I am placing no blame on teachers here. It is a lack
to teacher training and political will that is responsible for this. Schools themselves
fail to provide adequate support for dyslexic kids because of budget
constraints.
In doing this success in education becomes much
harder, if not impossible, because it stops or hinders dyslexics from
functioning, communicating and succeeding in school as effectively as people
who are not dyslexic.
In the main the
education system is designed by non dyslexics for non dyslexic learners. We as
dyslexic learners have to fit into the system rather than the system fit around
us and our needs.
The ultimate irony of all this is that making a
classroom more dyslexia friendly is better for all in the class. Because all of
us, dyslexic, none dyslexic and neurodiverse, learn in different ways. These learning needs have to be met if all our kids are going to have a positive experience of school.
We all have different learning styles, strengths and
weaknesses. All kids would learn better in an inclusive classroom in which more
children are empowered to learn more effectively.
Of course there
are some great dyslexia and disability friendly schools out there. But they are
the exception rather than the rule.
Then
when we leave school society does not provide the same opportunities for
dyslexics. I do not have the data for dyslexics alone. But research done by the
Shaw Trust found that disabled people are more
than twice as likely as non-disabled people to have no qualifications, and only
about half of impaired people of working age who can work are in work,
compared with 80% of non disabled people of working age.
In a study done by the British Dyslexia Association of prisoners in
Chelmsford Prison indicated that 53% of prisoners were dyslexic.
This is a crazy situation when you think about it. 10% of the
population in the UK is dyslexic.
This is a waste of potential, a waste of people’s lives, a waste of potential talent and just
wrong and unjustifiable.
Being dyslexic brings with it a number of very positive attributes
including.
· Creativity
· Unique problem solving
· A vivid imagination
· Big picture
thinkers
· High emotional
intelligence
· Empathic
· An ability to see
out of the box
· Persistent
· Determination
Maybe it’s these positive attributes that
make us such great entrepreneurs. Maybe the negative experiences of school push
us down the entrepreneurial route. Maybe it’s a mixture of both. But what I can
say is that studys show that between 25% to 35% of entrepreneurs are dyslexic.
If we look at the medical model of dyslexia
it tell us it’s a condition, it’s a disability in essence when something falls
under the medical domain it implies it needs to be cured.
But where would we be without the dyslexic
talents of dyslexics such as: Thomas Edison, Einstein, Michael Faraday, Agatha
Christy, John Lennon, Nigel Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Bill Gates, Picasso,
Zara Reid etc and the list could go on and on.
Dyslexics are always being told what we cannot do when
we should be focussing on what we can do and believe me we can do a great many
things and do them well.
When I was a student at university one lecturer said to
me that I would never pass any exams with hand writing like that. The next year
I moved to a different university where I was assessed as dyslexic and given
access to a computer. Hand writing problem hmmmm ok it was still there but it
no longer disabled me.
Dyslexia and access to a computer enabled me to pass an honours degree, to
become an inclusion and dyslexia specialist and it enable me to become a social
entrepreneur and compser. Access to a computer unlocked that dyslexic
potential. It enabled me to chase my dreams.
If I had one thing to say to every dyslexic it is, “always
chase your dreams”.
My experiences both as a dyslexic and a dyslexia
specialist, whatever that is, have lead to advocating the social model of
dyslexia. I do not have a dyslexic condition,
I do not have a disability and I would never want to be cured.
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