The working classes just aren't very bright so have no chance of bettering themselves

I read hundreds of books of all sorts to both my dyslexic son and GS’s as did their mother in order that they didn't loose out to wonderful children’s literature.

They never went to bed without a chapter or 2 in their imagination.

My daughter is dyslexic, and as you say, trisher, she struggles to enjoy reading. This is a shame, as she loves stories, and is well aware that an audiobook is an interpretation of the original, so doesn't care for those either.

Like you, I get a lot of pleasure from reading, and feel for her, but I doubt if she will ever enjoy it in the way that I do. She has been hampered academically by this, and I think it was made worse because she is intelligent and found her own coping mechanisms, which meant that she presented as 'average', so never got much help at school. The school was also very hung up on results, and gave far more attention to children who would 'perform' than to those who got along but underachieved. She's doing fine now, but it has been an uphill struggle for her, which I think would have been much easier if she had been younger, as things seem to have improved immeasurably more recently.

Whitewavemark2 I wish him all the best. One of the misunderstandings I think about dyslexia is the idea that extra help can "cure" it. The extra support may help, but the dyslexia doesn't go away. having an enthusiasm for something helps make the hard work of reading and writing more worthwhile. As an avid reader it took me a long time to realise my DS would never enjoy it as I do and it would always be a slog for him. He is successful in his field and uses heaps of technology to help. I hope your GS continues to achieve. He sounds delightful.

trisher

Katie59

Special training is essential, a friend had a dyslexic son who was getting very little help at the local school, at 11 they found the money to send him to a private school that specialized in learning difficulties. What a difference, at 25 he is running his own business, a very clever young man.

Actually it isn't. It can be very valuable, but what is most helpful for some dyslexics is to find something they are passionate about and work their learning around that. A good computer, a spell checker that uses context and software that reads aloud all help. It's why university studenst get financial help towards technology. The help should come earlier.

Yes I think you are right. My GS had all that help and his passion is electronics of all sorts he is now reading an electrical engineering degree with assistance from the university. He gets extra time in exams and of course software etc.

He has had to work and struggle incredibly hard to overcome his difficulty but my goodness how proud we all are of him and what a lovely gentle young man he is turning out to be.

You don't necessarily have to send your children to a private school to receive additional support for dyslexia. My own school, a state primary in an area of high deprivation in Scotland, was deemed a dyslexia friendly school, where many of the staff, myself included, made the decision to obtain additional qualifications to identify and support children with dyslexia.
My own daughter, who went to a state school, has dyslexia and was able to get a place at university, because supporting pupils with dyslexia was high on the agenda of the LA where I lived and worked. not all schools and teachers fail to support children like my daughter.

Katie59

Special training is essential, a friend had a dyslexic son who was getting very little help at the local school, at 11 they found the money to send him to a private school that specialized in learning difficulties. What a difference, at 25 he is running his own business, a very clever young man.

Actually it isn't. It can be very valuable, but what is most helpful for some dyslexics is to find something they are passionate about and work their learning around that. A good computer, a spell checker that uses context and software that reads aloud all help. It's why university studenst get financial help towards technology. The help should come earlier.

Special training is essential, a friend had a dyslexic son who was getting very little help at the local school, at 11 they found the money to send him to a private school that specialized in learning difficulties. What a difference, at 25 he is running his own business, a very clever young man.

that's an unnoffical unsanctioned privately owned website. I could set one up titled "All Gransnet members are wankers"

Sorry no of course that wasnt deliberate. I work with children with additional needs (not dyslexia) and know lots of parents waiting for inordinate lengths of time for genetic testing.

It absolutely can. My father and brother are. My ex husband is and my daughter is too. Seems as if I was the only one in the family it avoided. Hoping GS isn't. It makes school life a lot harder.

Katie59

Was that deliberate Galaxy

Found the answer, dyslexia does run in families.
britishdyslexics.co.uk/dyslexia-gene.

Actually that says some cases of dyslexia are genetically linked, not all.
The immune system bit was interesting my dyslexic DS has immune system problems -psoriasis etc.

All the boys in our family except one are dyslexic to varying degrees. None of the girls are.

All have gone on to study at degree level and above except one - who is only 16.

My son needed huge support from us as it wasn’t recognised at the time.
The grandsons were getting superb support until the budget was cut, now my daughter pays for private tuition. Those who do not have the wherewithal to support their children must see them struggle without help.

Was that deliberate Galaxy

Found the answer, dyslexia does run in families.
britishdyslexics.co.uk/dyslexia-gene.

Sone are genetic sone arent.

I just spotted my spelling mistake: occurred

Whitewavemark2

I hope that you aren’t equating dyslexia with intelligence?

My question was are learning difficulties inherited.

I was born and grew up in Sweden. It never ocurred to me that I belonged to a class. We were just 'normal' people. Had I lived in the UK we would have been considered working class. I went to grammar school and university and this was not thought of as unusual or unnecessary. There was nothing like the 11 plus examination, instead our progress had been measured since we started school at the age of 7. I started a no-fee grammar school when I was 13.

I'm not sure that all of us value education and qualifications in this country. Not so long ago a neighbour commented that her granddaughter was interested in working in a nursery school. She found out that she needed certain qualifications and my neighbour's reaction was ”why does she need qualifications, it's only working with kids?” I get the feeling that this sort of reasoning is not uncommon.

