Dyslexia: Bullying is a serious issue

Experience
Dyslexia manifests in different ways for every child. But there is one aspect that is bound to be universal: the bullying suffered by the dyslexic child at one point or another during their school years.

The difficulties with reading, writing, and spelling are bad enough, but add bullying on top of all that and the effects can be devastating for the child’s sense of accomplishment and self-esteem.

Fantasy Land
You’ll still hear the occasional teacher insist that bullying isn’t an issue in her school. Ten to one, this means that the teacher is just not aware of what’s going on under her own nose within the classroom, and further afield, on the playground during recess.

Suicidal Tendencies
Bullying is beginning to receive wider notice and has been found to bring on depression and even suicidal tendencies in some children, and there’s always an accompanying drop in the child’s academic performance.

The bullying doesn’t have to be physical to earn its title of dubious distinction. Verbal abuse is also a kind of bullying. In that sense, calling a child by a degrading nickname qualifies as bullying, as does ignoring a child or telling him he smells bad, for instance.

Hurts Everyone
Bullying hurts both the victim and the one who bullies him. The bully may end up with a false sense of his own power over others in his environment. He may end up the bullying adult in the workplace and in his own home.

Low Spirits
If your child has dyslexia and his spirits seem low, or he seems to be spending too much time on his own in the schoolyard, it becomes your duty as his parent to make inquiries and discover if he might have become the victim of bullying.

Children are often afraid to speak out against a fellow classmate. There’s an unspoken code of honour that feels unbreakable. Even if he thinks he has the right to “rat out” his tormentor, your child may also be afraid of retaliation.

Ask Friends
A good way to discover the truth is to ask your child in the presence of a friend or two. Your child won’t talk, but his friends sure will. They have nothing to lose.

This may just allow the whole issue to be brought out into the light. Even before you deal with the school and the bully himself, your child will have experienced a huge sense of relief. Once you, as the parent, know what’s going on, the burden of your child’s secrecy is lifted, at least.

Don’t Ignore!
Now is the time for action. Never tell your child to “just ignore” the bully. This goes beyond the occasional spat between classmates. In the best case scenario your child has an experienced teacher who knows how to deal with this situation. The teacher must speak to the bully, his victim, and to both sets of parents.

Needs Counseling
Once the bully knows that all eyes are upon him, his behavior may well change for the better. At the very least, a firm stance by the school’s administration will tend to put a damper on the bullying behavior and drive it underground.

Even better, the school will suggest to the parents of the bully that their child undergo much-needed counseling, for the sake of all concerned.

Toys for Children with Special Needs - Blog link

I would very much like to connect you to another blogger, Max's Mum  She has put together a very comprehensive list of toys that would be suitable for children with special needs and, to assist the reader, she has categorised them into different skills development sections.

The picture shown is of Rody the Inflatable Hopping Horse and it is recommended by Kerry, a mother with two boys who have cerebral palsy. She says, "It's great for balance and strengthening muscles."

If you wish to see the full list of toys, games and books shown on Max's Mum's website, click here.

NB: This site does not recommend products or services but does provide links to other websites for information only. Caveat Emptor - Use normal levels of caution when purchasing items over the internet.

The Sensory University - Toys and gadgets to Stimulate young minds?

Quoting from the home page of the Sensory University:

"The Sensory "U" is owned by a group of independent investors, and operated by Peach State Pediatric Therapy Inc.

Being managed by the largest sensory intensive pediatric therapy facility in the southeast gives our company the cutting edge insight that most pediatric supply companies do not have.

When our store initially opened, our primary focus was on special needs products and toys for the children treated in our facility.

Over the years, our inventory has increased to cover a full spectrum of educational items and pediatric fitness products, as well as a library of over 100 titles dedicated to improving the lives of children with many different forms of developmental delay.

While we maintain our core special needs product line, we now offer many products geared towards the everyday cardiovascular, gross motor, sensory, and strength development of all children. We invite you and your family to explore the learning possibilities of the Sensory University"

To view this Triton Ultimate Bike Click on the picture or the link.

We invite you to browse their extensive catalogue but in no way endorse their company, the website or any of their products.

Dyscalculia is Maths Dyslexia: Youtube Video

My Dyslexia Life Video Story – By Antonio Farruggia-Bochnak

More at Dyslexic Brian's website

Dyscalulia: What are you afraid of?

Top Ten Things that scare a Dyscalculic:

1. Going into a bank to carry out any sort of financial transaction, especially getting foreign currency for vacations.

2. Cash registers. Either using one or paying at one.

3. Paying bills. Either online or in person.

4. Counting out coins while someone is waiting e.g. the cashier or a customer waiting impatiently behind you.

5. Card games! All those petty rules and stuff. Try and have patience when explaining the rules to a person with dyscalulia, even if it is each time they play.

6. Recalling combinations of numbers e.g. PIN Numbers, social security numbers, etc.

7. Calculators! They don’t always help someone who is dyscalculic. Check for one's that are approved.

8. Other peoples’ puzzled reactions when you talk about or try to explain, dyscalculia.

9. Getting lost! The latest trend of using your GPS to get around helps a lot!

10. The Metric System, especially trying to convert between it and yo olde Imperial measures.

The Wonderful World of Service Dogs

When you hear the term "service dog" do you automatically think of a blind person crossing the street holding on to their canine partner.

These days the term "service dog" means so much more. People with limited hearing, seizure disorders, restricted mobility and other disabilities can all make use of these wonderful animals.

Children with autism are not excluded any more for now, they are also benefiting from the use of service dogs.

As you may be aware, Autism has a wide range of symptoms, which can vary in severity on a case by case basis, but difficulty socialising and communicating, a limited range of interests and repetitive behaviours are very common.

