Ups and downs

My day started off great - thanks to Matt’s Mum who sent me a picture of him riding his bike - that obviously means so much to him, another one of those things that most of us take for granted but for a child like Matt it was devastating when he couldn’t do it, and a wonderful experience now he can.

However the day went down hill a bit from then. I am spitting chips. The Research Director of a well known dyslexia association was attacking me on radio for having questionable research. I had to bite my tongue from pointing out that the whole dyslexia industry has resisted my attempts to have proper benchmarking - and why? The reason is that we have done an enormous amount of research, peer reviewed research (the most authoritative and independent there is) whilst some organisations in the industry hide whatever research they have in case anyone realizes that there are many things on the market today that just do not pass scrutiny.
It is long overdue that there is proper benchmarking for every produce or service that is offered to those with learning or attention issues. These people have suffered enough. The last thing they want is to be sold products that have negligible benefits.

Another thing we should start insisting on is that anyone who criticises someone else’s product should declare their vested interest. So many critics out there pretend to be independent researchers when, in fact, much of their research is paid for by drug companies or other organisations who are selling commercial products. Proper benchmarking will solve this and we will get it implemented one day - and that will not be a day to soon!

The good news is the day has just got better again - I met a wonderful family in South Africa a few months ago, their daughter had been suicidal - just like my own daughter Susie. I have been following her progress weekly, and there were a lot of ups and downs believe me so I have remained worried. However today the news is fantastic. She is in a new college, getting great results and seems wonderfully happy for the first time in many years.

Another mercurial day ………….