Conclusions

The dyslexic brain is different from the non-dyslexic brain. It has to work 5 times as hard. Dyslexia is a neurological problem. Unusual wiring of the nerve pathways seems to be the cause of dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a language-based problem. It affects reading, spelling, writing, memory and concentration. Dyslexia does not affect intelligence and is not a problem of being bad sighted. Not all dyslexic people have the same problems. Some dyslexic people have problems reading others do not.

There are many dyslexic people in prison because their teachers have called them lazy or stupid and that meant that they gave up and did not want to learn any more. So when they grew up, they could not get a job because they did not have an education and had to steal to get money. Some prisons have a dyslexic project to help the prisoners get literacy skills.

Question: What is the government doing to make schools dyslexic aware?

Answer: I sent two e-mails but got no reply so I think that means that they are doing nothing.

[school] The only totally dyslexic aware schools are specialist schools like Northease manor, which is only for severely dyslexic pupils. Children are treated by their schools differently depending on the type of school that they are in. Private schools seem to be better that state schools. Parents sometimes find the school helpful, but then again it depends on the school that their children are in and how dyslexic aware the school is.

Some dyslexic children can read and others find it difficult to learn. That is because the children that are unable to read have more problems with their visual memory than children who can read. But that does not mean that they can understand what they read. Teachers have to watch out for children who can read but who have difficulty in understanding what they are reading. This type of problem is a semantic memory difficulty.

Teachers do not get enough dyslexic aware training to understand dyslexia. One of the reasons why is because there are not many times for the courses to take place and they do not get taught enough about it at teacher training college.

[happy pupil reading] I have learned a lot about my dyslexia and how it affects me. My biggest problem is my semantic memory (where word meanings are stored) it takes me ages to learn new words and when I do learn them I sometimes cannot remember what they are called. I also understand that my dyslexia effects much more than my schoolwork and the length of time it takes me to complete my work. In basketball when we change over sides at half time I can never remember what side I have to play and have scored home baskets.

[frustrated pupil] I have enjoyed learning about dyslexia but it would have been easier if my mum could have bought me books that I could have managed by myself. We only found one book about dyslexia for my age.

My Mum says that if an adult went to see a Doctor about a problem that effects one person in 30 and makes things difficult, all the adults would expect the doctor to know lots about it. Education departments and head teachers are not doing enough to make sure that teachers are trained and that is very wrong.

Back to project contents page.