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MP says there is no such thing as Dyslexia

edited January 2009 in Not Sports Related
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I have a 9 year old son who amongst many other things is profoundly dyslexic. Even with one to one teaching and specialist working with him daily, he still cannot read more than a handful of words, cannot spell his own name, cannot differentiate between the lettes b and d, r and t. He has been assessed as having a reading age of 6 (bottom of the scale) yet an underlying verbal reason age of 13.

This man is seriously wrong. His view is it's all down to good teachers and bad. That is nonesense. He asserts that there is no evidence that it exists and that it doesn't exist in certain Asian countries. Well it didn't officially exist over here until the 1960's because these children were either considered naughty or lazy or thick. Fortunately there have been huge strides in this area.

I believe that much of the problem manifested as dyslexia is due weakness in the brain in processing information from the eyes and ears and that work like Brain Gym and similar programmes to improve neural pathways is the way to help children with this problem.

I think he's made a serious mistake by taking this position.
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Comments

  • edited January 2009
    He has made a mistake. My mother's Dyslexic - she didn't learn to read until she was 14, and still now has difficulty when she writes at speed (a lot of the time words are jumbled up, in the wrong order or just run into each other - which is quite funny to read, but obviously no laughing matter for her).

    However, what I think this pillock was referring to (albeit in a stupid, insensitive manner, without researching his facts) is the number of people nowadays who simply say 'oh I'm dyslexic' when its pointed out to them that they can't spell. Dyslexia is not the inability to spell or string coherent sentences together, and, as someone who has seen what dyslexia actually is first hand, it sickens me every time I hear some thick c*** try and get away with the fact that they never learned to spell because they were too busy flicking rubber bands at other kids when they should have been paying attention in school.

    Agree with you though - the bloek's a complete berk.
  • What does the Prime Minister know about such issues.


    :-)
  • edited January 2009
    As it was explained to me a few years ago by my lad's special needs staff at school, dyslexia in this context broadly tends to be ‘letter/word lack of recognition’ (and sometimes sounds).

    Some people sometimes confuse dyslexia with dyspraxia.

    Dyspraxia covers many things but one of the give aways can be a ‘lack of consistant word/spelling co-ordination’, in one form or another.

    Of course, dyspraxia is a bit of an umbrella term to cover various co-ordination inconsistant function, both mentally and physically but reading difficulties can be a result also.
  • got to say though there are a hell of a lot of people that use the claim they have it when they just can't spell
  • The man is a moron.

    I think this is more about trying to cut Government spending as "special needs" children such as dyslexics etc attract greater funding per child than those who do not have special needs.

    At least that was the case when I was Parent Governor at a primary school some years back.
  • The strange thing about this is, along with modern terms like AHD (attention hyperactivity disorder) when i was at school in the fifties and sixties we never heard of Dyslexia. Yet, oddly enough, more or less every working class kid came out of secondary school literare and numerate. Not all to the same degree it's true, but we were good enough to forge our way through life!
  • How much taxpayers money does this waste of breath take.

    The man is a tosser who's children if he is able to have any have obviously not had such issues.

    I am letting you in those that read this my lad has dyspraxia a disorder that has many of the dyslexic traits but with its own concerns and other issues.

    this man is making me mad the wanker
  • [cite]Posted By: Daggs[/cite]The strange thing about this is, along with modern terms like AHD (attention hyperactivity disorder) when i was at school in the fifties and sixties we never heard of Dyslexia. Yet, oddly enough, more or less every working class kid came out of secondary school literare and numerate. Not all to the same degree it's true, but we were good enough to forge our way through life!

    I hate to take issue with you mate but many, many children slipped through the net in years gone by and couldn't read or write properly or at all.

    People like this MP are talking from ignorance. Scientists have learned more about the brain and the way information is or isn't processed by the brain in the last 10 years than mankind had learned in the previous 10 thousand years. They know much of what what affects neural processing. It is true that dyslexia describes a set of symptoms and not a cause, but be in no doubt that children do have this problem. It is also true that they do not yet fully understand precisely why some have this as a problems whilst others don't, but they certainly know it exists.

