Dis - Lek - See - Uh

Dyslexia [noun] Pronunciation: /dɪsˈlɛksɪə/ [dis – lek – see – uh]

A general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence. 

- Oxford English Dictionaries

Let me first introduce the nature of my post – if you haven’t guessed already, it is about Dyslexia. Call it a follow-up to my previous blog post ‘Are we a dyslexic nation or is it an excuse that we hide behind?’. In this post I want to consider what it really means to be dyslexic.

Firstly, I want to point out that I have been tested for Dyslexia – I have the really long report explaining the areas in which I struggle most and advice on how I can combat the niggles that in the past have been more than challenging. Consider the irony…

Educational Psychologist + potentially dyslexic individual = a really long and wordy report for the newly tested dyslexic person to read.

I found that rather amusing – it didn’t jump up and slap me in the face straight away, although this could be because I was busy concentrating on reading the whole report several times before processing any of the information in it.

So if you read my previous post, you will have understood that for me, being dyslexic has not held me back in the slightest. Yes, I feel that if I had have known earlier on in my education that I would have found my school days easier, but when I think about how hard I worked to achieve what I did, it makes me proud. I survived first school, middle school, high school and college through sheer hard work, knowing something wasn’t quite right but I was still determined to prove to myself that I could do it. I often wonder if some of my teachers thought I was a lazy pupil – regardless, it doesn’t matter now that I have come out the other side unscathed.

That is my account, but for some children (and indeed adults) this isn’t the case. For some, they feel that their difficulty to comprehend through reading and writing has held them back – arguably made them feel inadequate. This genuinely makes me sad because I feel that I managed to achieve a great deal against these odds, but for others it can be such a rocky road. In some cases it has lead to discrimination in and outside of the classroom.

The problem

Dyslexia is mapped on such a broad spectrum – but once it is understood where an individual’s difficulties lie, life can become much easier. For example, it takes me twice as long to read black text on white background as someone who can read perfectly well, but for every area that I find challenging, there is an area that I excel in. To combat my problem with reading I use what I believe is called Apple Green acetate over the paper, or if I am working on my computer I may change the background of the page to speed up my reading. Dyslexia cannot be characterised to one specific area and no two individuals are affected in the same way. Sometimes this is where confusion begins.

I truly believe that the support available to children with Dyslexia in schools is much better now than it ever has been. Teachers are now more aware of the ‘tell-tale’ signs and how to help children overcome their learning difficulties – but more needs to be done. In order to teach children with learning difficulties effectively, the teacher first and foremost needs to understand the conditions and capabilities before bombarding individuals with more overwhelming (and sometimes patronising) ‘ways to combat’ said problems.

The statistics

According to the Dyslexia Action website, 1 in 5 school leavers struggle to read and write, 1 in 10 people have Dyslexia and 1 in 5 children are excluded from the classroom due to reading difficulties. 

The solution

In my opinion, there is no one solution to help those with Dyslexia – there are many. The Government could start by making it essential for teachers in Initial Teacher Training (ITT) to be taught about learning difficulties and ways in which they could help children to push down their metaphorical learning barriers. Not only will this be a great help to the children who have already established learning difficulties, but it will also be easier for teachers to identify signs of those who have not been previously screened for Dyslexia or other associated learning difficulties.

With the appropriate teacher training, the quality of education that is offered to every student will arguably be more valuable to those who had previously struggled. With a better understanding of learning difficulties help can invariably be put in place to ensure that every child gets a chance to achieve.

Every child has the right to be taught in a balanced and fair environment where opportunity is available to everyone. Teachers work hard to provide quality education, they inspire the children that they teach on a daily basis – but how do they get through to the children who have come to believe that they aren’t capable of achieving?

I believe that with introducing compulsory teacher training in Special Educational Needs (SEN) during ITT it will help to raise standards of not only the lives and education of the children, but also improve the levels of literacy in schools. 

On another note, please vote on my poll (to the left of the blog post) about whether or not you think that dyslexic individuals should be allowed to teach. My aim is to create a blog post that provokes open comments about this topic. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

Over and out. Weez.

Are we a dyslexic nation or is it an excuse that we hide behind?

People tend to criticise things that they don’t understand and they run scared of things that seem ‘abnormal’. It is difficult for both children and adults in today’s society to come to terms with being told that they have a learning disability – the fear of judgement from others, the fear of being rejected for a job all because of a ‘learning disability’ it all contributes to a self-confidence crash.

