Malcolm | Dyslexia Inspirational Story
Malcolm
As with many ‘dyslexics’ Malcolm’s experience of the British education system was not a good one. Before being labeled as ‘dyslexic’ Malcolm’s lack of concentration was a concern and a mystery to his parents. At the age of seven his parents paid for him to be assessed at the Dyslexia Institute. In Malcolm’s own words, his life changed from then. Each week Malcolm received lessons to help him overcome dyslexia. He believes that although it meant his parents investing a lot of money in his education each week, it was worth it.
Despite his progress outside of school, Malcolm did not enjoy the school experience. When he started secondary school, he used a laptop to help him keep up with the work load, and to help his teachers to read his work. However being different and even using a laptop meant that Malcolm was bullied.’ Sunday night,’ he says , ‘was hell’ because he dreaded going to school on Monday morning.
At the age of fifteen Malcolm prepared to sit his GCSE’s, he also made a career choice: to use his skills to become a furniture maker. His mother was thold by one of Malcolm’s teachers that he should ‘lower his expectations’. Despite this Malcolm wasn’t deterred he sat his exams and achieved five GCSE’s grade A to C.
Malcolm now attends college full time to learn furniture making. He doesn’t know if this will be his final career choice, but he does know that he is not going to give up. Malcolm’s determination to succeed is an inspiration. Malcolm stresses that anyone with dyslexia dyslexic or parents of dyslexic children shouldn’t t give up, It is worth pushing the the education system, and it is worth investing in your future. Malcolm’s message: ‘If I can do well so can you’.
Tell us Your Dyslexia Story
We all know about famous ‘dyslexics’, but what about every-day people that have overcome barriers despite dyslexia?
Send us your story, along with a photo or video, for Dyslexic Brian’s Inspirational Stories section.
Overcoming Dyslexia as an Obstacle to Success
Dyslexia Quiz
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Match the Famous People’s names to the ‘Obstacles Experienced’:
|
FAMOUS PERSON |
OBSTACLES EXPERIENCED |
Famous chef and celebrity |
Was put in the ‘stupid row’ when at primary school; later, as an unemployed and struggling single parent, wrote on scraps of paper in a local café. |
Famous for founding the ‘Woolworths’ chain of shops |
Enjoys writing songs and tried to get into reading but just can’t get into that ‘book thing’. |
Famous entrepreneur |
Achieved his greatest work after the age of 46, by which time he was completely deaf. |
A famous composer |
Being dyslexic has helped him in the business world – he sees some things more clearly than others. |
Famous for inventing the telephone in 1876 |
Didn’t speak until he was four and didn’t read until he was seven. His teacher described him as ‘mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams’. |
A famous writer |
Was told by his employers at the shop where he worked that he was not good enough to service customers. |
A brilliant physicist |
Was told after a meeting with the President, “That’s an amazing invention, but who would want to use one of them?” |
Famous singer |
Didn’t do well at school; people thought he was ‘thick’. |
Source: 
Dyslexic man named as top teacher | October 2009
A West Yorkshire teacher who overcame dyslexia to achieve his career dream has been named the most outstanding new teacher in the country.
Edward Vickerman, head of business at The Freeston Business and Enterprise College in Normanton, was given the title at the Teaching Awards in London.
Because of his dyslexia, the 26-year-old said he was sidelined at school and not expected to achieve much.
He was described by a colleague as a “whirlwind” in the classroom.
While working in the hotel industry, Mr Vickerman discovered ways of overcoming his dyslexia and achieved a degree in hotel management, which set him on the road to success.
Invigorated department
He then decided to pursue his dream of becoming a teacher and chose to take a postgraduate teaching qualification.
Colleagues and students said Mr Vickerman was an “inspiration to work with” and had invigorated the department, introducing new courses to match student needs.
Mr Vickerman said he gets round his dyslexia by using new technology in lessons rather than communicating by writing.
The Teaching Awards, founded by Lord Puttnam 11 years ago, are open to every school in the UK and reward excellent teachers, head teachers, teaching assistants, governors and sustainable schools.
Source: BBC published Monday, 26 October 2009
From car mechanic to teacher | Dyslexic Inspirational Story
Birmingham Evening Mail published on August 18th 2005
Paul Reid lived and worked in Birmingham until he tragically died in a morobike accident late in 2005. In his short 40 years, Paul embraced life andat the age of 39, despite his dyslexia, he gained a teaching qualification. Paul took a keen interest in our Dyslexic Project, and we are sure he would want his story here so that others can gain inspiration from it.
“TEACHING has changed so much over the years,” are the opening words from Paul Reid, a 39 year old from Perry Barr, when you ask him what he thinks of his new career.
