[Sandy]

I currently run a B&B and have been looking at how to best use the talents and skills I have and also utilise the house and its facilities.
With the current climate of  cuts, I can foresee a lot of people will face extra pressures if they have difficulty with things such as application forms and interviews and with educational cuts, I also wonder how many children with undiagnosed Dyslexia will suffer by not having their  educational needs met, so possibly becoming withdrawn,  ill, or the class clown.
I have a wide and varied background in all forms of Social care, from Nursery, Child development, Youth Work, Family support work and working with the elderly, with special educational needs, disability, homeless, mental  health, offenders , and with people who misuses  Drugs, Substances and or Alcohol becomes problematic, also with people whose first language is not English.
 The settings I have worked in are equally varied and range from private homes, nurseries, Special Schools, Outreach services, Main stream Schools, Hostels, Drug Services, Day Centres, Family homes, children’s homes and residential care of adults and the elderly. I often was required to work with people on probation or as a part of their rehabilitation; so, I consider I have built up a considerable amount of knowledge as to how something like Dyslexia can have a major effect on the paths a person’s life follows.
With the background, my open , calm and friendly approach, I hope to help people initially enable people to show others that they are not “thick” for want of a better word, by providing them with a recognised diagnostic test , they then can either leave it at that or take further action and continue on a tailor made programme to help them develop their reading and writing abilities, this can be done from most levels, for non-readers up to poor spellers (like me)
I will say more about the programme when I am ready to roll, that should be very soon. I can, if required take the service to other venues, such as clubs, schools or private homes if necessary, however,  as this house is already easily assessable it will be a good base. If anyone wants  to talk further about this, or give me some advice, either send a personal message or continue this thread. I am so looking forward to working with people who should be able to benefit from the programme.

Nothing dodgy, I have been regularly Police checked, Disclosure Scotland and have only a speeding fine from 1994 doing 36 in a 34 in a 30 mile zone, I was mortified as I came off a straight main road, going 40 in my 1074 VW with the back full of plants in pots, saw the 30 mile sign and slowly was slowing down when the pots started tipping over, a few yards more and I would have been under 30 but that light flashed and that is my criminal record!!!!  Plus, I am fun and a kind person!!!

[JulieS]

What a fantastic idea Sandy.  Good luck with it, I'm sure there will be lots of people interested. 

[faith0504]

good luck with it, wish you all the very best 

[cmorrell]

I would be interested in hearing more Sandy. I don't have MS Publisher installed, so can't view the attachements you've added at present.

[shetlandpaul]

good luck.
you of course know that the education dept won't recognize you dyslexia asessment. they only except there own ed pyschs report. our daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysplaxia. she was seen by a specialist consultant, physio, speech and play therapy. they all agreed that she had special ed needs. the school pych was a complete joke. he refused to statement her but at the same time said she would never get an exam. thanks to some excellent teachers and hard work she has done quite well. scoring credits in standard grade.

[Sandy]

I have bought a franchise into  a company and will be the sole provider of support etc for this area, I have seen a trial of the programme and its good, from the first stage of stickers on the key board and copying the word patterns on the screen to quite difficult spelling practice which can be done over and over again so that the pattern of the letters etc are learnt and retained, I know I often will spell something wrong and can never remember the way the word should be spelt, even when its corrected for me, yet, I do remember learning certain things, like my address, by constantly repeating and writing down the letters and making up a rhythm. I noticed that my partner was having great difficulty understanding application forms and he has a degree. Things like the background colour and letter sizes also have an impact, I remember someone telling me if the letters were too big he could only see the letters as separate rather than seeing the whole word. I need to work out costings as if I post something on here thats wrong I shall have problems but, my daughter wants her son who is 10 tested as he also has problems with numbers, he jumbles them up and the School know but they are currently "watching" him, but I think teachers have a lot on their plates so to get a child statement ed by an Educational Psychologist is even more difficult!  My husband was lucky as his parents recognised the difficulties he faced at an early age so he did get extra help that his parents payed privately for.  So. Its an IT programme with an initial test, the test lasts 45 min. I cannot afford extra laptops just now so only can take two people at a time but I was told three people together is the best option.

[Sandy]

Hi shetlandpaul, your daughter has done well but thats thanks to you as parents, I know that a child need the educational psychologist to make an assessment but, when its just a parent saying they think their child has problems, there is very little change of getting an assessment at all, so, I see this private test as a step to start with, also for those adults that have problems and never had an assessment, the diagnosis can be the missing link that stops the person feeling that they are unable or not intelligent enough, instead, they have something to work from and some hope. A lot of Dyslexic people have a low self ex teem in regard to their abilities, mind you, there are enough famous Dyslexics that can tell you otherwise, as I still say, Dyslexia is not a learning difficulty just a teaching difficulty and with large class sizes and great demands on teachers things are not going to get better> I should also add, I spent a long while working in Social Services in the DIsabled Childrens team, not many disabled children met the criteria for the support that the team could offer and I know the criteria become more stringent so, all those poor parents with disabled children with problems such as Aspergers, Attention Defictite disorders and other behaviour disorders are relient on self support groups!!!

