Dyslexia-personal experiences and help

Jut thought I would add info. on the psychological tests used to diagnose dyslexia ( at, least as it was when I was working as an EP.)
First, an intelligence test such as the WISC :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wechsler_Intelligence_Scale_for_Children
Then routine reading and spelling tests.
If there's a large discrepancy between IQ and reading/spelling scores, this suggests dyslexia. Then look for the cause of the problem, using the test called the Illinois test of Psycholinguistic Ability - which should reveal strong and weak learning areas.
www.proedinc.com/customer/productView.aspx?ID=788
Remedial work in those days involved a lot of repetitive drill in phonics and word recognition, but might be more interesting now, with modern computer programmes.

It was always something that was supposed to be in the pipeline GGMK2 I imagine it is something else that will be cut. I agree about the subsequent cost. Looking at the stories on here it seems that at the top end supported dyslexics do well and really achieve, unfortunately the bottom end are the ones who end up in prison. I remember sending a child from a very poor area for a dyslexia test. He was a difficult lad, lots of challenging behaviour and messing about in class. I can imagine if he didn't get the support he needed he would have strayed and finished up inside.

That was an amazing turn-around NanaMacGeek.

I have often wondered if it wouldn't be worth doing a mini-test for dyslexia at a fairly early point in schools, obviously followed up if it shows the dyslexia issues. Once picked up it needs a different way of teaching but that different way could make all the difference. I just think about the fact that it is 'estimated' (which tells me no proper research has been done so shame of all governments) the general average of dyslexia in prison-based studies is about 30%.* I just can't believe that, as well as improving lives screening might well save us money if it was picked up early.

*https://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2012-11-21a.198.0

One of my sons (now 35) had a dreadful time during his early school years. We knew him to be intelligent but at primary school we were told he wasn't the brightest of children and should aim for an apprenticeship (please don't think I'm knocking apprenticeships but in those days, it wasn't a lot to aim for). School phobia soon followed with bullying. We were so lucky with the head teacher who called in the Educational Psychologist who diagnosed him as being dyslexic and things were turned round. The school concentrated on what he could do well, he took music lessons in lunch hours, helped setting up the computers and with science projects. In his secondary school, the help and support continued, he moved into the top maths group and took part in extra science lessons run at lunchtimes for the older pupils and grew in confidence.

He is able to explain how he manages his reading difficulties. Apparently, he scans a few lines of text at a time, looking for longer words. Then he tries to work out what the longer words mean. Once he has done that, he goes back over the text and reads it again, inserting the meaning of the longer words into the text until it makes sense. It sounds incredibly difficult but he has worked out his own way of dealing with it. No one working with him would know. I don't know how schools deal with dyslexia now but thought it may help some to understand how one dyslexic copes.

Thanks NanKate that web site is brilliant. Just what I need for the DGS(9). He hasn't had a diagnosis of dyslexia, his SEN is short term memory issues. Very late starter to reading, still has special class for literacy, but is now a competent reader when the books interest him, so I want to get him more onto books that he hopefully can want to read himself. We have had great success with the Project X series from Oxford Owls.

Rinouchka I'm pleased you have found a specialist school for your GS. I'm sure his term of home education will help him as well. Hope all goes well
Congrats to all doing courses linked with dyslexia.I think the more we learn the more support we can give.
It is amazing all the achievements that have been posted about.
I think there's definitely a family link, I have a nephew who is dyslexic and I once helped some parents get a proper assessment for their very bright daughter, After she was diagnosed the father revealed that he had a daughter from a previous relationship who was older and was dyslexic.
I've seen some very helpful teachers and TAs who really understand and appreciated all the problems, and a few 'dinosaurs' who thought all that was needed was a bit of hard work.

Can I suggest you have a look at the website of Barrington Stoke. They publish books especially for reluctant and dyslexic readers. They use well known authors and have the books especially adapted to suit those with reading problems, such as the colour of the paper, the use of appropriate fonts, text that is checked by experts so that it is easily readable. They also have great illustrators.

There are a great variety of books and grouped into ages.

If any of you live in Edinburgh they usually appear ar the Festival and promote their books there. I think they are based in Scotland.

Good to talk isn't it gg? I am amazed at how many have responded.

How amazing to read how well children are doing but I know from experience just how much parents have to work to get a lot of the help available. My daughter is doing well with severe dyslexia - diagnosed in the early 80's when I was too. I find not many of my generation actually had a diagnosis but it does help to find the right help. I do hope no one calls any child ignorant or stupid these days but I can remember one of my teacher's shaking me until I was sick one day because I was so careless! Strangely I didn't bear any grudges as I felt just as frustrated as he did.

Worse, I felt, was the junior school teacher who stood my daughter on a chair a chair in the classroom so she could tell the class how stupid she was. Although we moved her from that 'lovely little school' it probably took another six to nine months for her to get over the trauma and start talking to people again (since then she hasn't stopped ). She had become so withdrawn but her new head believed me when I said all I wanted was for her to be happy and worked with her until he could do some simple tests. I always hope the days of blaming the child are over. We then had to pay to get a diagnosis - I wonder if there has ever been a time when these were quickly available - and she then got some tuition through the school, but we had to back that with private lessons when this stopped (cuts of course). Thankfully they were not £50 Whitewave! I remember people talking about word blindness Anya and the exhaustion from concentration certainly rings bells.

