Dyslexia: 'My three sons and their music'

Three brothers with dyslexia have overcome their struggles with reading music to be chosen to play in the National Schools Symphony Orchestra.

"I shudder to think what it would have been like without music," says Sasha Baldwin, mother to three teenage sons who are all dyslexic.

Luke, 17, plays the violin and guitar. Patrick, 15, plays the piano, organ and trumpet while Robert, 14, is a gifted French horn player. They all sing too.

Yet at primary school they struggled from early on as dyslexia manifested itself in different ways in each of them.

"Luke had difficulties learning how to read, Patrick had problems with short-term memory and couldn't remember instructions from school or telephone numbers and Robert had real problems with personal organisation and retaining information, as well as reading," Sasha says.

The North Yorkshire school they attended recognised their learning difficulties and enlisted the help of educational psychologists to support them.

But Sasha, who now lives in Perthshire, realised that music could provide a valuable outlet for their development and she encouraged the boys to start learning the piano aged five.

Although they were enthusiastic, they all had issues with reading music.

"Robert had to give up the piano after a year as he couldn't read two lines of music simultaneously and became very frustrated," Sasha says.

Read more of Sasha's story here

Dyslexia: Learning to Read Music

Dyslexia can be more than simply a problem with words. Music students often find it difficult to understand musical notation, especially when they are trying to read sheet music and play their instrument a the same time.

Dyslexia can be more than just a problem with letters and words. Many talented music students run into problems when they try to learn to read sheet music.

Just as they experiences problems with words in print, the dyslexic musician may see a baffling array of lines and circles, with note symbols jumping around and the lines of the staff wavering and shifting.

Confusion about letters leads to disorientation and frustration; confusion about musical notation has the same result.

The people of Davis Symbol Mastery, the process of modeling symbols in clay, believe they can provide an effective solution.

Their solution is to form each musical symbol in three dimensions, using clay.

Thus, the participatory and sensory input will help the student develop a full understanding of the meaning of each symbol.

NB: Read more about this at The Dyslexic Reader

How to Motivate Kids to Read: Tips - Andrea Davis Pinkney video

Children's book author Andrea Davis Pinkney, who has children with learning disabilities, shares fantastic tips about how to motivate young people to read. For more information and free resources, please visit NCLD's Dyslexia page.

Dyslexia and education in the 21st century: Jorsen

This paper is an introductory article from the Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs (Jorsen). 

The Full PDF is available here

Abstract This paper both reviews the other papers in this special issue and puts them in the context of the current agenda of research in dyslexia education.

The pluralistic nature of the field is explored with reference to this special issue.

The paper suggests a way forward for the field in terms of a developing research agenda for dyslexia education as we progress further into the 21st century.

Introduction
There are important educational questions to be asked in relation to dyslexia. What does it mean for a student in the 21st century to be classified as dyslexic?

How is dyslexia constructed and understood and how do the different disciplines influence educational provision, and indeed how is this experienced by students?

Researchers generally agree that it is not a straightforward matter of discovering children with intrinsic, diagnosable cognitive impairments, which can be simply remediated.

It is recognised in current writing about special educational needs (SEN) that it is necessary to take account of a range of interacting factors and related values: biological, psychological, social and cultural – to understand and respond appropriately to children identified as having learning difficulties in school (Davis and Florian, 2004a, b; Norwich, 2009).

This paper reviews the other papers in our special issue and sets out an agenda for future research in the field.

The special issue sets out to extend current discussion and thinking about dyslexia and education beyond the current perspective.

The collection contains papers drawing on the themes of identification and assessment, training, emotional well-being, systemic support and development and narrative research (i.e., our papers do respond to the biological, psychological etc.).

Indeed, because dyslexia inspires a debate on a number of levels, and in a range of academic disciplines, much can be gained by the bringing together in one issue of alternative perspectives and paradigms.

Further, by including papers that draw on different traditions of research about dyslexia, we can offer the potential for teasing out new knowledge by exploring the tensions between perspectives.

Mothers should trust their Judgement

Richard Selznick, Ph.D, sends a message to moms to trust their judgment in thinking if children should be evaluated by a professional in the early learning stages.

For a book trailer, demo reel or promotional video from Annie Jennings PR, visit: anniejenningspr.com/book_trailer.htm

Online Child Protection : CEOP UK Video

'The Parents' and Carers' Guide to the Internet', from CEOP, is a light hearted and realistic look at what it takes to be a better online parent. The show covers topics such as, talking to your child about the technologies they use and the things they might see, such as pornography.

With interviews from leading experts such as, Professor Tanya Byron, Dr Linda Papadopoulos and Reg Bailey, as well as key industry players from Facebook, Club Penguin and Moshi Monsters , this online guide aims to equip you with the tools to have those tricky conversations with your children and keep your family safe online.

TV Personality Anthea Turner and Dyslexia

TV personality Anthea Turner, 52, has described how she suffered with dyslexia, which meant she mixed up her left and right during the Dancing on Ice routines, recently broadcast on UK TV.

She said: ‘I think my biggest problem has been, and we’ve spoken about it, I am dyslexic and dyslexics never know their right from their left.

