Lack of access to free / affordable neuro diversity assessment

 

Me in the studio recording my Unique Dyslexic Eye Show

Hello all hope you are all doing well out there:

Still no free or affordable access to any neuro diversity assessment. Unless you pay to go private for the cost of around £350. This is appalling. I did manage to secure £50.000 government funding for a successful a free to access dyslexic assessment and training project 25 years ago. But when I left the project stopped to found my social enterprise Dyslexia Pathways Community Interest Company the project stopped.

What is your experience of accessing any assessment for dyslexia etc.

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness from me Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue.

Dyslexia and isolation

Unique Dyslexic Eye podcasting

Welcome to yet another Unique Dyslexia Eye blog

I was working with one of my dyslexic uni students a while back. It was not a very easy session for him or myself. He is struggling with his course work and his work load had gotten on top of him quite a lot. He is obviously a very bright student and knows his subject very well but his issues with confidence and motivation were causing him great anxiety. All he knew was he had this big ball of stuff in his head that he knew this work needed to be done and when it had to be completed by but the ball was impenetrable to him.  

So we sat down together, worked out what needed to be done and by when. We then started to break each assignment down into its constituent parts and put together timelines to plot out what needed to be done and set some goals for the next couple of weeks. We opened out this ball of stuff in his head and mapped out different routes to enable him to get to his destination of assignments completed.

Of course he still has to get on with his work and his issues with motivation will still be there but because we had spent a little time doing this mapping out exercise he now felt he could tackle his work. He said because he had kept everything in his head the problems with his work just appeared so huge and undo-able. I gave him my e-mail and said he could contact me to discuss his progress if he felt he wanted to.

During this session he told me he had never really talked to anyone about being dyslexic not his parents or his friends. He told me he didn't understand his dyslexia or what his dyslexia report said about him. He basically felt quite alone with his struggles with his dyslexia. In fact this was the first time he had discussed anything to do with dyslexia with anyone else. I wonder how many other dyslexics there experience these same issues.

So much time, some much money spent on so much research, and still so little is understood about dyslexia by so many.....including the so called experts sigh

Thanks for taking the time to read my dyslexia blog. 

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

We are all Dyslexic warriors, its not only about famous or rich dyslexics

 

Dyslexic warriors: its not only about famous or rich dyslexics

one of our fab neuro diverse positive t shirts 

Hi blog readers hope you are all feeling #fab

I was sent this message through my linked in the other day. Its a little story of #dyslexic success against the odds.

We tend to see stories of famous or rich dyslexics which is cool. But I think every dyslexic's stories is important and should be given a forum for people to read about. 

I asked if it would be ok to share this in one of my blogs, she agreed and here is it:

"Good afternoon Stephen,

I suffer with dyslexia and I found it hard growing up.

In primary school  both my family and the school said that i was slow and lazy that was why I couldn't read faster than others or spelt simple words incorrect.

Through out high school my teachers turned a blind I to my asks of help. I would write in the margins of by book  that I was struggling with reading and spelling.

I was prodicted E's but I put in so much effort and extra time to complete my GCSE's i came out with C's.

It wasn't till Sixth form that I got some help, the teachers where amazing and helped me with out undermining me. I finally felt I was worth it and the effort I put in to tasks wasn't in vain.

I am happy to say that I am now a business admin. Doing an apprenticeship where I am not struggling and I openly ask for help.

I have wrote this message to say thank you.
I say thank you for being brave and making people aware of dyslexia.

I hope I can be as brave as you.

Thank you again

Kindest  regards

Charlotte"

If anyone else wants to share their dyslexia journey in my blog, anonymously or not, just email it to me as steve_mccue@hotmail.com. 

You can add photos but sent a little description of the photo .

I just think Charlotte had a great positive story to share and thank he for letting me share it here.

I kept the brave bit not because I think I am brave but because I thought she herself was being brave because it couldn't have been easy to share her story with me let alone let me share it in my blog.

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness from me

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

Dyslexia in Education

 

Photo from one of our Unique Dyslexic Get Creative Workshops

Hello to all, thanks for taking time to read my latest #UniqueDyslexic blogs

Dyslexia in Education

In relation to teaching dyslexic children: 74% of teachers did not feel satisfied that their initial teacher training provided them with the skills they need to identify and teach children with dyslexia. Dyslexia Action 2012

In an independent YouGov survey, commissioned by Dyslexia Action (2012) almost two-thirds of parents felt dyslexia was not recognized across the system.

Pupils with SEN, (Special Educational Needs) including dyslexia without statements are around ten times more likely to receive a permanent exclusion than pupils with no SEN; compared to pupils with a statement of SEN who are around six times more likely to receive a permanent exclusion.

One of the ways society disables dyslexics is education. From day one at school the vast majority of dyslexic kids are failed.

Consequences of unassessed dyslexia:

Further consequences of unassessed dyslexia. Research by Jack Rack from the Dyslexia institute showed that dyslexia is three to four times more prevalent in the prison population than amongst the general population. Up to 50% or people in our prisons are dyslexic costing society £35,000 a year. It is thought unassessed dyslexia costs the UK one billion pounds a year.

The Dyslexia Behind Bars project showed 53% of (2,029) prisoners at Chelmsford during the project were diagnosed as having dyslexia, compared to 10% of the UK population (data: British Dyslexia Association). Note I cant find the figure but each person in prison costs society around £35.000 a year to keep there.