    I personally believe, having read around the subject is that the key to helping people with this condition is exercises which strengthen the neural pathways and in particular the cerebellum which is that part of the brain which deals with automatic and semi-automatic processing of information including eye movements and the storage of visual images specfically linked to lexagraphics.

    Our ability to read is determined by using our eyes to focus on words and then our brain to process the words and make sense of them. If the cerebellum is under-developed , it cannot move the eyes automatically to the words and that effects the ability to process them. It's rather like bandwidth. If too much information is being sent down too smaller bandwidth, what happens is the information getting through to our computers slows down. An under-developed cerebellum is like the bandwidth of the brain is too small and everything becomes harder to manage, which slows down the processing of information.

    To give an example of how the cerebellum works, think about when you first drove a car. You had to think so hard about every movement you made and it was extemely hard. Now compare and contrast how it is now. The process of driving is semi-automatic and your muscles are moved to operate the controls without really thinking about them, your eyes focus on the road and danger ahead automatically. That is the cerebellum which enables signals to be sent to the various muscles and information to be processed from the eyes and ears without having to use your thinking brain to any degree. So strengthen the cerebellums pathways but exercises specifically designed to force the cerebellum to build more pathways and you will help dyslexic and dyspraxic children.

    I've not made all this up, there has been some serious work done in this field in recent years. It is not conclusive proof but I've little doubt there will be very soon.

    Meanwhile my son needs the support and this MP's intervention, whether with benign intention doesn't help.
  • Exactly the point I tried to touch on a little earlier, NLA.


    Dyspraxia runs in my family too.
  • edited January 2009
    Always read mega loads thanks to my mum making me. Wondered why i got caned /slippered etc etc at school for geting spellings etc wrong was in my 30z before it was confirmed. There are many forms. Cant say its ever held me back or i have let it---------thats pure luck.Although the brain compensates for weakness in some areas with strength in others.

    Many "illnesses" didnt exist a few decades ago as science moves on we understand more. People with dyslexia are now being used in experiments re cognetive learning.

    as for that guy well he is a ctnu.


    I have problems with c /s d/b a/o double writing of same word, puting complete wrong word in that has no connection. It was thanks to a work collegues wife who is a speacial needs teacher who gave me this thing/test to undertake that confirmed it fr me. He showed her an email i had sent withut spell check !!
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  • it is hard enough to diagnose and deal with Oggy as i am sure you are aware of bud

    the school system and the way it is set up to get kids help one to one or with teaching assistants will not be made any easier with this ignorant egotistical shit heads comments.

    A certain lifer made my sons week b4 christmas with a favour from a family member on a cold evening and it made my life and the teachers life so much easier for a few days i really cant thank that person enough.

    then you get a muggy no mark like this fool and children WILL suffer it is an issue close to my heart and something that i and others have to live with a deal with.

    As many as 1 in 10 children can have certain Dyspraxia traits

    this man i would love to talk to and try to educate
  • edited January 2009
    [cite]Posted By: Oggy Red[/cite]Dyspraxia runs in my family too.

    Noses run in mine.....:o)

    Seriously though, I thought that this battle, well with dyslexia anyway was fought and won in the 1960's. My son goes to a school which pioneered the development of teaching techniques for children with this disorder.

    I think, if I'm being charitable, that he thinks he's helping by trying to de-label children. I have heard this argument used about ADHD, where some people, often teachers I am afraid to say, deny it's existance and claim that it's just an excuse for bad behaviour, bad parenting, etc. It's not helped by programmes like Super-Nanny where she goes in and sorts out some kids who are behaving badly. They never show her failures. She never gets the children with the real difficulties. If you got a child with these kind of conditions you will know that they are real.
  • My son is thought to be dyspraxic as well but the focus has been on the many other problems he has.
  • [cite]Posted By: Goonerhater[/cite]Always read mega loads thanks to my mum making me. Wondered why i got caned /slippered etc etc at school for geting spellings etc wrong was in my 30z before it was confirmed. There are many forms. Cant say its ever held me back or i have let it
    thats pure luck.Although the brain compensates for weakness in some areas with strength in others.

    Many "illnesses" didnt exist a few decades ago as science moves on we understand more. People with dyslexia are now being used in experiments re cognetive learning.

    as for that guy well he is a ctnu.


