Dyslexia and Me: Reaction to The Guardian’s Secret Teacher

Source: http://images.clipartpanda.com/classroom-clip-art-ncBazrRcA.gif

Yesterday, The Guardian posted an article online called Secret Teacher: we are too quick to label children who aren’t perfect. I have shared it on social media to see reaction from the dyslexic community, but I thought I would write a response in the blog to the article too.

Knowing where to start with this is difficult. I have given my opinions on social media already, but rather than copy and paste, it is probably best to dissect the article rather than a gut reaction.

Firstly let me note that I am neither a parent nor a teacher, but I have been through the education system as an undiagnosed dyslexic who asked for help on more than one occasion. 

Dyslexia and Me: Dyslexia Diagnosis on the NHS?

This is a question I have seen brought up on social networks in the last few weeks. Should the NHS in the UK play a part in diagnosing people with dyslexia? 

Dyslexia and Me: A Response from a Dyslexic #TimeToTalk

I have just read The Problem with Schools Not Identifying Dyslexia on Dyslexic Advantage Blog and wanted to give my two pennies worth to the topic.

I can only speak from my own experience as I am not an educator or a health care worker. I am also not in the United States, so please read the original article for the full context. What I would like to discuss is the possible implications of not identifying dyslexia in schools. 

Quick Fire Questions: Has finding out you are dyslexic when at college affected your outlook?

Yes, it has changed my outlook. I always felt like I was stupid or inadequate through school. I couldn’t understand why I struggled so much with my reading and spelling. School were as useful as a chocolate fireguard. They weren’t prepared to have me diagnosed and instead kept saying that I couldn’t be good at everything. I was a bright student. I did well in exams, but I always felt as though I was being looked down on.

When I went back into education I told the college from the start that my previous college (just after I left school) had suggested that I may be dyslexic, but I hadn’t been given a proper assessment. The relief of being told that there was a reason why I had struggled so much through school, that it was because of dyslexia and not because I was ‘stupid’ like I had been told through school by my peers.

My outlook has been far more positive and I went on to achieve my goal of graduating from university by the time I was 30. It’s made me more determined to stand up as a dyslexic person and admit to my struggles as well as to my strengths.

Dyslexia and Me: Doing it for the Grown Ups (and women?)

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

In the last month or so, I have been becoming far more active within the online community trying to raise awareness of dyslexia. It’s something that I was passionate about before I was diagnosed myself. When I was growing up we had a couple of family friends who suffered with dyslexia. Both have gone on to do amazing things, but there was always a struggle in reaching their goals. I had a poster of Albert Einstein on my wall as a teenager amongst all my posters of metal bands. It said on it, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”, a quote which I still live by to this day. Before I knew I was dyslexic I already had a number of people I admired due to their achievements despite struggling through school and the academic life to get to where they were. They were people I knew personally as well as the usual list of famous dyslexics that you can find on Google, Wikipedia etc.

Dyslexia and Me: The adventure begins

Hello there! Thank you very much for deciding to read my first blog post on Dyslexia and Me!

My name is Áine (Hannah in English) and I am a 29 year old mature student studying an undergraduate degree in History, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Studies. I am a big enthusiast of Viking history, I love music (especially metal) and cats… and I am dyslexic.