We did seem to have quite a lot of occurrences of dyslexia in the family and I wondered how many of you have found it within your extended family or has it just been one person?

I love the idea that some of you are able to take your learning on this still further. For me the greatest advance is in the technical side of things. I don't enjoy my computer talking to me - I find you loose the nuance but my daughter uses her reading software and has dictating software too. I heard a programme on the radio talking about an office where they had put in dictating software for a member of staff who was dyslexic but they decided to put it in on all the computers - apparently everyone's work improved

I know. I also know that some of the fee paying schools are a rip off. They generally have smaller classes, so can give pupils more individual attention, but they don't all have dyslexia specialists. Some of my private pupils over the years have been dyslexic or autistic, which is why I've made an effort to find out more about the conditions. Unfortunately, I can't afford the specialist courses. In fact, the more I find out about dyslexia and SN, the more I realise that very little is invested in training for teachers or resources for pupils. Some SN units in comprehensive schools are still little more than 'sin bins' for the naughty and those with general learning difficulties.

I wouldn't blame the individual teacher daph I blame the education system, lack of training and lack of resources. There are schools that deal specifically with thi s, but they are all fee paying. My daughter explored the possibility but couldn't afford it.

I feel it's a little unfair to criticise individual teachers or even schools. A secondary teacher teaches 200-300 pupils and can't 'know' them all. Not only that, but there are other conditions, such as autism and many more, and a teacher just doesn't have the time or resources to give the necessary support.

Even when a pupil is diagnosed, which can take months or years, he or she needs the input of a specialist and very few schools now have any. It used to be the case that local authorities provided support or, at least, advice, but they've gone too.

It's good to have dyslexia now recognised, rather than dismissed as 'middle class parents looking to excuse their lazy children', which was the standard response during the 70's when I first wondered if one of my children had 'word blindness'.

It's still often necessary for parents to pay for private diagnosis, not least because of the cuts to school psychological services.

We called it 'word blindness' - whatever name it was given, as with many other conditions, it recognised in the classroom very early on.

Anya the name was known well before that, but it wasn't integrated into the legal system until after the Warnock report of 1978. Soon after which 'statementing' started.
As with most things, it was to do with funding. A child had to have an 'official' diagnosis by the so-called experts before funding for extra help/support could be given. Which as we know is still difficult to obtain.

I remember on TPs in the 60s working with children who were dyslexic. Teachers recognised the condition way before psychologist gave it a name.

It's surely a good thing that people feel able to admit to the condition these days without the ignorant labelling them stupid?

Yes daph I think that is a real issue as teachers are often clueless as to how to the dyslexic issue. The children are being badly let down

ww I've never had any training to teach dyslexic students. Thinking back, I don't think special needs were even mentioned during my PGCE. At the time, the country still had special schools, so a secondary teacher was considered not likely to have to teach a pupil with SN, and many children were disapplied from learning foreign languages. It was before the introduction of the National Curriculum, so there was no entitlement for all pupils to learn a range of subjects.

In service training was expensive and SN was never seen as a priority for my development. Everything I know about SN has been from observation, talking to colleagues and my own reading.

I think it shows that it should not be treated as a disability but simply as a different way if learning. There are far too many for it to treated as anything else. Like being left handed.

Lovely thread. Place marking at the moment but will be back to contribute.

My best friends daughter , now 36, is dyslexic and had special help aT school. While she hasnt gone on to higher education she became manager in a local farm visitor attraction and had staff management as well as animal care responsibilities. She did extremely well and is now involved in farming. Her problem with reading/ spelling remains though is much improved, but she is one of the most intelligent articulate and capable people i know.

In retrospect my son showed many signs of dyslexia but it was't picked up until he was adult.
At school his English was poor and he had to resit O level English whilst his maths/sciences were all up in the 90%.
Thankfully he got through English on his resit and was able to continue to 6th Form where he concentrated on the sciences. He now has his Ph.d. and was also top of his year.

daphnedill Interested to learn that you will be on the same course. I taught French and Italian for 3 decades in a Tertiary College. Dyslexic 16-19 year olds choosing to do ALs or IB in a foreign language were limited to bilinguals. I think I posted in another thread a few months ago that dyslexia did not always manifest itself in both languages for bilinguals, at least in my experience. However, I have no experience with younger learners of MFLs.

DGS (8) has French and Italian speaking cousins so will explore which language is best for him
( possibly Italian) and how best to approach it. He has some oral and aural skills in both ( through passive learning and loving to listen in to others' conversation) and he loves his cousins( but they are all being brought up to speak English as a 2nd language)!

Am very excited about this course and do hope it is well-run!

My husband is dyslexic, but it was never officially diagnosed. He can read quite well, but very slowly, and has managed to learn to read hebrew (which is purely phonic.)
He gets words and letters and the ideas in his head all jumbled up.
He said he hated school because he found everything such a struggle. Apart from practical subjects where he excelled. So he trained as a TV engineer and ended up with a succesful business of several shops, repairing and selling tvs and other electronic equipment.
As others have said, there are several types of dyslexa, depending on the sensory channels most affected.

Yes my son has a PhD and is dyslexic. It is such hard work!!!!!