Focus Prisoner Education said, “It costs £65,000 to imprison a person in this country once police, court costs and all the other steps are taken into account. After that it costs a further £40,000 for each year they spend incarcerated”.

Research by the Westminster Achievability Commission 2017

WAC, for Dyslexia and Neurodivergance showed some of the barriers to employment dyslexics and people from other neurodivergant communities face.

“Many neuro divergent people, this includes dyslexics, are ready and willing to work but find themselves faced with insurmountable barriers, WAC 2017.

A few of the key findings from the report:

·       There is a lack of awareness of what we can do

·       Disclosure can often lead to bullying and discrimination in the work place

·       Government measures including Access to Work are inadequate

·       The Equalities Act is being implemented inadequately

Dyslexics can and do succeed is all areas of society. For example, 35% of entrepreneurs are dyslexic.

Over 90% of successful dyslexics say they were successful because they were dyslexic.

Dyslexics tend to be lateral thinkers, have strong emotional intelligence and empathy, are big picture thinkers, can see the big picture and can think three dimensionally.

We were the first dyslexia focussed social enterprise in the world. Dyslexia Pathways CIC also has a social model of dyslexia focus and believe that our social enterprise and social model of dyslexia vision offers dyslexics a more positive, empowering new way forward.

We must change how we think and talk about dyslexia or risk repeating the mistakes that are still happening.

ta for reading

please share, leave a like or subscribe, help my blog grow

#peacelovegroovyness from me

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue founder of Dyslexia Pathways CIC and Unique Dyslexic Eye

Why access to a dyslexia assessment is crucial to our development as learners and as people.

 

My Unique Dyslexic Eye Logo

Hello all hope you are all well out there in the real world.

Just a dyslexia blog from my Unique Dyslexic Eye podcast show. Also talking about differences between medical model of dyslexia and social model of dyslexia.

Just click on the link bellow and give it a listen.

Unique Dyslexic Eye Podcast

Maybe leave a comment and share your thoughts on the show.

It would be fab could give leave us a like, and should you enjoy the show.

Maybe even subscribe to my Unique Dyslexic Eye Show. It's free to do so and and help me grow my channel.

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness from me

Steve #UniqueDyslexic Eye

Dyslexia neuro diversity Social model or medical model?

 

Dyslexia neuro diversity Social model or medical model?

Hello there to all my blog readers hope, you are well?

We as dyslexics must change the way we think and talk about dyslexia. We must challenge the negative medical discrepancy model of dyslexia. It has nothing positive to say about dyslexia or to dyslexics. The medical discrepancy model has gotten the dyslexic community precisely nowhere. This medical model talks about dyslexia in terms of deficits, discrepancy and disorder. This model tells us we are the problem. Our education system still fails far to many dyslexic kids. Our kids fail because our education system is dyslexia unfriendly.

That's why I support and promote the social model of dyslexia and I support and promote it through social enterprise. This is a more positive, empowering and inclusive way forward. It tells us dyslexia is about diversity and difference.

Do we need to be talking social model of neuro diversity? Or continue talking about dyslexia as a disability? I believe it is society that disables dyslexics and that this disabling begins at our dyslexia unfriendly education system? Your thoughts, suggestions and ideas please?

Many thanks for reading

#PeaceLoveGrooveynesss from me

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

I believe handwriting will become like a lost art maybe 30 years from now

 

Learning cursive just made me wanna curse lol

Part of an art installation I did a while back. The light over the letter I signifies #iamdyslexic

Good day to everyone hope you are all well and ready for the week end.


I have been talking to and reading on social media about other dyslexics experiences and parents of dyslexics with hand writing. I have to say some of what I hear and read it seems like a nightmare for many of us.

So I was wondering about anyone else's experiences with hand writing and being given hand writing practise at school?  

It didn't matter how much school tried to make me learn a cursive handwriting style I just couldn't get it together.

Please leave me your thought and comments.

I know all the arguments for handwriting and hand writing remediation including developing fine motor control, learning spelling from motor memory etc. 

But what about speech to text or even just the lowly computer keyboard etc. Surely the content of what is written is more important than how its being written?

So is having good handwriting as important as it once was?

Isn't the content of the writing the important thing not how it was written either by hand or speech to text or just by keyboard?

Speech to text software and assistive tech.

I personally don't get on with it because it gets in the way of my train of thought. But it can and does work for many other dyslexics. I have never been able to writing using a cursive style. 

I believe handwriting will become like a lost art maybe 30 years from now. I read somewhere that emojs are the way forward for communication. Business will lead here because speech to text is so much more efficient than typing or writing by hand.

The computer keyboard freed me from that particular little handwriting nightmare. I left school with no qualifications mainly because of my hand writing. Now with a computer keyboard I have my masters degree etc. Without it I might still be driving fork lift trucks or carrying bags of cement for a living instead of a dyslexia and inclusion specialist, social entrepreneur, writer of musician. 

The expectation that everyone should be able to write using cursive and neatly is disabling. It is a non dyslexic world expectation and its disabling. My job as a dyslexia and inclusion specialist is about enabling, finding ways that enable dyslexics to succeed. Its about finding solutions and enabling. If I can do that then I have succeeded.

Dyslexia is a difference that reflects diversity. We must enable that dyslexic diversity to thrive and achieve according to our strengths and talent. It is a non dyslexic society must to learn not shackle it to non dyslexic expectations such as we must write by hand using cursive.

many thanks for taking the time to read my blog.......if you think it has something to say please share it and or like it.

peace love and groovyness to all from me

Steve #UnqueDyslexic McCue