in what I was reading and also to put down on paper what I wanted to say. Fiction is fine, mostly, but non-fiction is very hard, essays, etc. My younger son is dyslexic as are my neice and nephew and it does tend to run in families. Fortunately, I am not too badly affected. If I had more sense than to try taking even more courses (at the age of sixty) I wouldn't really have a problem. One thing that did come up is that I have developed my own coping mechanisms over the years. I'm glad I know as it explains a lot. I don't worry about any stigma. After all, Einstein was dyslexic so I'm in good company.
I lose my balance quite often as well (even when sober) but hadn't thought about a link with dyslexia.
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Dyslexia Rules, KO!!
All of us here are dyslexic to some degree. When my son started primary school he did well for about 6 months. He announced - proudly - that he could write his name. He did this with his right hand in block capitals. I asked him to do it again and he picked up the pencil in his left hand and wrote his name backwards in mirror writing!
After that, things went down hill fast. After 1 year of arguing with the local education authority, he came home from school with his legs black and blue where the other children had been kicking him round the playground. We complained to the school and the teacher said it was just typical children's play!
However, dyslexic children are different and often get bullied because of it.
So we were still arguing with the local council. But we heard of the Dyslexia Institute and my wife took him to their centre in Chelmsford where he was given a series of tests proving (to us anyway) that he was severely dyslexic and slightly dyspraxic. Even then the council wouldn't agree to a process called 'statementing' which was a formal assessment of a child's needs.
So, we paid for him to go to a special boarding school in Ramsgate (East Court School) where he became a weekly boarder for 2 years. The improvement was enormous.
Finally we had to hire a solicitor and a barrister to hold a tribunal with the council to consider the situation. This cost us about £2000 for one day but the council accepted the situation and the costs from then on of the special school and a subsequent more general one near Goudhurst in Kent (Bethany School) until he was 18. We didn't get back any of our costs prior to the tribunal.
So fight for your kids even if the odds seem against you and Good Luck!
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the secondery school that my children attend has a bulliing policy that the child that is bullied gets f***** out the school the teachers that run the school have never been bullied themselves so do not know what these children are going through children can be and are little shites towards each other devious manipualative little turds
the bullied has to suffer in silence or fight back then they are the one being disruptive the bullies always win :farmer:
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The presrcibed inabiltity for dislexics to write thir own thouhts and be understood only exists in the mind of people who can actually understand and want to make critisisms. So they actually understand in order to make a judgement.
Baz
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As a kid in the mid 1950's I was beaten black & blue across my legs arse abd back on several occasions by the headmaster of the country primary school for not reading or playing maths when told .. ( Hardly conducive education )
I didn't write or do any maths till I was turned ten.. the dicky nurse Nitty Nora the Nit Finder also used to do the school child development and hearing etsts etc.
I have a vivid memory or redletter on the rhs of the record card for me having FLK on it which I found in later years was short for Funny Little Kid..
I had a full tchnical apprenticeship and went on to getting HMD mech enginering but always had probs with maths and spellings.
At the age of 44 i was told I'm as dislexic as burberry .. I did wonder because once I had to order a small but expansive spare part for a Rolls Royce engine which had something like 24 digits or numbers in the part number .
Three months later I got dragged in to the bosses office , he took me outdside to show me what I had ordered as it was on a low loader .
I was taken off office side work from there on.
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It's horrific how children used to be treated in schools. At least teachers are3 more aware of dyslexia now.
I have a friend who,some years back, was going through sojme severe emotional problems. She used to write it down to show me as she found it difficult to put her feelings into words. It would take her many attempts before the letter was ready (I know because I dropped in one day while she was writing and saw all the screwed up paper on the floor). I suggested that she might be dyslexic so she paid for a test. the result was that she is severely dyslexic. She was highly delighted and kept saying, "So I'm not thick. there's a reason for it."
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MGM - can you recommend a place/way of get getting a test - Ive had a look on the web, but lots of sites seem to be selling something (other than a test). I would really rather get an indication first before I go to the school as I dont think they will take me seriously and I think they will think it's me looking for excuses for what they are reporting to me (that he doesnt 'try' hard enough - he is having a tough time learning welsh and I think its making everything else worse) I want to get some evidence and then go to them to work out a plan. Thank you, Fi
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To get a private test will cost money.
The educational psychologist who covers your school should be able to test.
Learning Welsh will indeed be making things more difficult!
Keep in mind the possibility that he may not be trying hard enough. And sadly, if he does prove dyslexic, he will have to try harder than kids who are not. Although aware teachers can help, they can't do anything that will make it as easy for him as for kids who don't struggle with literacy however much the websites will tell you otherwise.