[Bluebell]

Hi
I am a specialist teacher with post grad qualifications for teaching children with Dyslexia and many years of doing so in the past. Personally, I prefer the term specific learning difficulties as there are lots of connotations around the word 'dyslexia' and it tends to pathologise the issue. I also think there is a lot of confusion around assessments (some are just screening tests which anyone can do once they have been shown how and then there are the in depth cognitive tests which Educational Psychologists are trained to do ). There are so many children (and adults) experiencing literacy difficulties and the most important thing is to be able to analyse the underlying causes and provide appropriate interventions to address these.  However, there are excellent ways of analysing such difficulties that do not depend upon an educational psychologist.  It is such a pity that people get caught up in the business of 'statementing' by Local Authorities as it is very bureauratic and leads to an inequitable way of funding.  Ideally every school should have someone skilled within it to identify, assess and provide the appropriate support.  Over the years there have been improvements but there are still great gaps of knowledge and understanding of reading difficulties in schools. It is fundamental for children to be at least functionally literate and I feel so sorry for those who struggle and their parents who are constantly battling to get them the interventions they need. If I were to go into 'business' I think I would like to target schools and run training programmes so that the children with the most significant difficulties are identified very early on and given the right programmes at the right stage of their development. That way it wouldn't be left to individual parents to have to pay for what should be an entitlement. I do wish you luck Sandy in your endeavours but the thoughts of a 'franchise' worry me and I hope you are not having to shelve out too much money for someone else's benefit.  I am not too far off retiring but when I do, in between running my little smallholding, I intend offering my services as a volunteer to help children who are struggling to read. It is just so important and I feel passionately about it.

[Sandy]

Hi Bluebell, I am 58 and also have many years of volunteering that I was lucky to be able to afford to do as I had a husband who had a business so I was able to utilise my time to help others, even up until recently I have worked with a care agency and given the people I have been commissioned to help, that extra bit of effort, however, now as I said, I want to utilise the experience of my voluntary and paid work, to help others and myself, sorry for sounding a capitalist as thats not really me at all but we all have to pay our fuel bills and as I have limited mobility, many jobs would aggravate my own disability so, working from home is the ideal for me. I also hope to have more adults than children, even though I am a qualified and was an active Youth Worker. I used to help people get back to work in a previous job and so many had poor qualifications or abilities and I saw a vast improvement in them after a few literacy sessions, although I doubt there is any government funding for them to attend a course like I am offering but, others may benefit, after all, the fee will be equivalent to a meal and a couple of drinks (depending on where you eat and what you drink) It was while working as a support assistant in an upper School, usually with young people who had educational problems, that I gained a lot myself and they spurred me on to go to University and I hope they valued my support as I did theirs. To me, I am not concerned that any one can do an asessment, or that the term Dyslexia is too specific but I am concerned that there are people who struggle and do not know why but suspect something like Dyslexia and are then happy to have something to help with thier reading and writing skills, and the Franchise is a very small sum of money, otherwise I would not be doing it at all!!!

[plumseverywhere]

Oh Sandy - I think its a lovely job    good on you!! good luck -= not that you will need it,   you will be brilliant 

[Sandy]

Thank you  I welcome any advise, criticism or personal experience as I am just me, this forum is full of people who have lots to offer and that can only add to what I am trying to do. I do want some cheap Lap tops, my daughter mentioned Schools but other than ringing local ones, I am not too sure. I shall have a Lap top and a main computer initially and will buy 3 more lap tops if it takes off, I know that may be a while but as I said, I enjoy meeting people, enjoy giving something and am looking forward to earning a little so I can save to visit my daughter and family in Australia, even though she said she would pay for me to go, we still need to pay our mortgage and bills!!! Now I ramble, something I am good at!!!

[Bluebell]

Hi Sandy
Do hope you didn't think I was being critical of your venture.  Wherever there is a need, there is an opportunity and I know others that I have worked with who offer private tuition outside of school and are highly valued for their services.  Its just a shame it is necessary isn't it and my feelings are more about how the children are let down by the system and their parents faced with having to shell out money when they shouldn't have to. There are lots of children with literacy difficulties but most for reasons other than 'dyslexia' and that's why the right assessments are really important. With good teaching most children can learn to read well and the more people there are to provide that, the better.
Bluebell

[Sandy]

Not offended at all, I agree, I know a lot of children with so called educational problems really have poor concentration due to problems at home and no learning culture in the home at all.
 Unfortunately the education system is going back to £= achievement, none of us want that but thats how it's going. ANY advice is good for me, as I said, my partner struggles a lot with forms and instructions etc and when he was young he had an ulcer due to the stress his disability caused, I get mad with him too at times as he will ask the same question over and over again, but then I stop myself as I know he is trying to process what has been said.
 I do not read much, but when we both read the same book about my cousin, my husband  knew more about the facts than I did!!!! I also find  some teachers/tutors/parents/carers, over powering, they can take over so you do not learn or think for yourself, I can soon become overpowered with the wrong person and so can my husband.

I am always sceptical about work from home stuff but this seems good, well I will see, I shall get my stuff this week so can advertise properly. Thanks!!!!!

[Sandy]

Just going to read the pack I have then I can be up and running. Tower House will be the centre for the training although I can do some outreach if required, mainly to other groups or people in prison or hospital etc. I will be happy to discuss further info with anyone either through private E Mail or on here via personnal message, just got to spend the weekend sorting things end and starting my promotional campaign!! I have some ready made posters too, provided for me and also professional back up and assistance, so...here we go[/glow]

[morri2]

All the very best Sandy - I'm sure you will find your new venture very satisfying.  You sound just the right type of person too.  Outgoing but understanding and most importantly, patient (like me!!! NOT ) Good luck!