Well done Josh, you are an amazing person and Dyslexic Brian takes his hat off to you

Once you have read this story pay a visit to Josh’s blog: my blog www.joshcope.wordpress.com

Josh Cope’s Dyslexia Life Story – so far…

Josh Cope

In school I was told I was slow.  Slow reader. Slower writer. Slow runner. HORRIFIC at playing any Game that involved hand eye coordination. So there wasn’t much to keep me engaged at school. My parents thought I had dyslexia from a young age, but the school, for whatever reason, didn’t test me. My mother would beg the head teacher and in the end I had an hour with a SPLD teacher, but still no test. Then when I reached college things changed, the teachers could see that there was obviously a problem with my reading and writing in particular and at the beginning of the first year of college I was tested and they told me I had dyslexia.

Not only does dyslexia affect your ability to read and write. But one of the biggest problems (I still struggle with) is organisation. As a child with dyslexia you also have to put up with the bullying and Being in such a small secondary school there were little resources available to me. So my parents paid for me to attend the DDAT centre in Cardiff. What a great program!!! They helped so much and I think it’s a program that should be available to everyone.

Josh meeting Her Royal Highness

Since leaving school I have started college and also work for a charity called UK Youth. I could never apply myself to the subjects in school but when I find a topic that excites me I always find ways of expressing my views. Since starting working for UK Youth my confidence has grown dramatically. I feel confident enough to stand up in front of a room filled with CEO’s and fell totally comfortable. As I write this I am on my way to meet Her Royal Highness at an event where I will be giving a talk on youth empowerment.

I wanted to write this blog to tell people, and hopefully inspire other young people to get involved. Last week i managed to meet Pixie Lott (what teenage boy wouldn’t love that).

Learning about what dyslexia is, really help me understand why I face the issues I do and now I feel proud to say I’m dyslexic and I can look at things from an alternative angle. This has prompted me to look at the educational system and how we are failing our young people and how it can be changed.

You can find out more about my views about education reform at my blog www.joshcope.wordpress.com and my twitter Josh_io .

Josh Cope Trustee for UK Youth Director of Shine week (www.shineweek.co.uk)

Question:

Is there any way I can make the school understand things about dyslexia?

Answer:

Over the years I have come into contact with loads of parents of dyslexia children. The vast majority of these parents are happy with the levels of dyslexia awareness and support within their children’s schools.

There are thousands of great schools out there that are jam packed with brilliant teacher who know exactly how to support and encourage dyslexic children to learn to read, write and do well at school.

These teachers support dyslexic children to learn without them feeling too much (if any) negative difference between themselves and the other children in the class… These teachers have a knack for assisting dyslexic children to build up their confidence, self-esteem, self-belief, etc… These teachers are able to stimulate the minds of dyslexic children and show them that ‘learning’ is fun and worthwhile… Wow for teachers like this!

However, there are still a few schools that haven’t quite got things right yet when it comes down to dyslexia but who are trying hard and with luck will get there soon. A dyslexic child may struggle so much within a school like this but what we have to remember is that teachers within these schools are doing their best to support dyslexic children with their learning.

And now the BAD NEWS!

Unfortunately there are some ‘Schools of Dyslexia DOOM’ within the system. These schools seem to have a bit of an ‘anti-dyslexia culture’ going on. Some times this may show itself in very subtle ways that you can’t quite put your finger on – but you can feel it nevertheless. Some times it may show itself in the attitudes of the teachers who just don’t believe that dyslexia exists – in which case you will be fighting a loosing battle to get your child the support they deserve.

Some GOOD NEWS!

If you’re child is unlucky enough to be in a school that has a strong ‘anti-dyslexia culture’ then we would suggest that you don’t waist to much time trying to educate the teachers. You might get sucked into a long winded argument that last for years and that might leaves your child feeling that they have caused this to happen – which as we all know will be no good for your child’s self-esteem – BOO to arguing!

Instead spend your time assisting and encouraging your child to learn to read and write whilst having lots of fun. (The fun bit is very important so the more fun the better).

Now for something FUNNY!