You yourself can find out if he prefers 'input' as visual, auditory or kinaesthetic. Many kids who struggle at school are kinaesthetic learners, who need to learn by doing. Of course humans evolved to do this, but classrooms are not good places for such folk and most teachers, who did well in the system by definition, are visual or auditory learners- and as you learn best, so you teach.
But if you know you can teach him ways to learn that suit him better.
I would go back to the school and push for him to be seen by the Ed Psych.
Here is a kid-friendly VAK test: http://brainboxx.co.uk/a3_aspects/pages/VAK_quest.htm (http://brainboxx.co.uk/a3_aspects/pages/VAK_quest.htm)
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Many thanks JayKay. I KNOW he isnt trying as hard as he could - I think he has allready disengaged to a large extent (especially with maths) and goes in with a 'I just cant do it' attitude which breaks my heart. I think if my suspicions are true then a positive ID might give him some of that 'so thats it - I'm not thick/slow/clumsey' feeling that others have described above, and give the school something to work with. Ive got him pegged as a Visual/Kinasthetic learner. Stuff rarely makes sense to him auraly. Many thanks I will talk to the school when I go back.
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I too am a visual/kinaesthetic learner :) And it's possible to actually prevent me learning by talking to me, it's like I've got bees buzzing in my head after a while. At 48, I am able to stick my fingers in my ears if someone is talking to the point that they're preventing me 'getting it' but of course a child can't do that without getting into trouble.
So your boy needs to do stuff as much as possible and then see diagrams and flow charts of stuff he has to learn. I can't learn languages just by hearing them - I have to see what the words look like to 'fix' them in my brain. Maths is relatively easy to make visual, if you've got a creative teacher or if you're ok with Maths.
I wish you every bit of luck - that ' I can't do it, I've lost hope' is such a waste. If I can help I will, please come back and ask.
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oh, MGWM, forgot to tell you ... asked around @ work & my mate is going to ask the external dyslexia specialist (one left last and summer & not replaced) to recommend books etc for you.
The VAK test should be compulsory for everybody!
and dyslexia testing...
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I too am a visual/kinaesthetic learner :) And it's possible to actually prevent me learning by talking to me, it's like I've got bees buzzing in my head after a while. At 48, I am able to stick my fingers in my ears if someone is talking to the point that they're preventing me 'getting it' but of course a child can't do that without getting into trouble.
;D Me too!! If someone tries to tell me directions, I start feeling so frustrated I would love to put my fingers in my ears. I might try it next time when someone carries on after I have repeatedly asked them to stop so I can write it down (draw a map!!)
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Oh, directions :D If I remember two steps I'm doing well ::) Yes, drawing it is what works.
See, we've learned ways to learn that suit us - and that lad of yours will too, with a bit of help from his friends :)
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MGM - can you recommend a place/way of get getting a test - Ive had a look on the web, but lots of sites seem to be selling something (other than a test). I would really rather get an indication first before I go to the school as I dont think they will take me seriously and I think they will think it's me looking for excuses for what they are reporting to me (that he doesnt 'try' hard enough - he is having a tough time learning welsh and I think its making everything else worse) I want to get some evidence and then go to them to work out a plan. Thank you, Fi
Try www.bdadyslexia.org.uk (http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk) for info. They are the official site and there's a lot on there. Hope you get your lad sorted. I have a nephew who just gave up when he was diagnosed but others see it as a positive thing.
oh, MGWM, forgot to tell you ... asked around @ work & my mate is going to ask the external dyslexia specialist (one left last and summer & not replaced) to recommend books etc for you.
The VAK test should be compulsory for everybody!
and dyslexia testing...
Thank you.
I too am more visual and kinaesthetic. the assessment I had showed that my biggest problem is with my visual memory. Have to look to see which hand has a ring on to know which is left. Can't remember instructions, phone numbers, etc. My reading and spelling are good despite the terrible typos. ;D
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Try www.bdadyslexia.org.uk (http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk) for info. They are the official site and there's a lot on there. Hope you get your lad sorted. I have a nephew who just gave up when he was diagnosed but others see it as a positive thing.
Thanks for the link. Your nephews story is sad and is exactly my worry about getting tested - its a gamble whether the knowledge and actions of others (teachers and fellow pupils) will help or not. I will talk to the school some more though. Thanks all and good luck
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Try www.bdadyslexia.org.uk (http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk) for info. They are the official site and there's a lot on there. Hope you get your lad sorted. I have a nephew who just gave up when he was diagnosed but others see it as a positive thing.
Thanks for the link. Your nephews story is sad and is exactly my worry about getting tested - its a gamble whether the knowledge and actions of others (teachers and fellow pupils) will help or not. I will talk to the school some more though. Thanks all and good luck
To be honest my nephew just used it as an excuse. He just didn't want to bother. Let us know how you get on but do push the school. They have to do something.