For all the newly identified dyslexics. For all the worried parents or guardians.
An important article for all.
Dyslexia Is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me
But I would like all the educators out there to read it; I think the people who shape the lives of the next generation should try to understand dyslexia from a personal point of view.
Dyslexia4U are committed and enthusiastic about promoting dyslexia awareness and research, and work collaboratively with like-minded people.
Now there is an opportunity for you, our readers and followers, to be involved in a dyslexia documentary with Pioneer Productions.
Pioneer Productions has been asked by BBC Four to produce a major 3-part series on child development called ‘Growing Children’. Presented by expert child psychologist Laverne Antrobus (‘Growing Babies’ BBC4 and ‘The Biology of Dads’ BBC4), it will explore how child development is affected by 3 major developmental disorders – dyslexia, autism and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Laverne will examine each of these developmental conditions and attempt to view the world through the eyes of a child affected by them. She will also investigate the possible causes of each one, how they can be supported and what they tell us about how the brain develops during childhood and beyond.
Within each of these programmes we will be following families with a child about to undergo assessment and families who have a child who has been assessed and have been learning to deal with their disability.
In regards to the dyslexia programme our families would need to be filmed in their day-to-day life and discuss how dyslexia, whether it is due to the newness of their/ their children’s assessment or how they deal with it on a daily basis, affects them. We are hoping to start our filming in August so are keen to speak to interested families as soon as possible.
If you are interested, please contact Claire Justin on Claire.justin@pioneertv.com or 0 208 748 0888 extension 265 or info@dyslexia4u.com
Schools go back soon.End to the summer holidays and back to the school run and the dreaded…….. homework!
The jump up into the next school year can be daunting for children and parents alike, dont let your child fall behind or struggle with the new work load. Tutoring can help and stop the homework stress and arguments.
Dyslexia4U tutoring service for Primary School pupils aged between 7 and 11 years old. This service can provided help and support with homework difficulties, concentration competence, self-esteem, personal development skills such as telling the time and much more. Tutoring will be tailored to the child’s individual strengths and difficulties.
Please contact us for further details
Shake It Up stars Bella Thorne and Zendaya Coleman say their on-screen characters reflect some of their own personal experiences. Bella, 13, and Zendaya, 14, play best friends CeCe Jones and Rocky Blue who land their dream job as backing dancers on a TV show.
Bella was able to use some of her real-life experiences, which include opting for homeschooling when she was teased for being dyslexic.
She said: “I’m dyslexic. I’ve always had it since I was very little and I used to have a really tough time in school.
“I used to get made fun of every day and we put it in the show that CeCe was dyslexic because we wanted people to look up to CeCe and think, ‘Well, if she can do it then so can I’.
“Actually now I get a lot of fans who say, ‘Hey, Bella I know you’re not dyslexic but CeCe is and I look up up her’. And I’m like, ‘What do you mean? I am dyslexic!’”
Young dyslexic stars can inspire and give hope to children and teens that are identified as dyslexic. Knowing that someone they look up to share their difficulties can ease stress and worrying.
Please get in touch for more info
As the adverts say ‘there’s an app for that’ so how about dyslexia is there’s an app for that?
Well there may not be an app for dyslexia, however there are lots of educational apps for children and adults.
Here is a list of apps I have found useful while working with my pupils
Literacy
- ABC Pockets Phonics
- My Spell Test
- Spellboard
- Spell it
- Our Story
- Alphabet Dinosaurs
- Spelling
- Balloony Word
- Green Eggs and Ham
- Miss Spell
- Dr Seuss ABC
Math
- Tic Tac Math
- Math Flash Cards
- Math Bingo
- Rocket Math
- Sum Stacker
- Math Academy
- Monty’s Quest
- Kids Calc’s
- Math Ninja
Some of the app’s are for iphone and others are for ipad. Parents should check the suitability for their child before purchase.
All available from http://www.apple.com/education/apps/
Artist such as Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso and Auguste Rodin are all thought to have been dyslexic in their lifetime and research from the University of Middlesex may shine a light on why they had such great artistic ability. Psychologists at the University have discovered a link between dyslexia and improved ability to judge space.
“It could be that spatial awareness develops in dyslexic readers because of their reduced language skill,” said Dr Nicola Brunswick, a Senior Lecturer in psychology at Middlesex University.
“There is a body of evidence showing that men in general have better spatial awareness than women on some tasks. So greater attention paid to spatial awareness by dyslexic readers is likely to be more pronounced in men than in women.”
“Also, many dyslexic people prefer to work out problems by thinking and doing rather than by speaking, this could help dyslexic men develop the kind of visual skills they need to succeed in the artistic and creative worlds,” she added
The research suggests dyslexic men are better than the general population at processing 3D visual information. This so-called visuospatial ability is key to success in the fields of art, architecture, and design.
A series of tasks for participants in this study set by Dr Brunswick and her team from Middlesex University’s Psychology department, involved real world situations. In one, they had to navigate their way around a virtual 3D town for one minute on a computer then reconstruct it from memory using models of the buildings and a to-scale floor plan.
“A lot of tests in this area in the past have been ‘paper and pencil’ tests but this isn’t a good test of real world ability. Now we have real evidence to indicate that dyslexic men are better in this area,” added Dr Brunswick.
This research is excellent news for education and recruitment of people with dyslexia in the fields of art, architecture, and design.
http://www.mdx.ac.uk/aboutus/news-events/news/dyslexia.aspx
This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin award.
For more information on Sir Ken’s work visit: http://www.sirkenrobinson.com
I’m not stupid – Diagnosing Dyslexia by Japinder Kaur Baweja
Excellent films about dyslexia from different points of view with advice and real life stories, well worth watching.
Click on the link below to read our new article about dyslexia in primary children and the benefits of one to one tutoring, published by Primary Times.
