Richard Glover Conference

Hi everyone,
Dawn was live on ABC Radio Sydney the Richard Glover conference on dyslexia. If anyone wants to hear what she said and how the program went this is the link. If you click on “Download Midweek conference wednesday september 9th” you can hear it.

http://www.abc.net.au/sydney/radio/

Add comment September 28th, 2009

Dyslexia / Dyspraxia

From a parent

Hi Dawn, I think I love you!! Thank you so much for putting in all the effort to make this possible. I am a mother of a very intelligent 6 year old boy. He should be in year one but because he was born in May of 2003 I was able to keep him down so that he could keep up with the other students. I sent him to a brand new public school last year, his kindy teacher was more concerned with him sitting still and listening to her then to take notice of his school work. I asked for a meeting with the school psychologist, in walks this guy that had no idea where he was, it looked like he had just had a hit of cocaine, he showed no interest in mine or my partners concerns or the problems of my child. It was a wasted 1 hour of my life. I would ask his teacher how he was going and I would get feed back on his behaviour, not on his school work. I was told once that his fine motor skills were poor but that was it. By the end of last year she had manage to get him to behave the way she wanted and wasn’t bothered with him any more. I tried one time to talk to her about my concerns and was promptly told that he was good for her maybe parenting classes is what I needed. Well this year I enrolled him in a different public school and from the beginning it has been handled a totally different way. The teacher has recommended that he has occupational therapy, speech therapy and that he sees a physiotherapist. I was contacted by his school last week in regards to a interview with the school psychologist so on Monday morning my partner and I go to the school to meet with the deputy principal, his teacher and the school psychologist. We were informed that they would be doing an IQ test on him and they asked what kind of problems he seemed to be showing. During the interview, both the deputy principal and psychologist said that it sounds like Dyspraxia; there is a history of Dyslexia in the family. A lot of people have said that they think he is ADD, but it never fitted him. I did the checklist for Dyspraxia and I ticked all but two boxes. The psychologist informed us that the test results will come back with a result of average to above average intelligence. Now is where my confusing comes into it. If his IQ is normal to above normal would that not mean, that he is fine? I really can’t see how you can be intelligent even above normal intelligent and still be told that you have a disability? I am beyond angry about this problem. I am now thinking that I might sue the government in regards to them refusing to see that these children have no form of disability that they learn differently, that it is the government letting these children down. I would never ever want another child, he is so fun, loving, exciting and just beautiful. Why are they so intent on putting the blame on him? Could you recommend in regards to the current education system where I should send him? I could end up in jail if I don’t send him somewhere. I will NOT send him public and have him told that he is stupid which is basically what they are doing. Thanks and regards

The question you are asking is one that most school do not seem to understand her.
If your son has an average or above IQ and is not learning at school it is because your son has specific learning difficulty or what I call a specific learning difference. That means that her learns differently from other kids and therefore needs to be taught differently. it is really simple but not understood here.
i show parents and teacher how to teach these kids in my books. it is not hard but apparently getting education to change is hard.

In the Uk and Victoria people are suing and winning because in fact it is against the law not teach your on properly.

Unfortunately I am not able, and nor are Dyslexia SPELD, to recommend any schools in WA and I have asked for anyone who knows of one that teaches these kids properly to tell me . Nobody has. I am trying to set up a school but it takes time and fund raising.
In the mean time many parents are homeschooling their dyslexic and dyspraxic kids. One home schoolin g organizer told me that most kids being home schooled in the Perth area have these problems.

I live in Rockingham so if you want a proper assessment or , tutoring or help home schooling I do offer all of these. I also help parents work out personal teaching programs if they are taken out of school.

I change $200, through my new organization, Dyslexic Centre Australia and that includes a 2 hours session of working out a personal teaching program, a report and free soft ware.
Cheers
dawn

3 comments September 28th, 2009