How can they be helped? Well, some of the ways that well-trained dogs can help autistic children include:

- physically interrupting or distracting from repetitive or negative behaviours

- alerting a child to an important sound in their vicinity or environment

- moving the child away from a dangerous situation, within reason

- improving spatial awareness and preventing the child from walking into or in front of people

- reducing the chances that a child will run or stray from a safe locality

Another important role that service dogs play in an autistic child's life is encouraging social interactions.

As anyone who has walked a dog knows, a dog by your side is a green light for people to come up and start a conversation.

Autistic children benefit from these interactions, and can work on language development by learning to answer the questions that inevitably arise time and time again, like "what is your dog's name?"

Petting a dog is an anxiety-reducer for everyone, autistic children included, but these kids can benefit from contact with a trusted dog in still another way.

Deep pressure is widely recognised to help calm many autistic individuals when stress starts to build.

Service dogs can be trained to sit right next to a child who is having a meltdown and lean in for a strong and therapeutic hug.

In a potentially overwhelming situation, a dog can also serve as a focal point that can help autistic children avoid becoming overstimulated.

When they aren't working, service dogs can play the role of the family pet -- providing the companionship and unconditional love that pet owners of all types enjoy.

When outside the home, however, these dogs are on the job and should not be distracted. Outfitting them in a service dog vest helps people in the community understand the dog's role and will hopefully eliminate the chances that they will be denied entrance into a facility.

These dogs can even accompany children to school, but parents may have to work hard to convince school administrators of the dog's true role in their child's life.

Service dogs are not appropriate for all autistic children, but for some they can make a world of difference.

Many agencies with a variety of approaches are available to assist with the acquisition, training and placement of autism service dogs.

No particular training or licensing is necessary for a dog to be considered a service animal, so parents can even take on these tasks themselves if they are willing to learn all they can about dog training and the special role of an autism service dog.

Screen Magnification: Dolphin Release New version of SuperNova

The screen magnification market looks set for a significant shake up following the recent release of an updated screen access solution from one of the World's original accessibility experts - Dolphin Computer Access.

As with previous releases, SuperNova version 12 boasts screen magnification, screen reading suitable for users with no useful sight, as well as Braille display support - all fully synchronised. Notably however, for low vision computer users,

SuperNova now also delivers four new magnifier innovations that should re-ignite the whole magnifier debate.

Immediately available in UK English, US English, Australian English, Welsh, Dutch, French, Belgian French, Belgian Dutch, Spanish, Swedish and Slovak.

SuperNova version 12 now includes support for multiple monitors, a brand new text smoothing technology called "True Fonts", large scalable mouse pointers and an interestingly named and unique feature called "Mouse Buffer"!

These new Dolphin innovations have been developed by Mike Hill, Dolphin's Development Director, who also brought the first combined magnification and screen reading software to the access technology market in 1998, in the form of SuperNova version 1. Reported by some as having 'rediscovered his magical touch'

NB: We do not endorse any product or service from this, or any other provider. We simply include it in this blog for information and encourage you to investigate it fully before committing any monies.
Read more at the Dolphin website

Slideshow: Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Procedural Learning Deficits

To see the complete slideshow click on the first slide


To view other slideshows from the IDA Conference, Reading, Literacy and Reading, click on the link here

Dealing with Adult Dyslexia

One of the first things you should do if you think you might have adult dyslexia is to go for professional testing and diagnosis. This will allow you to work on accurate strategies to help you address and overcome your issues.

Many people with adult dyslexia try to hide their daily struggles, which can only make things worse, because neither you nor the people around you will know what’s really going on. You will only spend a lot of time and effort on developing coping strategies instead of getting to the root of the problem.

Try to manage your time better
Many adults diagnosed with dyslexia have time management issues and one way of overcoming this is to maintain a daily planner, in which they write absolutely everything down, within reason.

Remember your mother's diary, the old yuppie filofax, well we now have a startling number of low and high tech devices to help us take notes and keep track of our time.

Pick something that you find simple and convenient to use, something that fits with your life style, a planning touchstone to refer back to, as frequently as you need to, to check on what, how and when things are due.

Gadgets can help
Around the house you can use a simple wind up cooker timer to keep track of activities but when you are out and about you can use some of the newer electronic gadgets on the market today. Something with alarms you can set to remind you in advance that you have an appointment to keep or a presentation to make, etc,.

Other, more expensive gadgets can take a snapshot of a sign, document or other text and read it back to you through an earpiece or out loud, depending on what you prefer.

These capabilities are now built into or loaded on to mobile devices and smartphones, which can travel with you when you travel and are particularly helpful if you are going to a strange city. These devices are discussed at length in other postings on this blog.

Lack of short-term auditory memory
One of the characteristics of dyslexia is a lack of, or deterioration of short-term auditory memory. By repeating instructions or directions back to someone after hearing them, and writing them down or even recording those directions in your diary, is a simple method to help overcome this particular obstacle.

You should also try to focus on key words and perhaps try to visualise these words in a series of mental pictures.

Improve your reading and writing
One way to work on improving your reading and writing skills is to break words into their basic sound components i.e. blends, graphs, diphthongs. etc, and then learn to rearrange the sounds to produce different words.

This technique has been shown to help adult dyslexics develop better reading fluency while producing fewer errors in their writing.

Summary
If you have been diagnosed with dyslexia, you shouldn’t despair. It may take some time to rebuild your self-esteem and confidence, especially if you’ve been trying to manage this disorder without external or additional support.

You should keep in mind that being dyslexic does not mean you’re unintelligent or unable to learn; it just means your brain is wired differently.

If you have any questions or comments on this post please let us know at dyslexiauntied@gmail.com