Some parents of dyslexic children that I have spoke to have told me that they haven’t got time to spend on supporting their children to read and write. Yet these very same parents spend countless hours each week having verbal punch ups with school teachers in the playground.

And where’s the dyslexic child left in all of this…. feeling pretty low and helpless I suspect?

Some parent of dyslexic children have mentioned to me that they don’t really understand what dyslexia is and that they don’t have the necessary skills to support their children with their learning.

These are very valid concerns and it is understandable that some parents feel this way. However, from my experience as a ‘dyslexic’ dyslexia support tutor, the best placed people to support dyslexic children are parents who have the right attitude about dyslexia.

Ok what is the ‘right attitude’ I can hear some of you asking…

Well in my view the right attitude is a philosophical one – let me explain…

We need to remember that written words are a human invention and that they are quite slippery things to get to grips with especially if you don’t have much of a preference for using them…

Some people (i.e. some dyslexic people) would rather use different tools to express themselves with… for example, talking, painting, drawing, dancing, playing sport, etc…

These people are not broken in anyway – they simply have a natural preference to use non-word type tools…

Now the education system imposes on children the need to use written language as the main means of expression – so when children who have a natural preference for non-word type tools are forced to use written language it simply clashing with this preference.
In a way it’s like forcing a person who has a natural preference to use their left-handed to write using their right hand – this would naturally clash against their preference.

If this person started struggling to write we wouldn’t think they were broken in anyway would we? So why do so many people think that dyslexic people are broken and in need of fixing when all that is going on is that they are being forced to use tools that don’t suit their natural preference?

Reading and writing are just skills that anyone who puts their mind to it can learn to do.

Reading and writing are just skills that anyone who puts their mind to it can learn to do – dyslexic people are no exception here!

I’m a prime example of this as I was functionally illiterate when I was 18 years old as a result of my dyslexia and yet now I am able to read and write to a good enough standard… I had loads of other dyslexia related issues too that I have overcome as well.

What is my secret – well there isn’t one really. I just realised that I had a natural preference to express myself by talking and that the act of trying to write was simply clashing against my natural preference.

Then I realised that reading and writing are just skills that anyone can learn… I knew a left-handed boy when I was at school that had broken his left arm and so had to learn to write with his non-preferred right hand… it took him a bit of time but he eventually mastered it… I just took the same approach with learning to read and write…

I must admit it was a long road as it took me 13 years to get myself to where most 13 year olds are with reading and writing (I was 31 at the time) and then another 14 years to get to a standard good enough to do write my PhD thesis on the subject of dyslexia… Wow thats a long time… (I’ll be sharing some tips with you in future post that will explain how not to take this long if you’re trying to overcome your dyslexia)

So, to cut this very long post a bit shorter – try seeing your child’s dyslexia in the way I have described and let this come out in your attitude towards them – you’ll be surprised the difference that it might make…

Ok there’s a lot to read and take in here so I’ll say goodbye for now – but I’ll be back soon as Goga and I will do a video showing a few ways to assist your child to learn to read and write whilst having lots of fun

Written by Antonio Farruggia

Dyslexia Support Tutor and Co-founder of Dyslexic Brian Share

The University of Cincinnati is employing its design research capabilities to create a 21st century electronic toolkit to speed learning for children with dyslexia. UC digital designer Renee Seward describes some of the activities in her electronic toolkit to help children with dyslexia.

Young People Sitting an Exam

One of today’s headlines focused on the 4,000 children who got caught ‘cheating’ in their exams.

The majority of these children were apparently caught using their mobile phones to download answers to their exam questions.

I was so shocked when I heard this – not because I think these children were wrong – quite the opposite, I think they should all be praised and given an award for their ingenuity.

Isn’t it a bit peculiar how, in the twenty-first century, schools test children on the amount of information they can hold in their heads and then regurgitate on demand – when with a couple of clicks on their phones all this information is available to them!

Shouldn’t the schools be testing children on their ability to use electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers to search the World Wide Web for information that will be of use to them within the context of their lives?

It concerns me when I see hundreds of nervous looking children sitting at desks scribbling down pointless facts, figures and formulas that will most likely never surface again from their overloaded brains once they have left school.

