Dyslexia Behind bars - Report by Jackie Hewitt-Main

Jackie Hewitt-Main is the driving force behind a remarkable project which might just revolutionise education in prisons in the UK.

Her project, based initially in Chelmsford Prison, has shown that up to 53% of prisoners may have dyslexia and that 21% have suffered a head injury which could have affected their behaviour.

She has pioneered a cost-effective approach to help prisoners learn to read and write and there are clear signs that it could lead to a dramatic drop in re-offending rates.

Terry had been in and out of prison more than 40 times and was self-harming. He was totally frustrated with his inability to read and write and the fact that this was holding him back in a world where jobs, benefits and many social activities require good literacy skills.

He was assessed using Lexion software, a Swedish program which tests for a whole battery of skills and then provides carefully targeted exercises to build knowledge and confidence. He has made great progress and is now one of the prison mentors.

Jackie has adopted a grass roots approach. Learning doesn’t necessarily take place in a classroom because this is not a natural environment for those who have struggled and failed at school.

She introduces learners to visual and tactile approaches and helps them find their own learning style.

“I was 40 when I found I had dyslexia,” said Jackie. ” I realise that my learning disabilities have been a big problem in my life. Many of the prisoners I met in my dyslexia and mentoring project at Chelmsford, including those with the most challenging behaviours, showed such great transformation and went on to help others with the knowledge they had gained.”

It is a shame that much of the publicity surrounding prisons this month centres on Gordon Ramsay – a man who can bully for England- and there is so little mention of the good work in prisons which can help offenders to turn their live around.

Dyslexia Behind Bars: Final Report of a Pioneering Teaching and Mentoring Project at Chelmsford Prison – 4 Years on by Jackie Hewitt-Main (Paperback – Jun 2012) can be bought on Amazon


You can also read more about Empowering Learning for Dyslexia here; OliveHickmott's Blog

Blind users gain Internet access via Smartphones

Jessica Rathwell holds her iPhone close to her ear while she types out a tweet using special voiceover technology. With remarkable speed, she navigates her way through her tiny keyboard, adding and deleting letters.

Rathwell is blind, and she is a self-described huge Apple fan and tech geek.

Her technology skills have led her to a career in teaching other blind and low-vision people to use Apple computers and devices as they come out of the box, with no additional technology or modifications.

She got her first Apple computer in the 1990s, but had to give up the operating system when they took a big step away from assistive technology.

That meant years of working on a Microsoft system. In 2008, Rathwell saw the Tiger 10.4 operating system for Apple computers that had voice-enabled software. It was the first time Rathwell could take a stock unit out of the box and use it as is.

"For me, it was the joy of inclusion," she says. "When you spend your life in school having to always have some sort of assistive technology, it feels so good when you no longer have to."

By all accounts, Rathwell is a whiz on all things Apple, and teaches other people at the Nanaimo and Region Disability Resource Centre to use a computer and gain full access to the Internet.

Rathwell's Microsoft counterpart is Aedan Staddon. The two have a friendly rivalry, and Rathwell has started learning on Mac computers as well.

"Learning from a blind person is better because they teach you what you realistically can and can't do," he says.

He is currently taking online courses in computer programming through the Cisco Academy for the Visually Impaired.

A room full of people who have sight issues discuss their pre-ferred operating system, and talk about Twitter and Facebook. Before Rathwell and Staddon started teaching, their students' experience with the technology could be kind of scary and frustrating. That's changed now, and their students at NRDRC, a volunteer charity, are happy.

"The Internet is a conversation point," says Rathwell. "And it's nice to be able to use it the same way anybody does."

Inclusivity Requires A Paradigm Shift

A billion is obviously an extremely large number of individuals, that have needs to be met.

In the Western world the populations are ageing, improvements in healthcare are helping people live longer – this means that the number of people who require assistance coping with age related conditions is only going to grow.

There are likely to be ever increasing numbers of people with poor vision, hearing loss, limited mobility and cognitive difficulties and we need to ensure that they are not excluded.

This is what is sometimes referred to as a Megatrend. Megatrends are great forces in societal development that will affect all areas – state, market and civil society – for many years to come.

Another Megatrend is the rapid growth and increased mobility of populations.

