The recent research which suggested that the government are letting children slip through the net revealed nothing new. The research was based on 1341 pupils and found that 55% of pupils who are failing SATs are at risk of dyslexia and other learning difficulties. Teachers have known this for a long time!
What an absurd statement from the Department for Children, Schools and Families spokesman, "Dyslexic children are not slipping through the net - we are committed to making sure that children with all kinds of learning difficulties get the support that they need". I don't think that the thousands of pupils that come out of school without the basic skills in reading, writing and spelling would agree.
Government policies make the absurd assumption that the only that the only way learning is impacted is by the teaching process.
Teaching is only part of the process. This should be obvious as all to often teachers can work really hard in the classroom but only 25 children of 30 take in what is being taught. The other 5 don't have the ability to take it in - this is of no fault of the teacher. The third element of learning is practise, without which no skill can become fully automatic.
All three of these elements are crucial to the process of learning. The absence of any one of them makes the world of difference to how challenging learning is for children.
6 comments:
Downing Street petition: Dyslexia is a Thinking Style, not a Disability!
Dear Friends,
I am connected with an organisation called The Learning People, who have launched a UK petition on the Downing Street website to reclassify dyslexia as a thinking style rather than a disability.
You can access further information about the campaign, and sign up for newsletter updates, on our blogsite at http://www.dyslexia-gift.org.uk
If you are a UK resident or ex-pat British citizen, you can sign the petition at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/honourdyslexia
Please help us publicise the campaign by telling everyone you know, and by passing the word around any other relevant networking groups you subscribe to.
Our sincerest thanks,
Tatjana Lavrova
Dear mr Dore
I have done alot of reading and have watched the dvd sent to me from your staff and it all looks amazing, but i am still worried what if my son is one of the unfortunate ones that cant be helped, how can you tell if you can help him, why could you not help certain other people. I do not have alot of money but i will find it if you can help him, but is there a high risk of him not improving. He is 10 in august and cant ride a bike, tie his shoes he has poor balance. this i beleave to be called dispraxic, or dispraxia. He is becoming more & more unhappy at school and now cry's most mornings that he dosnt want to go. Are there any guarantees if your staff say they can help does this mean he will get better.
how many people with this problem have you helped,
have there
been any you couldnt help,i dont want my son to be one of the unfortunate ones. I hope to here from you a dad on a mission and not sales staff.
many thanks from a worried mum (on a mission)
Mumraxic,
I can fully understand your concerns and, as you can imagine, meet lots of mums and dads feeling exactly like this before the Programme starts. Our policy is to be completely open about all of the research data that we have, so that parents can make their own mind up about whether or not to try Dore. Here is the research on 1,000 who have completed the Dore Programme. Of the children who said that they had difficulty riding a bike 88% reported noticeable improvements whilst 77% said that the problem had gone away completely. Likewise for the ability to tie up shoelaces - 89% of those who had a problem found that the problem had improved noticeably, whilst 73% said the problem had gone away completely. It is interesting to note that these measures were taken immediately at the end of the programme and most report that they continue to experience progress after that. So is it encouraging? Yes it is. Is it 100% guarantee? No it isn’t.
Having said that, what Dore works on is the development of the cerebellum - if we took your son onto the programme with the commitment to do that it would come with a money back guarantee. In other words if we are unable to develop the cerebellum any further then you would get your costs back.
Let’s put all of the above into some context. I have just given you the results of 1,000 clients
who have done the programme. We must remember that not everyone has the time to do the programme thoroughly and, therefore, there will be some who are not consistently sticking to the exercises that we prescribe for them. Bearing this in mind we think you can be reasonably confident of expecting to see some noticeable changes.
Won’t it be such a lot easier when the Government provides this in every one of our schools and we, as parents, won’t have to worry about it?
Please let me know how it goes with your son.
Kind regards
Wynford
Mumraxic, I went through the same questions you are going through now, when I contemplated Dore for my son. The only way you will know if your son has a chance of Dore helping, is to undergo their initial assessment, which includes a variety of tests that assess cerebellar function. At my son's he actually showed as borderline CDD, and were forthright about how how much he may gain from the program. We went forth, and I am glad that we did. Even with minimal CDD, and not the greatest compliance (sorry Dore guys) he made what I see as great strides from the program in his reading and comprehension and executive functions (some of his main most concerning issues.) Your son has the initial profile of a child that can be helped by the individualized therapy Dore offers. I have been in close conversation with many mums for over a year now, and have read improvements including ones you mention as riding a bike, tying shoe laces, buttoning, dexterity, among others in a very long list. You can also join the DoreTalk.com forums to get a feel for what participants and parents are saying as they go through the program.
Bless.
The Dore Program helped my daughter tremendously. I am sorry the program is no longer available as I know other individuals who would benefit greatly; plus, I worry my daughter's children may need the program. Even teachers ask me for referrals for the Dore Achivement Program.
Here in the US, I have read various percentages attached to dyslexia and left-handedness. The most interesting one is that between eighty and ninety percent of dyslexics are left-handed boys. Do you have any statistics from your work in the UK?
Thanks for any information.
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