Arguably, children have it hard when finding out that they are in fact not illiterate, they are dyslexic - which is why they struggle with spelling, reading or writing. They need extra resources to help them move forward and in some cases, when dyslexia goes undetected it can cause illiteracy and severe learning difficulties. Not only do they have to cope with finding out that they have a common ‘disability’ but it is made obvious to their peers that they are struggling, which unfortunately leaves them prone to bullying.

I frequently went through my school years thinking that I was incapable of learning and often mentally punished myself for being unintelligent. I used to sit next to my best friend trying to copy her work – not because I could not do the work myself, but because she had such neat writing. It strikes me as being really silly now, I did not often confer with other peers for answers (except in maths – which the less said about at this stage the better) – I just really liked her handwriting. I was envious of how her intelligence seemed tie in neatly and flow through the tip of her Parker pen.

Needless to say, I was one of the ‘lucky’ ones. Nobody even knew that I am dyslexic. Not the other children, nor the teachers and neither did I. In fact, it was not until I was sat in my A-Level Media class and we were given five minutes to read a page – when asked if everyone had finished reading, I was the only person in the class that answered “no” in a chorus of “yes”. It was then, that the first person noticed that I was that little bit slower and found it more difficult to engage in reading than my peers and advised me that when I get to University I go to be tested for dyslexia.

At the age of 20 I have to say that neither the test, nor the results bothered me in the slightest. I have always known that I struggle with reading – black text, white background, forget it. It takes me approximately five minutes just to read through a paragraph because the white is so piercing and bright. I tend to find the nice shade of apple green acetate helps me read at a slightly less than average speed but faster than my normal white with black text speed. Spelling, well I am okay, not brilliant but then who is?

So enough about me and back to my main point. It is now being acknowledged more in classrooms, children appear to be getting more support now than ever, which is great news for whatever statistic the government wants to brandish at dyslexia. Hold on, I seem to be missing out one important thing – the cynics.

There are two parts to our society, those who tolerate and those who do not. Fine. A minority of people are blind sighted by the very thought and understanding around dyslexia and appear to think that it is not a case of children or adults having a legitimate learning disability, and that it is a case of laziness or lack of intelligence. This is simply not the case. Like I said in previous paragraphs, I am dyslexic. I completed GCSEs, A-Levels and received a First Class Honours at University – all because I worked extremely hard. I took no extra help, but it was the knowing about the condition as well as knowing measures that I can use to help myself that made me achieve more than I could ever imagine.

In 2010, BBC Three broadcast a documentary about Kara Tointon (Dawn, Eastenders) and her living with dyslexia. ‘Don’t Call Me Stupid’ was broadcast to raise awareness of dyslexia and how to live with it. It was like looking in the mirror. Like Tointon, I struggle to read books from cover to cover and wish I could experience the same depths of imagination as a non-dyslexic person experiences when they read books. By watching this documentary, I realised that what I have to work through, is what many other people with dyslexia feel too. It helps to know that there are always people out there who are willing to help and advise.

Through the lack of understanding many people dismiss dyslexia too easily. Dyslexia is a broad learning disability that does not affect everyone in the same way – those who live with it, will do so for the rest of their lives – some of who do not realise that they have it. Dyslexia Action say that approximately 10% of the UK population has some form of dyslexia. They also state that ‘it doesn’t affect intelligence but predominately causes difficulties with reading, writing and spelling… The social impact of dyslexia is extensive. If you cannot learn to read, you cannot read to learn and everything we do at school and throughout life requires us to have the skills to be able to access written information. Above and beyond the difficulties and barriers dyslexia presents it is the damage that low self-esteem can have, which is life-long’ (Dyslexia Action, 2010).

So are we a dyslexic nation? Well, like I said in the previous paragraph, 10% of us are. Do we hide behind it as an excuse? No, it is essentially a matter of tolerance and understanding towards those who have it. I will not use the phrase ‘suffer with it’ because it is not necessarily something that we have to suffer with – I certainly did not. Though there are many who do struggle through because the help they need is not as readily available as it should be. If awareness is raised, then we are certainly going in the right direction to help others who are feeling held back by something that should be seen as insignificant to their lives.

To find out more about Dyslexia Action, visit www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk.
Please take a minute to sign a petition for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) to provide mandatory teacher training in dyslexia - to sign, just follow the link: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20674

Over and out.

Weez