My parents had no arts education whatsoever they still enjoyed the theatre and visited galaries etc. They also enjoyed bingo nights at the local working men's club and my dad loved football. The division of pastimes into good culture and bad culture is a middle clsss projection which has dominated society and set up barriers.
I knew someone was going to say this, which is why I pointed out that football and bingo were simply signifiers for 'not Cultural' pursuits (and that is not to say that they are not small-c cultural, before that is pointed out, too).

The point is not that any group is unable to enjoy any type of entertainment - of course that is simplistic and idiotic. However, it is equally idiotic not to acknowledge that a lot of people believe that certain forms of Art are 'not for them'.

Many years ago I taught O level English to disadvantaged students in an FE college. The biggest problem was persuading them that Shakespeare was not for 'swots' and 'posh people'. Once we'd got over that hurdle they were mostly very receptive, and the results were better than expected.

If Arts are not taught at university, and are seen as inferior subjects at school, the attitude that they are 'for others' will continue, and the vicious circle of 'there is no point in putting an Arts Centre here - build a pub with a vast TV screen instead' will be perpetuated.

I don't know how old your parents would be, but it is also the case that in the past, people didn't have the choice of TV and YouTube entertainment that is available nowadays, so were maybe more likely to go to theatres, which had a wide range of plays on offer - designed to appeal to all tastes. They were also cheaper than now.

I hope that you aren’t equating dyslexia with intelligence?

A young very attractive starlet was dating a university professor.
“Darling let’s get married with my beauty and your brains we would have wonderful children “
Professor replied “Maybe, but what if they had my beauty and your brains”.

Intelligence is not highly heritable, but are learning difficulties inherited I know a couple of families were parents and children are dyslexic

Skydancer

I really don't think IQ is inherited. My sibling and I are intelligent whereas our mother has such a low IQ I would almost say she was subnormal. Our father was, I'd say, average.

I think that just tells us that a reasonable IQ is not all we need in life. Wow.

Doodledog

*There's already an effective tax on the poor with the Arts Council distributing £751 million in 2021 from the lottery which supports lots of activities enjoyed by the middle classes. I always find it interesting that no-one ever seems to say much about how the lottery fund is distributed but that's for another thread perhaps?*

This is exactly what I was getting at with my comments on football and bingo earlier. If people don't get the education to learn to appreciate the Arts, they will seek out other sources of fulfilment, and it will then be assumed that this is what they want. It's a viscous circle. It may well be true that opening an opera house in an inner city estate will be a waste of time and money, but that is not because the residents are incapable of appreciating opera - it is because they haven't been given the chance to find out if they like it or not.

And yes, if they can fit it around work, people can go to mixed ability classes run by the WEA (and I am in no way decrying these), but that is absolutely not the same thing as being stretched by a certificated course that could lead to a role in which they have a say in what is taught or exhibited or offered in local venues.

My parents had no arts education whatsoever they still enjoyed the theatre and visited galaries etc. They also enjoyed bingo nights at the local working men's club and my dad loved football. The division of pastimes into good culture and bad culture is a middle clsss projection which has dominated society and set up barriers. For example rowing in the 19 century was a working class sport more popular than football. It's time we dumped these preconceived ideas about what is good culture and what is bad.

There are still those pupils who live in atrocious household environments and whose aim is to get out of such situations. I knew a lad years back, parents never sober but he kept his head down at school and was determined to do well to escape the way of life he was born into.

Anyway, he did well and got a place at uni., studied hard got all his exams and outshone the other pupils. Got a job and took himself off to America where he trained in Real Estate and never looked back, nor returned to the hell-hole he called home.

Last I heard he'd done so well and set up his own estate business.
I couldn't believe that someone could lift themselves from such depths of despair, on his own, to the life of fulfilment that he had except for the hard work and determination he put in.
I remember buying him a pair of pumps for school because he didn't have any.

It's only by showing willing and working hard will anyone get on in life and having that drive and determination to want to better yourself or get out of a bad situation such as his was.

While this may be true as a generalisation of class differences, it overlooks what happens when individuals 'better themselves.' Say a 'working class' person is bright and works hard, ends up going to university and training as a doctor... they're now considered 'middle class.' And of course a pretty middle class girl who marries 'up' will soon be assimilated into her husband's higher class.

I think what holds many working class people back from attempting to do middle class jobs is that they don't want to. Although they are not stupid, they are not brought up to be aspirational, except as regards trying to earn more money or not have to work. They don't see anything 'better' or 'higher' in the middle class lifestyle, so they don't try to achieve it.

There's already an effective tax on the poor with the Arts Council distributing £751 million in 2021 from the lottery which supports lots of activities enjoyed by the middle classes. I always find it interesting that no-one ever seems to say much about how the lottery fund is distributed but that's for another thread perhaps?

This is exactly what I was getting at with my comments on football and bingo earlier. If people don't get the education to learn to appreciate the Arts, they will seek out other sources of fulfilment, and it will then be assumed that this is what they want. It's a viscous circle. It may well be true that opening an opera house in an inner city estate will be a waste of time and money, but that is not because the residents are incapable of appreciating opera - it is because they haven't been given the chance to find out if they like it or not.

And yes, if they can fit it around work, people can go to mixed ability classes run by the WEA (and I am in no way decrying these), but that is absolutely not the same thing as being stretched by a certificated course that could lead to a role in which they have a say in what is taught or exhibited or offered in local venues.