Shouldn’t we be seeing lots of confident children sitting, walking or lying down wherever they want to, using a range of electronic devices that they can use to create or access knowledge with?

So, I think the 4,000 children who used their heads and went with the times should be given an award.

There is little doubt in my mind that many of these children, if praised rather than criticised, will go on to be leaders in education and commerce – as they have an innate intelligence to use the best tools available to them to get the job done!

Well done to all 4,000 of them for highlighting how ludicrous our educational system is!

Written by Antonio Farruggia

Co-founder of Dyslexic Brain

Let us know what you think about this topic by posting your comments in the box below – it will be great to read them… or email Antonio at antonio@DyslexicBrian.com

iPad

Will the new iPad help or hinder dyslexic children to improve their literacy skills?

This is a good question – a bit of a tricky one to answer – but a good one nevertheless.

At Dyslexic Brian we love any technology that encourages dyslexic children to develop their literacy skills whilst having fun – and we feel that the iPad will do this job nicely.

A great feature on the iPad is its onscreen keypad that looks so, so, sooooo touchable – who wouldn’t want to tap away all day on those gorgeous looking keys?!

We are going to check out if any touch typing tutorial type applications are available for the iPad – we’re guessing that there are – in which case if you’re dyslexic and lucky enough to have an iPad already, then download a touch typing Application and start learning to touch type in style!

[N.B. from Antonio’s experience as a dyslexia support tutor, and from his experience of overcoming his own dyslexia, he has noticed just how quickly dyslexic people start making significant improvements with their spellings once they have learnt to touch type.]

We feel that every opportunity should be taken to encourage dyslexic children to improve their literacy skills using tools that are up to date and relevant within modern society. Why teach children, dyslexic and non-dyslexic alike, to learn to write using pen and paper anyway, when they most probably will never come into contact with these antiquated tools again by the time they leave school?

Shouldn’t we, within the context of the supper charged IT era that we live in, be teaching children to read and write using cutting edge technology (i.e. on iPad’s and/or anything else that is equivalent to it)?

In fact, there have been some suggestions that ‘rather than view the iPad as something between a laptop and a smartphone–something people have potentially little need for–Apple should position its new device as ‘the actual replacement for paper.’  Click here to view source

Unfortunately, we can’t see pen and paper being replaced by advance technology for a very long time to come.

Ok that’s enough of a rant about current educational practices for now!

Let’s get back to the question in hand…

We believe that using an iPad will, without a doubt, help dyslexic children to improve their literacy skills – providing – that they are encouraged to play an equal amount of literacy type games to the fun type games that we are sure the iPad has in store for us.

And, one of the great features of the iPad is the iBook application where you can buy books, read them and then put them away on your very own bookshelf – it looks really good and will hopeful encourage children to read more – well that is if the books aren’t to expensive to download.

All in all we love the iPad and hope, now that we have sang lot’s of praise for it, that Apple will send Dyslexic Brian one in the post tomorrow – please Apple please!!!!!!!

Click here to watch a good video review that we came across on Youtube – its funny!

We love it because we think that it’s a great resource for dyslexic people who want to improve their literacy skills whilst playing games…

Click here to check it out… and please let us know what you think of it

Lets have some Dyslexic Fun

Here’s a Dyslexic Quote from Dyslexic Brian to get the ball rolling:

“2 d or knot 2 d – that is the question…”

Twilight Saga

Have you ever read a vampire book before, expecting to be cast into a fantasy world of spell binding excitement – only to find it hasn’t exactly met your expectations?

Well, don’t let your past experience put you off!

This is a brilliantly written book that I’m sure will met your ever expectation. It’s a story full of mystical and make-believe creatures that come to life in your mind to scare you out of your wits!! Only joking some of them are quite cute actually.

Twilight is a whole new world of fantasy blended with the classic boy meets girl novel but with a twist. I won’t tell you what the twist is or I’ll spoil the intrigue.

A world were people aren’t what they seem – a world where there’s more to be discovered than meets the eye. Twilight is a gripping and captivating adventure, through and through!

