Dyslexia and the Arts: My Suggested Interview Questions

Hi, I am seeking more insight into what your life is like, and has been like, as a Dyslexic person. I know that you have an untold story that wants to be broadcast and would like to help you with that.

I am particularly interested in hearing from Dyslexic people who are in the Creative and Performing arts, in whatever capacity.


My understanding is that the Creative and Performing Arts contain a higher proportion of Dyslexic people because of their ability to visualise and innovate in a non-literal form.


The other possibility is that the Creative and Performing Arts acts as a sanctuary and natural safe harbour for like-minded people, where literacy is less relevant.


I have short list of Questions that may help you tell your story and describe how you feel about You, Dyslexia and the Arts.


Thank you for your input. Add your comments below or send me an email at dyslexiauntied@gmail.com

QUESTIONS

Discovery

When did you discover you had Dyslexia?

How did this change your outlook on life?

Exclusion and Inclusion

How does Dyslexia affect making friends and maintaining relationships?

What support did you get from family, friends, teachers, boy or girlfriends when they know you have Dyslexia?

Advantage

What do you believe are the advantages of having Dyslexia?

How spontaneous are you compared to other people?

Transitions

How difficult is it to move from familiar circumstances to a new one? Example: School, House, Job, relationship, etc.

What other support or help did you want or need at the time?

Career Openings

How has Dyslexia affected your career decisions in life?

What made you go into the performing arts?

How suitable is it for Dyslexic people to take up the arts?

What do you get from the arts that you can’t get elsewhere?

Self Image

How well are you understood, as a Dyslexic person?

Looking Back

What would you say to a younger self, about friends, school, family, jobs, etc.?

What was the best piece of advice about Dyslexia you were given?

Awareness

How has the world become more aware and helpful to Dyslexic people?

What is left to be done?

Other

What other stories are left untold that you are keen to tell?

Talking about transition at Our Special Families Village

The Village is a growing community where families find information and mutual support. Sharon is the gifted and passionate creator of the Village. In this one-minute welcome video, she explains what you’ll find there.

The Village offers a growing collection of interviews on a wide range of topics.

Our audio interview is over an hour long. And we don’t tippy-toe around difficult issues.
It’s a candid dialogue about practical responses to tough questions:

• how can parents negotiate their changing role during adolescence?
• how can we support teens to make informed choices and speak for themselves?
• what happens when there’s conflict on the IEP team?
• how can teens find out about career options?
• where do we start in the maze of adult agencies?
• how can teens learn what to do when they face roadblocks?

If you’re feeling some anxiety about these topics, you’re not alone.

You can listen to our conversation here.

Resources

During the interview we talk about these resources:
A Maze of Agencies – Where to Start?
Problem Solving Graphic Organizer
My Next Move   
Reading Free Career Interest Tools  
Transition portfolios and planning tools  

Talking about transition at Our Special Families Village

Transitions: Preparing for Adulthood

Click on the image to visit the Preparing for Adulthood website

The Preparing for Adulthood Programme
A programme of work is now underway to explore these proposals, working with SEND green paper pathfinders. The Preparing for Adulthood programme will also provide knowledge and support to all local authorities and their partners, including families and young people, so they can ensure young people with SEN and disabilities achieve paid work, independent living, good health and community inclusion as they move into adulthood. We will be working with the Department for Education and its partners to:

• Build on the learning from past initiatives
• Support peer to peer learning at a local level to improve outcomes
• Share knowledge of what works, the challenges and solutions with Government, local agencies, families and young people.

The Preparing for Adulthood Programme has three strands of work:

• Best practice and information sharing
• Wider support for all local areas
• Pathfinder support.

Move 627: Transition - Supporting Children and Parents through life's changes

What is transition?
One definition of transition is a passage from one form, state, style, or place to another.

In the context of the young person moving from primary to secondary school he or she is not only moving place, going from primary to secondary school, but is also moving from a stage of childhood to adolescence.

He or she is passing through puberty and is undergoing major emotional and physical changes.
Read more…

The four phases of transition
The four phases of transition are

• Preparation, 
• Induction, 
• Transfer and 
• Consolidation 

Read more…

Key changes in the child
Key changes in the young person's life include pubertal changes such as physical growth and emotional upheaval.

In addition to this, changes in the brain itself have more recently been noted, specifically in one area known as the prefrontal cortex, which sits just behind the forehead.

It has been called the “CEO of the brain”, and has a major role in controlling planning, working memory, organisation, and modulating mood and impulsivity.

As the prefrontal cortex matures, adolescents are able to make more reasoned decisions and start to gain more control over their impulses. They are able to plan and determine their actions.
Read more…

This site - what it can do for you
Move 627 contains a wealth of information which may help parents, schools and health professionals to better support young people during the transition from primary to secondary school.

The site may be particularly useful to young people with ADHD and other developmental disorders. Move627 contains downloadable information, adaptable downloads and fun, interactive games. These may all help:
Read more…

To learn more about supporting parents and children with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, DCD, ADHD, etc., be sure to visit the website of Move627 and their sister sites: Box of Ideas and www.dyscovery.info

The websites are supported by Prof. Amanda Kirby: A registered Medical Practitioner who specialises in Community Paediatrics and Psychiatry. Prof Kirby has particular interest in Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and DCD and is currently the patron of the Dyspraxia Association in New Zealand and medical advisor to the Dyspraxia Foundation in the UK and Ireland.

She is also a medical advisor to a developmental disorders clinic in Singapore, the UK Neurofibromatosis Association and is on the Royal College of General Practitioners Learning Disability Working Party.

Transitioning Teenagers into Further Reading - The Dutch View

I have just spent some time with Manu Hartsuyker, a freelance film producer and director in the Netherlands. She is not only a great documentary maker, but has also given herself over to helping others, both here in Europe and in Africa, South East Asia, etc.

Along with others, she has established a local initiative and supportive effort to transition young adults and teenagers into further reading and to promote reading as a pleasureable activity in young adults. Something I am very interested in and I know you will be too.

Clearly there is a lot of competition and distractions out there for teenagers, more than there has ever been. Things that capture the imagination of children and young adults are many-fold. The primary two are TV and video games, with puberty and match-making running a close third.

I would not like to say where reading and the exploration of the world and the human condition comes in, especially through the written word and story telling, but I suspect it is quite far down in the top 10 of teenager activities.

From Manu's perspective it is fortunate that in the Netherlands, the government and authorities are so enlightened. They encourage the establishment of charitable initiatives and the efforts of volunteers, giving freely of their own time, to help support others in whatever way they can.

The NL government does this by allowing the group to set themselves up under a charity status and is therefore outside the normal taxation burden of a small company or similar organisation. But the group is covered by this protection only for a limited time, 3 - 5 years.

Alas, Manu's group is coming to the end of this period and is now exploring ways of encouraging donations and sponsorship to allow them to continue thier work. Currently they are gathering ideas and suggestions that will help them continue and I believe they should be encouraged.

If you have any suggestions as to how the group can do this or things you have tried that have worked for your group, please send me a comment on my blog or go directly to Manu's website - www.leesmij.nl - where you will be able to find more information.

Please be aware that the website is still being worked on and is occasionally off-line. If this is a problem for you then please contact me here and I will pass your message on or arrange for Manu to contact you.

Thank you for your time and any suggestions you may have.