Comments on: Publish and be dammned

By: Clip show « Edge Trinkets

Clip show « Edge Trinkets — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:03:33 +0000

[...] – I saddle up my high horse again and potentially risk my [...]

By: probdrunk

probdrunk — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:02:48 +0000

somebody mentioned it in the pub last night, but i hadn’t read it until now.

for fucks sake

Yes, synthetic phonics is a very good method of teaching litracy. That is for people that can hear them. For people like me who have difficulty hearing the differant parts of words its fucking useless*

please excuse the bad spelling, not on my home machine, so no spellcheck.

*this is the reason those that know me will sometimes say i mumble, or i mispronounce some words or still dont know how to break a word up into syllables.

By: mrskarmadillo

mrskarmadillo — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:48:21 +0000

I take it you heard about this muppet? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7828121.stm

*sigh*

By: HileryJane

HileryJane — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:34:57 +0000

In my region in Scotland I run a Dyslexia Support Service: an Outreach service attempting to support teachers change the way they teach to accommodate learners with dyslexia.
We don’t use the word ‘diagnosis’ but ‘identification’. We do give formal standardised tests, but these are only part of a battery of assessments based principally on formative approaches.
As we believe there are as many differences between those with dyslexia as there are elsewhere in the population, there is no one way to tackle the difficulties they may encounter in school.
I agree it’s important to recognise the different approaches to learning that those with dyslexia take and to help them discover strategies to circumvent the barrier of print and that these are different from the way we might tackle helping a young person with global literacy delay.
Nonetheless, effective strategies for a dyslexic are also likely to be effective for all learners.

By: uphilldowndale

uphilldowndale — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:37:50 +0000

As dyslexia is recognised under the disability discrimination act 1995

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2007/09/12/42089/dyslexia-and-the-disability-discrimination-act-paterson-v-the-commissionr-of-police-of-the-metropoli.html (I wish I could do links!)

you would think Leicestershire were on very dodgy ground with that policy.
I really hoped it had all moved on ‘from my day’ it’s very sad to hear that it is not always the case.

By: Tessa

Tessa — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:15:28 +0000

Leicestershire do not officially recognise dyslexia (so I’ve been told) but prefer to label kids as ‘poor readers’. I spend many hours supporting parents who are frustrated with the attitude of parents and schools to their child who has been called ‘lazy’ , ‘inattentive’, ‘disruptive’. Sadly teachers do not see these behaviours for what they are – defense against being put in a fail situation day after day. It is unbelievable in this day and age but most teachers are still not able to identify dyslexics/dyscalculics.
Perhaps I am being harsh because there is no agreed cause for dyslexia and many support strategies appear to contradict each other. However I do think schools should be more flexible in their approach to teaching reading and writing. For those that struggle with phonics why should doing it ‘slower and for longer’ be any help. Would not a visual approach be worth trying?
I’ve been successful helping dyslexics/dyscalculics and ADHD children and adults but I have become increasingly angry at schools because of the emotional damage inflicted on these kids who just learn differently.

By: uphilldowndale

uphilldowndale — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:12:19 +0000

This makes me very angry, some kids with dyslexia (OMG, spellchecker isn’t working on this, bear with me) will haul themselves through school to uni with out any interventions, others will fall by the wayside, crushed, Dispirited and thoroughly pissed off by the education system.
I was in my 40’s when I was assessed as dyslexic, it was only through watching my own son’s struggles that I started to understand that dyslexia is so much more than ‘a little trouble’ with spelling. It blew me away when I realised just how much impact my dyslexia has had on my life. I wish I had known just what my weaknesses were and how to navigate them, because that knowledge gives confidence and empowerment and that’s 99% of the battle.
I had rather hoped it was different now, in education, but speaking with teachers I can see that little in their training gives them the skills to help dyslexic students, which is a tragedy because a good repertoire of learning skills and tactics, are good news for any student not just the dyslexic.
You can find some dyslexia tagged posts on my blog.