It’s well worth reading and I would rate it as one of the best books I’ve read in this genre

WARNING: Don’t Read Past This Point unless You Want to Know the Story!!!

Twilight is the first book in the saga written by Stephenie Meyer. Written from the perspective of seventeen year old, Bella Swann. Bella, who moves from Sunny Phoenix to a small, showery town named Folks, Washington to live with her dad, soon becomes involved in something beyond her belief. She finds herself deeply attracted to a mysterious boy, later known as Edward Cullen. His inhumane Striking Looks, Pale, cold skin and unbelievable strength causes Bella to become highly inquisitive and she begins to speculate over the identity of Edward. She soon finds out that 17 year old Edward is in fact a vampire and has been one for 109 years! This made me smile when I read it – he must be the oldest 17 year old in town!!

Poor old/young Edward had suffered Spanish influenza and on his death bed was saved by Doctor Carlisle Cullen who made a decision to turn him into a vampire along with many others who were in the same situation. Edward along with all those saved from death make up the “Vegetarian” Cullen family who have, believe it or not, chosen to survive on animal blood only – strange behavior for blood thirsty vampires hey? Well its true – the first of their kind – Veggie Vampires!

Throughout the book you see the struggles and complications Bella and Edward face in their relationship. Not far into the book you see a close bond form between Bella and Edward. However, when the story later develops and everything becomes clear to Bella about who Edward really is things take a turn for the worse. When the rival vampire gang heads into town and one of the locals is killed, it’s not long before they discover someone else to try and get their teeth into him. They come across the Cullen’s who are enjoying a very agile game of base ball when they realize there is a human among them….Bella. Having the rival vampires chasing after Bella, leaves the relationship between Bella and Edwards even more tense than it was before. The romance between them suddenly turns into a desperate struggle to stay alive. At this point of the story Edward feels guilty and blames himself for having put Bella in so much danger. It seems impossible for them to be happy but they are unwilling to give up. Will they ever be able to work this doomed romance out?

Twilight is a relatively easy book to read and the story line was simple to grasp as it’s written in a way that it is incredibly easy to follow and to understand what’s going on. I am happy to recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book with unexpected twists and turns. Twilight is a book so full of dramatic cliffhangers that will keep you up all night. Oh, and if you like a book with a good ending, then this one is defiantly for you as the story ends with such an unexpected climax.

Twilight is a book you really won’t want to put down!!!

Click here to buy a copy of Twilight

Get your book review published on Dyslexic Brian

If you would like to get your book review published on the Dyslexic Brian website then please send them to me at Nellie@dyslexicbrian.com

I hope that you enjoy this poem as much as I did – I’m sure that Andrea’s story will inspire and motivate people – dyslexic and non-dyslexics alike – to further develop the creative abilities of their minds… it certainly has for me!

Thanks once again Andrea,

All the best from Dyslexic Brian

Andrea Boff

Wonderful Dyslexia: Embracing the Wiring of My Mind by Andrea Boff

Page from Andrea's sketchbook, 2009

Throughout my childhood, my grandmother saved all my drawings in a special place in her kitchen. I still have some of them (thanks to her) and they date back to when I was 2 years old.

The point is, I always thought in pictures and in 3-D (even though I only have one working eye). Something in my brain enabled me to “see” space without stereo vision.

Even as there were abilities, there were liabilities. My mom would send me to the store for bread and milk and I would return with eggs and butter (knowing that I was supposed to get some sort of staple) but my memory just would not “hold” on to the ideas. Time was a mystery to me, so I was always late for dinner. I could not tell left from right and drew and “L” and an “R” on my bike handles, jeans, and hands. Simple tasks like “cross referencing” two lists, or organizing my school work was just about impossible and frustrating.

But it was the discipline of drawing that taught me how to think. I had an imaginary pencil and with it I drew imaginary lines in space. I drew houses, and hinges on the doors. By spinning the doors I realized that they created “cylinders” in the air. The planes of the house taught me perspective and geometry. I understood 3 dimensional space. That was the beginning of everything.

