MP SAYS DYSLEXIA IS A MYTH

[tech_guy]

BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | MP brands dyslexia as a 'fiction'

 

This man is an idiot and should be lambasted.

Edited January 14, 2009 by tech_guy

[alan-d]

He obviously knows nothing about Moths

 

 

 

On a serious note - if he is suggesting that people with Dyslexia are under achievers due to poor education, how does he explain the A level students we have that get A* .

 

And how does he explain those that suffer from dyslexia but with certain coloured lenses are able to read and write exceptionally better?

 

Agreed - the man is a muppet

[localzuk]

Wow, what an idiot!

[flyinghaggis]

I'm not agreeing with his comments but I'm concerned that we are making too much of an issue of trying to diagnose people with 'conditions' to make up for the fact they're finding something difficult.

 

It worries me when it comes to exams aswelll. For example when two pupils sit an exam but one of them is dyslexic so is given a laptop, spelling checker and an extra 30 minutes in the exam! If both these pupils get the same grade could you honestly say that they're both of equal ability given one had an advantage over the other? Surely their level of ability should be reflected in the grade they recieve in the exam?

Edited January 14, 2009 by flyinghaggis

[localzuk]

I'm not agreeing with his comments but I'm concerned that we are making too much of an issue of trying to diagnose people with 'conditions' to make up for the fact they're finding something difficult.

 

It worries me when it comes to exams aswelll. For example when two pupils sit an exam but one of them is dyslexic so is given a laptop, spelling checker and an extra 30 minutes in the exam! If both these pupils get the same grade could you honestly say that they're both of equal ability given one had an advantage over the other? Surely their level of ability should be reflected in the grade they recieve in the exam?

 

It isn't about saying they have the same ability - it is about not penalising them because of a medical condition. Equal opportunities and all that.

 

If we don't do this, then it means that people with conditions won't get jobs, and won't be useful members of society. So what if they do it 20% slower? At least they can do it.

[tech_guy]

This MP guy is dangerous - does he want a return to the practices of the 70's, which was when I was at school. Struggling pupils were labelled as thick and put in special classes - usually being dumped in a room with other 'thickos' and being left with some old dear who read abc books with them and played with plasticene - the cause of much misery simply because their condition was unknown then. One of my best friends had his school days blighted and ended up leaving school with no qualifications because his dyslexia was unknown, untreated, not catered for. Edited January 14, 2009 by tech_guy

[TechMonkey]

I'm not agreeing with his comments but I'm concerned that we are making too much of an issue of trying to diagnose people with 'conditions' to make up for the fact they're finding something difficult.

 

I agree with this but not so much with Dyslexia. The testing is very well developed and tested now. The biggest problem is parents trying to push their disruptive or lazy kids as having it when they haven't, but the testing shows this.

 

Other conditions I am more dubious about.

[flyinghaggis]

It isn't about saying they have the same ability - it is about not penalising them because of a medical condition. Equal opportunities and all that.

 

What's the point in making kids sit exams which are then graded based on their ability if that grade turns out to be meaningless because all of the pupils aren't sitting the test under the same conditions ? Surely the whole point of exams is to discrimintate against people depending on their level of ability!

Edited January 14, 2009 by flyinghaggis

[Guest Guest]

I'm not agreeing with his comments but I'm concerned that we are making too much of an issue of trying to diagnose people with 'conditions' to make up for the fact they're finding something difficult.

 

It worries me when it comes to exams aswelll. For example when two pupils sit an exam but one of them is dyslexic so is given a laptop, spelling checker and an extra 30 minutes in the exam! If both these pupils get the same grade could you honestly say that they're both of equal ability given one had an advantage over the other? Surely their level of ability should be reflected in the grade they recieve in the exam?

 

I cant say i disagree with you. Both myself and my brother have dyslexia. Even just writing this post up to here i have had to correct 2 spelling mistakes but i didnt take the attitude of "i have dyslexia therefore its alright that i cant spell", i put the effort in...

 

Having dyslexia shouldnt be about having extra time to do your english exam so that its "fair". When you get in the real work no company will make such concessions. It should be about finding out what the kid is good at and focusing on that. As has been proven in many fields, lack of ability in one area quite often means you will excel in another.

 

I believe a fairer way to go about exams is you shouldnt be marked down in a science exam for having poor english (barring science specific terms), but you shouldnt get extra time to do it.

 

On a side note i hate people who correct spellings. So what i cant spell, but i bet im better at IT, maths, science... than you are. As long as someone puts the effort in to make themsleves understood then i dont really see a problem with a few mistakes here and there (but as i said thats no reason to use the "i have dyslexia therefore im not even going to try" excuse)

Edited January 14, 2009 by Guest

[unixman]

I have dyslexia and I agree with some of what the muppet says! I was educated in the 1960's & 70's when there were no allowances for dyslexia such as longer exam times. Did it hold me back? Dunno you tell me - I graduated from university with a BSc in Computer Science and I've been working in IT for 30 years. You don't need financial help or longer times in exams. You learn to live with your condition and make the best of it.

 

I am well known for my meticulous work; I check everything many times, a hang over from when I used to triple check my work.