    I have problems with c /s d/b a/o double writing of same word, puting complete wrong word in that has no connection. It was thanks to a work collegues wife who is a speacial needs teacher who gave me this thing/test to undertake that confirmed it fr me. He showed her an email i had sent withut spell check !!

    GH, its great that it hasn't held you back and it's very true that the brain compensates. Many people who are dyslexic are also seriously bright. It's right to focus on ensuring that kids are not held back with dyslexia and dyspraxia, that surely is the way forward, not the approach from this idiot to deny the existance.
  • They tried to say mine had adhd and then a form of autism (i really crapped myself at that meeting) but now it is widely agreed to be Dyspraxia and the school he goes to is fantastic in the support they give him and how they hide it from his pals in a way that no one notices his needs.

    I spose your right Bing with him trying to remove labels from children as that is as important that children are not pigeon holed in to one band or another and treated individually

    Getting my son a dog has made a huge diffrence to him his schooling and to us as a family, it was mentioned and researched to have more positives than negatives i just hope the bond between them grows and little JJ the staffie helps little Joe
  • I'm a primary teacher and I'm in charge of a specialist speech and language resource. We have children with a wide range of difficulties from autism,cerebal palsy,dyspraxia, to a number of rare syndromes that no one has heard of apart from us!
    We are a dyslexia friendly school and we have been looking at this issue closely recently as we have new screening aids to "diagnose" or identify this difficulty. The umbrella of dyslexia has widened widely over the last few years and the current thinking suggests that we are all dyslexic to a greater or lesser degree.
    Having worked a few years ago with a profoundly dyslexic adult I can assure anyone that the condition exists - the problem is it is often quite tricky to confirm a young child is dyslexic and our new screening has already highlighted that several children thought by some staff to be dyslexic are not if this new test is reliable.
    It is an interesting area this bloke's views are not backed by recent research. Of course there are people who want a label for their child as an excuse or whatever but it is not a made up or pretend condition.
    It is also worth pointing out that parents of children with genuine difficulties or disabilities often have huge struggles to get the support their children need. It can be a hard and painful road for these parents and they are often to be greatly admired
  • I should also echo that point that children with these sort of difficulties can have great strengths in other cognitive areas so there is no link between dyslexia and intelligence.
  • this site gets better and better amazes me how the charlton family have so many open conversations with people that only have one common intrest or so you think when you join up
  • I would agree with the MP about bad teaching. Some are better than others there is good and bad in every profesion. But he must be headline grabbing making statements like that. I would like him to be correct but I know he is so wrong. I think one of the problems in education is trying to find excuses why children don’t achieve and then using dyslexia as a convenient pigeon hole.

    I've had this issue with my son. The teachers at his school said that he was dyslexic. Something I was not going except their word alone on. So we paid to have him tested by a teacher who specializes in this field. He wasn’t dyslexic, just badly taught, missing the basics and like most boys, lazy. One year of tuition after school once a week sorted him out.
    I wished my parents had done the same for me. I cannot spell even if my life depended on it. I’m not dyslexic but maybe borderline thick. But as I work in higher education I guess it hasn’t held me back.
  • To be fair charltonkeston when research is undertaken on things like dyslexia it is not often to find an excuse as to why children are underachieving but rather to try to understand particular difficulties so that we can use the right strategies to aid their learning.
    Policies and educational decisions driven by political agendas of course remain as always.
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  • edited January 2009
    I'm I right in saying that in languages where symbols are used rather than letters (ie Chinese) there is no dyslexia or is that an urban myth.

    EDIT

    Rothko tells me there is, as dyslexia is a failing of short term memory.
  • As a Manchester resident who may or may not have voted for Graham Stringer can I just say that I'm extremely soppy.
  • It's a failing of what Henry?

    (sorry, couldn't resist!)
  • more propoganda from absolute fecking muppets, who are supposedly the authorities.....
  • [cite]Posted By: charltonkeston[/cite]I would agree with the MP about bad teaching. Some are better than others there is good and bad in every profesion. But he must be headline grabbing making statements like that. I would like him to be correct but I know he is so wrong. I think one of the problems in education is trying to find excuses why children don’t achieve and then using dyslexia as a convenient pigeon hole.