‘And I’ve had terrible trouble and the coaches are going bonkers at me going, “Do you know your right from your left?”.’

As a result she faced criticism from the judges for not spending enough time with her feet on the ice, as she found it easier to learn the lifts.

But while the training may have been a struggle, the former Blue Peter presenter was more than happy with its results.

She said it had given her a ‘skater’s bum’, adding: ‘I need to hold onto that. I haven’t had a bum as good as this ever.’

She said it had not gone unnoticed by her husband, Grant Bovey, 50. They have survived a rocky patch in their marriage, something Miss Turner credits her involvement in Dancing on Ice with.

Miss Turner said: ‘Things are back on track, our field has been given a re-turf. It takes two people, relationships go through difficult times and I don’t know anyone who has a clean run.

‘We lost each other for a while and things went a bit off track but a very good friend of mine, from a very strong Indian family, said, “if there are 20 chains that hold you together and you’ve a problem with one of them, don’t destroy everything, just don’t destroy everything”.’

Dyslexia linked to impulsiveness among criminals

Swedish researchers have chalked up a pioneer discovery clearly linking dyslexia and high levels of impulsivity in a group of adults − men convicted of felonies.

This discovery has been published in the scientific journal Dyslexia by researchers of Sweden’s Lund University, Malmö University and University West in Trollhätten.

Impulsiveness can have its good sides and bad sides. A certain dose of spontaneity is often considered a positive quality.

Nevertheless, researchers point out that impulsivity also plays an important role in criminality.

The new study involved 22 men with an average age of 27 who had all been subjected to forensic psychiatric investigations in connection with trials in Swedish courts.

Nine had dyslexia and 13 didn’t.

Forensic psychiatric investigations are ordered in homicide trials or other court cases involving a major felony if the accused is suspected of suffering a serious psychiatric disorder.

Dyslexia common among inmates
The researchers stress the significance of their results even though the study only involved a small test group and it didn’t include dyslectics in the general population.

In a series of tests of these felons they found a significant degree of impulsivity solely among the dyslectics.

Eight of the nine dyslectics exhibited a raised level of impulsiveness. No such tendencies were witnessed among the 13 others.

One of the tests required the participants to find the shortest route out of a labyrinth on a computer screen.

The ones who were most likely to act without thinking about the consequences were fast, but they often made mistakes.

The researchers measured cognitive impulsivity in a battery of tests of these men’s thinking and problem-solving skills.

“These persons were told it was equally important to complete a test with good results as it was to do it quickly. A cognitive impulsive person opts for quick solutions, errs more often and makes more attempts than a person who isn’t cognitive impulsive,” explains Researcher Anna Dåderman.

None of these men were psychotic, medicated or under the influence of drugs or alcohol while the tests were conducted.

Should be checked for dyslexia and impulsivity
“Some 40-70 percent of inmates are dyslectic, as compared to 6-10 percent in the general population,” says Dåderman.

“People who don’t ponder the consequences are more likely to do things they shouldn’t. Impulsivity will also be triggered by alcohol and drugs,” she writes in a press release.

The researchers point out that people who are either serving prison sentences or are committed to Swedish psychiatric health care are rarely diagnosed with dyslexia.

Nevertheless, research shows an over-representation of dyslexia in these groups.

ADHD is also an over-represented diagnosis among convicts.

“Patients submitted to forensic psychiatric investigations should be tested for dyslexia and impulsivity, whether or not they have ADHD,” assert the researchers.

Dyslexia and exams: Some tips

Exams bring out the worst in all of us but especially if you are Dyslexic.

Here are a few tips to make it  easier for you.

• Before you do the exam you need to revise. Revise little but often.  
• When you start, first look through the paper and do the easiest question first, 
• then do the bigger questions and then 
• do the questions you will have difficulty with 
• Don't rush to finish the exam. Correct answers are the aim not speed.
• Read the question about 5 times before answering it. Make sure you understand it.
• Have a spare piece of paper (or two) to write down some notes and make good use of it.
• Take your time, its better to get the question right. 
• Answer the questions you know first, then
• do the bigger questions, then
• lastly, answer the questions you have difficulty with
• When you have an essay question, write down your answers on your note paper and put them as bullet points.  
• In some exams you will have questions that need large amount of points, in regards to case studies.  You need to revise as many facts as possible. 
• A good way to answer questions that need many points is with bullet points
• Remember to breathe, especially between questions.
• Rest between the questions. Take a minute to think about your answer and to let the initial panic pass. 
• If you rush there may be issues with your structure and content. Clear thinking helps you plan the structure and content in your answers. 

If you know your subject then you will feel better about exams. It is better to do your studying well in advance of the exam.

In this way you will be better prepared and hopefully a little calmer when exam day comes. 

Dyslexia - TES Special Education: Confusing Spellings

Confusing Spellings - Homophones Interactive presentation focusing on there, where, here, wear, hear, they're, we're and their. 

Presentation can be worked through in any order due to triggers included within. 

Gently paced to allow for thinking time/discussion etc. 

Presentation uses a font called Chinacat (round a, easy to read) and this has been embedded. 

Backgrounds are blue/grey and the font is dark blue rather than black.

Read more at TES website or on TES Pin Interest