“I really struggled when I was at school. It was differrent back then and admitting you had a problem understanding something wasn’t easy.’”
Paul was a car mechanic for 15 years before suffering from arthiritis and decided to change career.
“I loved mechanics so much that I decided that I wanted to teach others how to do it,” he explained.
Paul enrolled on a City and Guilds Further Education Teaching Course at Josiah Mason College in order to acquire the necessary skills and gain a teaching qualification.
Paul decided to go all the way and since completing his course he has progressed on to a Certificate in Education, a university qualification delivered at JMC in partnership with University College Worcester, which will make him a fully qualified full time teacher.
Shortly after embarking on this journey, he was offered a job as a mechanics tutor at Greensprings Training.
To find out more, write to us or come to our Dyslexia discussion groups.
Tell us Your Dyslexia Story
We all know about famous ‘dyslexics’, but what about every-day people that have overcome barriers despite dyslexia?
Send us your story, along with a photo or video, for Dyslexic Brian’s Inspirational Stories section.
Learning disabilities, a silent struggle | By Jay Balagna
Eric Thornley, a 19-year-old history and international affairs major, is one of about 400 students at the University of Nevada, Reno with a learning disability. Photo by Casey Durkin /Nevada Sagebrush.
When Eric Thornley was five years old, he was diagnosed with dyscalculia, a specific learning disability that inhibits a person’s learning of math. Coupled with a speech impediment, he quickly fell behind the other children in his class.
The now-19-year-old history and international affairs major is forced to spend more time studying and working on assignments than the average student.
“I’m not like the typical college student where I sign up for a fraternity and go out and party,” Thornley said. “I have to spend a lot more time on my schoolwork to keep up.”
Thornley is one of more than 400 students at the University of Nevada, Reno with a diagnosed learning disability, according to information from the Disability Resource Center.
Students with learning disabilities make up the second-highest portion served by the Disability Resource Center after psychological disabilities, Mary Zabel, the center’s director, said. The psychological disabilities include attention deficit disorder, accounting for the higher number, Zabel said. UNR’s learning disability rates largely fit with the national trend.
Specific learning disabilities are neurological disorders that affect a person’s ability to learn in various ways. “Learning disability” is an umbrella term used to refer to a number of different disorders, said Christine Cheney, a professor of special education at UNR and the chair of the education specialties department.
Included in the list of learning disabilities are dyscalculia; dyslexia, a reading and language-based disorder and dysgraphia, a writing-based disorder, as well as other, less-common handicaps.
Most people with learning disabilities are given a general diagnosis and not told which disorder they have, Cheney said.
“Generally, in the school system, we don’t tend to break it down and just say people are learning disabled,” she said.
That approach has the advantage of preventing decreased expectations for a student in any specific area, Cheney said. It sometimes expands those decreased expectations to all subjects, though.
“For the most part, people see this as something that can be overcome,” Cheney said. “There is the risk some people will just give up, though.”
Thornley said his learning disability affected him through grade school and into college.
“When I was younger, my first year of grade school was in a special education program which was a little disheartening,” he said.
The next year, Thornley was assigned to a regular classroom but still had to work to succeed in school with his disability.
As the years went by, he began to find himself wondering why he couldn’t achieve the high grades his older sister had earned in the same subjects. As he slowly came to terms with his dyscalculia, he began to realize he would have to start taking more responsibility for his education if he wanted to succeed later in life.
“Lowered expectations can often be a problem (for students with learning disabilities),” Cheney said. “Sometimes families and teachers can help too much and students can kind of get a learned helplessness.”
Those feelings of helplessness keep many students with learning disabilities from college educations, she said.
“There are a lot of capable students out there and the message is getting to them more and more that college is an option,” Cheney, whose son has a learning disability and is a UNR graduate, said.
While Thornley tries to do as much as he can on his own, he still needs help in some areas. His freshman year, he took a year-long Math 120 class offered through the Disability Resource Center. Now that his math requirement is completed, he uses only the alternative testing and note-taking services offered through the center.
The alternative testing is the same test given in the classes, but in a longer allotted time period and in the Disability Resource Center, Thornley said.
Another student in the same class provides the note-taking service by agreeing to take his own notes on carbon-copy paper in exchange for a $100 stipend toward the next semester’s tuition, Zabel said. Note-takers are screened by the Disability Resource Center to make sure their handwriting is legible and they are not on academic probation, she said. The money automatically is reduced from the following semester’s tuition.
Source: The Nevada Sagebrush
Tell us Your Dyslexia Story
We all know about famous ‘dyslexics’, but what about every-day people that have overcome barriers despite dyslexia?
Send us your story, along with a photo or video, for Dyslexic Brian’s Inspirational Stories section.
