Dyslexia

[PurpleDragon]

Anyone have direct experience of primary school dyslexia?

[baldowrie]

in what way?

[bwaymark]

I was diagnosed with a learning disability.... originally as dyslexia then it morphed into all sorts of weird and wonderful prognosis as the definitions changed.... but did spend the whole of my primary and secondary education is the 'special' classes.... why do you ask?

[goldy1]

They say they cant diagnose till 7. what rot. whole family has it 3 generations. They say changing from white paper helps.

[baldowrie]

Yep certain coloured paper helps the lines to straighten. Tinted lenses can be prescribed. A friend is dyslexic and sometimes when I have been reading her mails I forget how to spell completely

[bwaymark]

My good friend, who is in special education with me in secondary school, and I both dated in the same group of girls. One day, much to our embarrassment, we found out that our girlfriends were joking about how we were the old two guys in school who could write love letters to our girlfriends that opened with "Dear sweaty" .....

[PurpleDragon]

in what way?

There is some suspicion in my son's school that he may be dyslexic. He is 7. He is mixing up his b,d,p,q, letters which apparently is a marker, along with writing some letters backwards. She wasn't worried when he was in P2 but in P3 this should have sorted itself out, and hasn't

[baldowrie]

and you will find s and z will mix up to. Then look at his number, 2 and 5 and watch to see if they swap or get written back wards.

Ask to see the school doctor and get referred for a colourist (think they are called). They will test for different coloured lenses.

My son, who has some autistic traits but not autism, also does the same so there are many reasons why kiddies do this including no reason at all!

See your GP and ask for an occupational therapist referral and assessment.

If he is having problems with socialisation and expressing himself ask for a speech therapist assent.

If YOU feel he has other problems as well ask for a paediatrician referral. Maybe handy too as some schools are on paeds the 'bad list' and they will intervene in a BIG WAY!

Strike now as autism, and the like, and it's lack of educational support has recently been highlighted and things will move pretty quickly at present to discover any underlying problems. The head at my sons school is begging me to dismiss the medical professionals over my son for a quiet life for her..NOPE!

AND just to say my dyslexic friend is an accountant running her own business...and still her emails have very weird and wonderful words that take a while for non dyslexics to work out

here are some disorders that have the same peculiarities, remember teachers are not doctors and can not diagnose and it is up to you to seek the truth. I have had no diagnoses from a medically trained person but plenty from teachers including epilepsy


http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/ea ... itory.html
http://www.autismmedical.com/
http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/
http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/s ... mptoms.php

You need to get stuck in and start the ball rolling and if it turns out there is nothing to worry about all the better, but if there is you have fight on your hands!

[Boots]

Love it, bwaymark!

What kind of experience do you want PD?

I have a daughter, brother and grandmother who are all dyslexic, which led to my 1:1 involvement with primary aged dyslexics for several years. I spent a number of years studying individuals and the broader disorder.

Still am not prepared to call myself an expert, but. There is still so much more to understand, and learning is always personal. Each child has a distinct learning pattern which needs to be considered and understood. No one dyslexic exhibits a predetermined set of behaviours or cognitions - despite our attempts to box them.

Parents often panic and this is usually the first thing that needs attention...

I can tell you that dyslexia is NOT a visual perception prob, and EVERYONE reads better when you contrast black ink with different colours, as opposed to white. So don't go rushing out and buying coloured glasses that will get your kid teased at school, or buying plastic page covers ra ra ra.

Nor is a dyslexic destined to some half life, simply because they learn differently. Quite the contrary - they are usually very innovative, inspiring and resilient people. Albert Einstein certainly did not lead a half life... but it does explain all those weird symbols!

The best tools to help a dyslexic IMO - repetition, rhyme and kinesthetic (hands on) learning. Reversals are an incorrectly coded mirror imprint. They can't be reversed - they need to be replaced. More than happy to offer some tips on what worked with the kids I worked with, help you develop some resources and explore your childs learning style, but am afraid you will have to be a little more forthcoming as to what you want exactly.

[baldowrie]

in nut shell then Boots brain gym!

http://www.oxfordbraingym.com/

I have a copy of the exercises some where if you want them.

As boots says don't buy the glasses get him assessed first

[bwaymark]

in what way?

There is some suspicion in my son's school that he may be dyslexic. He is 7. He is mixing up his b,d,p,q, letters which apparently is a marker, along with writing some letters backwards. She wasn't worried when he was in P2 but in P3 this should have sorted itself out, and hasn't

I'd go into the whole thing with a very suspicious mind. There certain is a myriad of learning disabilities out there, with dyslexia being one of them, but there is a lot of people being 'written off' as dyslexic or otherwise learning disabled simply because they don't fit into a cookie-cutter education system that anachronistically tries to make factory workers out of living breathing people with their own personalities. I am also suspicious of whether or not you can really it call it a 'disability', as the clinical difference between someone who is learning disabled and someone who is retarded (sorry if this isn't the correct word anymore) is that a dyslexic/learning disabled people have strengths that compensate for weeknesses. So, for example, dylexics may have crap spelling, but make up for it with enhanced abstract reasoning, or long term memory recall. Where a retarded person will be crap at spelling and abstract reasoning and memory recall.

Learning disabilities can be a blessing or a curse. On one hand, being diagnosed often means that you are the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. On the other hand its a pain a bit but and means primary and secondary school are generally hell. Something like 75% of the people in jail are reportedly learning disabled, but then so is Richard Branson, Tom Cruise, the guy who started Cisco (which pretty much invented the machines that the internet runs on) and a host of other people. Some people reckon Einstein and Witgenstien (who pretty much incented post-modern philosophy and the science of linguistics) were dyslexic too.

Anyway, the best thing to do is to do some research and get a second opinion.

[baldowrie]

Anyway, the best thing to do is to do some research and get a second opinion.

Yep second that!

[2steps]

Einstein (along with many others) is thought to of had adhd

[PurpleDragon]

Well, basically, he doesn't have socialisation problems at all. He is one of the most popular children in the class. His behaviour can be a bit challenging, but all three of them are like that. He is very creative and we have been told that his science is excellent - he is able to 'think out of the box (sorry)' and come at puzzles in a slightly different manner to his peers.

His teacher told me yesterday that he reverses b,d,p,q and does s back to front. Some of his numbers are also back to front - 5 and 2. This was find when he was smaller but should have sorted itself out by now. She said these were 'teacher flags' for dyslexia, and that she will be keeping an eye on him. If he hasn't improved by Xmas, then she will take it further.

I want the best for him, and I want to be on the ball if any learning assistance is required, is all.

[baldowrie]

sorry, but you will be extremely lucky if he gets any learning assistance without a big push from you and any medical back up you can muster