    I've had this issue with my son. The teachers at his school said that he was dyslexic. Something I was not going except their word alone on. So we paid to have him tested by a teacher who specializes in this field. He wasn’t dyslexic, just badly taught, missing the basics and like most boys, lazy. One year of tuition after school once a week sorted him out.
    I wished my parents had done the same for me. I cannot spell even if my life depended on it. I’m not dyslexic but maybe borderline thick. But as I work in higher education I guess it hasn’t held me back.

    This is a great post because I'm sure people like your son is probably what the MP was talking about but hes gone off half cock.

    Clearly there are some children who just need the right teacher/teaching methods. There are other children like my son who's as bright as a brain pie but he has a clear problems with processing words, both sounding them and reading/writing them.
  • [cite]Posted By: 3blokes[/cite]I should also echo that point that children with these sort of difficulties can have great strengths in other cognitive areas so there is no link between dyslexia and intelligence.

    My son is a fantastic mimic, and has a great singing voice and he got an almost photographic memory. Since we moved him to a school that can actually help him, he's been picked for the school choir and he learns every song by ear. His teacher tells me he knows the words better than those who can read.
  • edited January 2009
    My daughter was diagnosed as Dyslexic and laterly this was adjusted to Irlen syndrome as the charachteristics are almost identical, so much so it is thought that up to 50% of those suffering from Dyslexia are actually suffering from Irlen syndrome.

    Irlen Syndrome sufferers have a problem in the brain whereby the white balance within their vision takes over everything else and therefore for example, they cannot distinguish the black writing on a white page. But also this extends to colours and details in everyday life as sufferers face problems with daylight in the same way. It is managed by coloured lenses or overlays. Each sufferers balance issue is different and therefore each require different colours.

    The countries Mr Stringer refers to have both invested heavily in education. South Korea as an ongoing project as education is a major part of their culture and Nicaragua since the change of regime with the help of Unesco and other international organisations. Perhaps such conditions exist in these countries but it is recognised and managed at an early stage to the point where it need not be labelled.

    Perhaps therefore if succesive British governments actually got their collective fingers out of their ignorant arses, then the very organisation that helps those that genuinly suffer from Dyslexia wouldn't have to be a registered charity and instead the issue would be government funded so that the thing could be dealt with so that no child or adult with this very real problem, would be labelled as an idiot ever again.

    Unlike this stringer pratt!!!!
  • edited January 2009
    Top post KB and very interesting about Irlen Syndrome. We are trying to get our son sensory testing to look at whether he has issues, hitherto not detected. The paediatrician will carry out the tests but not on the NHS because the local Healthcare trust wont fund it. I am wondering whether this testing will include testing for Irlen Syndrome. I'll ask.
  • edited January 2009
    The mans a fool, of course dyslexia exists and in varying degrees too.
    However, if this MP had have said what a lot of us think, in that a lot of thick and lazy parents and kids 'claim' to be dyslexic, he might have found a degree of agreement.I say this because I do think that it's a bit of a 'catch all' comment coveniently used nowadays for quite a few folk (and their teachers), who are simply a bit thick and are unable to read or write as a result. I of course have every sympathy with folk who have 'genuine' difficulties in this aspect of their life as some of you have outlayed above....it seems my young nephew might be going to have problems in this department.
    My spelling and puncuation isn't that great I know but that's down to pure impatience on my part as a youngster in not concentrating enough...and nothing to do with dyslexia.
    I was one of the first half dozen or so in my year at school to actually learn to read....however for some strange reason writing and spelling took a fair bit longer and it's never been up to the standard I'd like.
  • One of my friends is dyslexic, he is a graphic artist and works in advertising. All his children have been assessed as being dyslexic, boys and girls.

    I think the problem is partly to do with the word dyslexia which describes the problem but not the cause.

    Whilst I understand the point that I suspect he was getting at, namely the labelling of children, it is completely ignorant to say that there is no such thing. Also if there are children who are lazy and just need better teachers and methods to motivate them to learn, then focussing on helping these children to learn to read better is surely a good thing?
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