[Guest salan]

What's the point in making kids sit exams which are then graded based on their ability if that grade turns out to be meaningless because all of the pupils aren't sitting the test under the same conditions ? Surely the whole point of exams is to discrimintate against people depending on their level of ability!

Well I am dyslexic and I had a reader for some exams I recently sat.

What they did was that I read the question aloud to them and then they either said ok or said re-read the question.

I WANTED someone who knew nothing about the subject so that they did not influence in any way what I understood the question to be. They were only there to make sure I had read the question correctly.

I think that this guy is an idiot. BUT I also think that a lot of poorly performing kids are using the 'banner' of things like dyslexia to explain away their bad performance.

I am a qualiied teacher and when I taught adults, I had quite a few adults that were dyslexic.

One in particular I remember. Her mum was dyslexic, and she was also.

She had been brought up with the attitude that she was thick and would never amount to anything.

 

When I explained that I was also dyslexic and that I had an IQ of 156, Microsoft Certified, and a host of other qualifications, she was amazed!

As I said to her I see it as a gift, not a curse.

Dyslexic people just need to learn in a different way.

When we do, we can take in information at great spead and quantity.

I have Visual impairments as well and dyspraxia. but rather then use them as an excuse, I think of how I can use my strengths rather then my weaknesses.

Yes I have had some equipment bought me to help and yes I have to use other means to do some things(the computer and talking books rather then written work).

My own 'soap box' is people who think that dyslexic people are just people that can't spell properly.

My world is pictures NOT words. I mentally translate everything into pictures. I learn visually.

Yes I can read and write. I can 'chrysanthemum' but not simple words like 'the'.

We are all different and need to find out how to learn.

Alan

[dhicks]

Surely the whole point of exams is to discrimintate against people depending on their level of ability!

 

Exactly, although tricky to actually put into practice. This is where the whole "personalised learning" stuff should come to the rescue - ideally, pupils should be taught whatever is most suitable for them. However, this is currently pretty much impossible to put into practice - schools contain a limited number of teachers, who know particular things, and teaching time per child is limited. In the vaguely-distant future that we're all working towards, each child might simply use "school" as a place where they sit and watch video-conferenced lessons on subjects of their choosing, but we're not quite there yet. Actually, just to add insult to injury, it is of course the dyslexic children that would struggle more with an online text-based learning environment.

 

--

David Hicks

[SteveBentley]

This man is an idiot and should be sacked.

 

Unfortunately he can't be sacked, only way to remove him against his will would be to elect somebody else at the next election.

[AngryTechnician]

Unfortunately he can't be sacked, only way to remove him against his will would be to elect somebody else at the next election.

 

More unfortunately, most people in his constituency will have forgotten all about this when the election comes around and will just vote for the candidate of whatever party the tabloids tells them is better (though with the drubbing Labour is getting it will probably mean he is out anyway).

 

An awful lot of people pay no attention to the actual person they are voting for in elections, they just look at the party and vote according to which party they want; just look at the last local elections. Labour lost a mountain of seats, not because the local councillors were doing a bad job, but because Labour's image at a national level was so poor.

[TechMonkey]

My world is pictures NOT words. I mentally translate everything into pictures. I learn visually.

 

A story on that, had a guy that used to help me out who was dyslexic and he was telling me about the embarresment he caused when a plaque was unvield in town for something or other and he immediately pointed out the spelling mistake, purely because when he looked at the word it didn't match his picture of the word. Everyone else was doing the old it must be right as all the correct letters are there & their brains weren't processing the error. He was very pleased about this as it had to be re-done, but that was just how he was

[GrumbleDook]

I was lucky pretty lucky. At primary school I was often in the lower sets and that was partly due to attention span more than anything else. I had a high reading age, but that was down to skim reading and my brain filling in the gaps.

 

When I was in my last year in primary school I was on holiday when schools started so came into the class late and was told I would start at the bottom but move up to wherever my natural level was.

 

I got bored of the easy tasks so was set double the work to others in the same group ... I progressed until it was obvious that I could not express myself in writing very well. I ad a teacher who taught me some handy tricks to make sure I wasn't marked down and I ended up in the top set. I got a bursary to a private school and ended up coming out middle of the road due mainly due to being bone idle.

 

Being taught tricks to deal with dyslexia worked for me. For others it is simple things like coloured lenses. It just takes time to work out what is best for you. However, if you are not diagnosed in the first place you can't get that help you need. It turned out I was never formally diagnosed whilst at school ... I was only diagnosed whilst in the Army when helping a friend out who was learning how to test soldiers for dyslexia / dyspraxia / dyscalculia.

 

I have always accepted that I have to work that little bit harder that a lot of people to reach the same point. I also have to read my text up to 3 times to be sure it is ok (often as I am still typing other bits I am reading a few lines behind ... it works for me so it doesn't have to make sense!). Then again, I have friends who used to have to work that little bit harder when in the army as they had shorter legs and it is hard doing drill with short legs at times. C'est la vie!

 

Would I have been different if I had been labelled? Probably ... but not by much. Would I have been different if I had just been labelled as thick rather than being dealt with as a someone with issues reading and? A certainty!