Okay, Rant Time...

[ailsa_chan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7828121.stm

This pissed me off. Just because this MP does not understand what dyslexia is, doesn't mean it is a fictional condition. Dyslexia does not mean poor reading and writing, it can hinder the speed at which you read, and cause mistakes in writing, but it's not quite the same thing. It is a condition affecting working memory and coordination, and means that input from the senses (mainly eyes and ears) isn't always processed correctly by the brain.

We are often clumsy and walk into things, because our brains don't always detect how close we are to objects. We can read things the wrong way round (89 rather than 98) or write them down wrong (espcially letters - b becomes d etc). It's not that we can't read, or we can't spell, it's just we get things mixed up. Things committed to long term memory are fine, short term memory tasks, like repeating something backwards can be nigh on impossible.

What's particularly annoying is that he's not wrong entirely - some children are being let down by the way they are taught. However he makes two important mistakes: one equating dyslexia with poor reading and two suggesting that one method of teaching is better than another and should be used for all. What is needed is recognition that not all children learn the same way and a structure implimented that allows for this.

Comments

[tom-kun.livejournal.com]

I was getting annoyed about this earlier, he is both wrong and I find his belief that the education sector created dyslexia to cover its' failings to be insulting. The education system does make a lot of allowances for thos with dyslexia (as well as other conditions) including differing teaching methods, dyslexia is not the reason we don't have 100% literacy.

[ailsa-chan.livejournal.com]

The british education sector has created a fictious condition that has spread world wide. Hmm, not buying that mysekf :)

The problem is too many kids in the classroom; different methods of learning not being available; and too many parents having too little time to read with their kids.

[redkun-arc.livejournal.com]

I agree. It's just ignorance really.

[niej.livejournal.com]

This man is totally insane - because of the work my employers do we've had to be briefed on this rubbish incase the press start sniffing 'round - I have never read something so totally and utterly incorrect.

Luckily our CEO is on the case: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jan/14/dyslexia-mp-prisons

I read the version http://www.manchesterconfidential.com/index.asp?Sessionx=IpqiNw86JD7rIpqiNwF6IHqi&realname=Dyslexia~sep~is~sep~a~sep~myth

that basically says all dyslexics are illiterate - eh????

Part of me really wishes I was dyslexic so I could sue the bastard for libel. I know a great many dyslexic people that encounter a range of problems because of their dyslexia but all are literate and most have IQs that far outreach my own.

I most definitely share in your frustration.

[ailsa-chan.livejournal.com]

Good for your CEO.

Yeah, he seems to go from prisoners are illterate to schools teach badly to dylsexia is a lie. Bit of a jump there. And of course ignores what dyslexia actually is.

I don't know if dyslexics could sue, but I'm guessing anyone working in support might want to have a go.

[gunstarvixen.livejournal.com]

It made me soo angry. Both myself and Paul are dyslexic, (paul suffers more than I do) it causes me great difficulty with spelling. At the age of 25 I still have to sound words out to myself to spell them correctly. It takes a great deal of concentration to write things (when there isn't a spell checker installed). Yet I'm still educated to degree level and have a good job. How's that for your statistics you ignorant bastard.

*sorry rant over, but it really made my angry.

[ailsa-chan.livejournal.com]

Rant away!

Spell-checkers are wonderful things. Although you do have to be careful, as one of my work collegues found out when he sent an email out to the entire business "apologising for any incontinece caused..."

[khaoskomix.livejournal.com]

My younger brother has dyslexia, and it's a severe disability which has completely impended his speech and hand eye coordination. He goes to a special school where he gets the help he needs, and he needs that help. At age 6 he still has the vocabulary of a 3 year old, possibly younger.

Guh. People are so ignorant. I think it doesn't help that the dyslexia that we hear about most of the time is the less severe cases that people go on and on about and blame it on the child's education.

Also, while I am typing this I just had a thought- why the hell is dyslexic such a hard word to spell?

[ailsa-chan.livejournal.com]

People (who don't know what dylexia is) tend to focus on the reading part, and ignore the rest of the condition. I've always had a very high reading age, but my short term memory can cripple me. Dyslexia's the reason I can play babminton, but not tennis (I can't just hwo fast a ball is coming at me horizontally, so I can't hit it.)

I think there is a trend for certain types of people to blame things on syndromes. "It's not that I never had any time to read to my child and get him interested in books, he's dyslexic." "It's not that my child is a total dick who needs his head removing from his rectum, he's got aspergers." But anyone with half a brain will know that a condition is more than one sympton, and it's only suspicious if they only display that one.

I'm glad your brothe's got access to special school. I managed to cope enough to get me though education, but my mother and my sister really struggled.

[ailsa-chan.livejournal.com]

I guess dylexic is hard to spell for the same reason that monosyllabul isn't - the English language is a cock. (Possibly another reason dyslexia is more noticed in the country.)

[lunarkittenlj.livejournal.com]

Stupid man. He's simply criticising it because he doesn't understand it.

I'm sure there are things that he struggles with in life (words chosen very carefully so as not to offend anyone) - but do we tell him that how he does it wrong?! Or do we just accept it as part of his nature and personality. I think it's the latter.

I know a couple of dyslexic guys, one of them has a degree and is in a senior management role. Doesn't mean that they're incompetent or that they are incapable of learning, or indeed were taught incorrectly.

[ailsa-chan.livejournal.com]

His point that many criminals are illiterate is valid and worthy of address, but hw he jumps from that to "well known medical condition is a fake" I struggle to coprihend.

Personally I consider being dyslexic like being female: It affects what I'm good and bad at. Even if they could "cure" it, I wouldn't want to, because I assume that would mean I'd get worse at somethings while I got better at others. People need help for specific aspects, whether that's reading, spelling, coordingation or memory.