Today, I thrive. I am the Director of Experience Design in the Creative Department of a Fortune 100 where I design and build complex web properties. My ability to see in 3-D is tapped every day as I plan the tracks that users take through the web. Once I was afraid to speak of the Dyslexia and now I see it as a design resource in myself and others. Dyslexia has helped me understand that there are powerful differences in the ways human minds are wired and I respect others wiring even as I respect my own. There are many ways a mind can be wired – dyslexia is just one – and they are all very fascinating. I embrace this wiring. I know the pitfalls and the glories of it and that there is so much to learn from a person with a 3-D mind.

Make the Letters Stop Dancing

When my mom first opened books
across my lap for quiet looks
the pictures dazzled at a glance
and every word got up and danced.

The “T” and “H” spun with the “E”
and all for the delight of me
but they would not be still enough
for me to learn to read the stuff.

They would not sit on the line
so I stopped them with my mind
imagining them spatially
I sucked them down with gravity.

They quivered on the sentence shelf
till I could read them all myself -
And when I finished paragraphs
I let them all back up to dance.

Andrea Boff Sutton © 2009

Visit Andrea’s website www.boff.myexpose.com

Twin boys - different labels.

Several years ago I ran a workshop in Birmingham that was aimed at assisting parents of dyslexic children to gain a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding dyslexia.

The workshop was well attended and some of the parents had brought along their children with them as they perhaps thought it would be of benefit for them to meet me – maybe to inspire them to persevere with their efforts to overcome dyslexia – you see, I was functionally illiterate as a child and it took me from the ages of 18 to 31 to learn to read and write to a good enough standard to get myself into university – I’m now finishing off my PhD in education on the subject of dyslexia.

Anyway, returning to the focus of this post, ‘The Dyslexic Label and Low Self-Esteem’, there were twin boys (8 year olds) attending the workshop – one that had been labelled as dyslexic the other who had not. Yet, both brothers showed very similar issues when it came to reading and writing.

However, I noticed a striking difference between the two of them – the twin that had been labelled as dyslexic had very little confidence when it came to his reading and writing abilities. His brother, on the other hand, was extremely confident and was at times – in typical sibling rivalry – mocking his brother for the ‘mistakes’ he was making whilst writing a short story about his dyslexia. This twin was also keen to show off his literacy skills whilst his brother shied away from writing and at times seemed to be somewhat embarrassed when asked to writing something.

Curiously, the father of the twins spoke to his son who had been labelled as dyslexic differently to how he spoke to his son that had not been labelled in this way. For example, I heard him telling the dyslexic twin that his brain was not normal like his brothers and that’s why he needed to have special treatment at school – a sure way to knock a child’s self-esteem! I also noticed how his attitude seemed different to the ‘dyslexic’ twin, it was almost as if had resided himself to the fact that this son would never achieve academically.

Both brothers produced written work on the day along with a couple of drawings that had speech bubbles coming from the characters they had created. At first glance, I couldn’t tell who had produced what – they both spelt words unconventionally, their handwriting was ‘messy’ and in places illegible, and they both appeared to have difficulties expressing themselves on paper to a level that matched, or came somewhere close to, their verbal abilities. The only differentiating factor between the two sets of work was that they had both taken the time to write their names on the top of each piece of paper. On looking at their work I was puzzled why one of the twins had been assessed as dyslexic and the other one had not.

On reflection, I remember thinking how the lives of the twins would most probably go off in quite different directions as a result of one being labelled as dyslexic – this happening despite there being (in my opinion) very little difference between the two of them in terms of their literacy skills.

I remember thinking at the time how the only real difference between the twins was the perception that they held of themselves in relation to their literacy skill. The ‘non-dyslexic’ brother appeared to have high levels of self-esteem and seemed to view himself as more than able to read and write – whist the other brother appeared to have low levels of self-esteem and clearly doubt his reading and writing ability. I speculated that the ‘non-dyslexic’ brother stood a far great chance of improving his literacy skills over the years as he would more than likely engage with written language to a far great extent than his ‘dyslexic’ brother would.

It was during this workshop that it really hit home just how damaging the label of dyslexia can be for some children.

Article by Antonio Farruggia, 11th January, 2010