This will put a strain on all kinds of resources but from an inclusion point of view there is great deal of cross over with the needs of the disability community.

Economic migrants and refugees from war and famine will often face language barriers to inclusion in their new countries.

Couple this with the need to educate and raise literacy levels in the general population as a whole and you have a problem that is just too big for governments to ignore.

Read the remainder of this article here

Inclusion: Children With Disabilities Reveal their concerns

The playground can be a daunting place for any kid trying to join in and be one of the gang. For kids with disabilities it's just as important to feel included, be accepted and valued -- particularly by their peers.

In a study to understand the perspectives of children with disabilities around inclusion in physical activities during free play, recreational sports and recess, Dr. Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere, an adapted physical activity expert, in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta, interviewed children with a range of disabilities about their thoughts on what made them feel included or rejected during these activities.

"Children were asked to theorise about other fictional children who are like them, so they didn't have to pour their hearts out initially if they didn't want to. So I'd start by saying, 'Imagine if you were…'

"I found that as children theorised, they would float in and out of the first, second and third person. They would weave their own experiences into those of the fictional child they were theorising about.

Final questions would ask, 'How about you? How would you feel?'"

Three themes emerged from the data: gaining entry to play; feeling like a legitimate participant, and having friends.

"Many children spoke about initiating play," says Spencer-Cavaliere, "and either being invited to play or asking to play and being rejected or not being invited or not being allowed. Making that initial step into a play environment is really a critical step for children."

One of the children gave an example of wanting to play freeze-tag, a game he enjoyed. "He asked to play and was rejected. He asked the teacher to help and the teacher did nothing. Eventually he walked away. 'It feels like you're treated like an insect,' he said.' So a major part of being included was being asked to take part, or another child saying, "Yes, you can play."

Children frequently expressed the need to feel valued, evolving the second major theme: feeling like a legitimate participant. Says Spencer-Cavaliere, "For the children this meant that once within a physical activity or play environment, taking on roles that were meaningful, feeling a part of the game: feeling important, as though you had a valued role."

In the third theme, having friends, children stressed the value of true friendships, having someone they could depend on and trust. "That allowed children to be less concerned about their performance and more invested in being part of the game and having a good time because they were in a safe place with people who accepted and valued them."


One surprise for Spencer-Cavaliere: "Children were given a broad spectrum of things they could talk about but they never mentioned physical education when discussing feeling included," she says. "This may mean they don't consider physical education as inclusive because it's very structured by adults. It seems that other children and their behaviour make the distinction between feeling included or belonging that could arise in other play settings where children could direct and make decisions about who takes part.

"With that said, the free play setting is a major challenge for children with disability," says Spencer-Cavaliere, "simply because you're really dependent on other children who are not always mature, or understand or appreciate difference and value that."

So what's a teacher, coach, parent to do to help kids with disability feel included? "When in doubt, ask the child," says Spencer Cavaliere. "You get valuable information and it gives them a say."

Spencer-Cavaliere cautions there is no one solution. "All children need to be in places where they feel included, whether they experience disability or not," she says. "This could mean specialized or integrated settings. Children need to have legitimate choices to have meaningful experiences in a variety of physical activity settings, and we should not be limiting the type of setting."

The research was published in the Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, and named a landmark study by the journal.

UK Inquiry into disability-related harassment

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is undertaking an inquiry into disability-related harassment and how well this is currently being addressed by public authorities. Some people use the word bullying when they are talking about harassment.

We want to hear from anyone who has been bullied or harassed and from organisations that work for/with disabled people, including voluntary and community sector organisations, public authorities (such as local councils, police, housing, social services and education) and public transport operators.

Watch this clip that explains some of the issues relating to this inquiry.

BRITE Initiative for Advice & Training on Inclusion Technologies in UK

BRITE (UK) provides information, advice and training on inclusive education, assessment and enabling technologies in Scotland.

The BRITE (UK) BLOG latest news - What's new on the BRITE Blog: Accessible learning resources; Sight Village VI tech exhibition;

Creating inclusive environments for Deaf Students and learners.

Access the latest news and views from the BRITE team any time from the menu bar on every page or click here to visit the Blog direct.

If you want more information on the Scottish Government's bill for Implementing Inclusion and Realising Potential in Learning click on this link.