“THE SILLY BOAT RACE 2009” OR DYSLEXICS TAKE OVER THE WORLD

The best thing to do is watch the video first then read the blog, go ahead I’ll wait.

Wasn’t that neat?! The actual event is a fund raising event for a large child support association called “Nanaimo Child Development Centre” or “NCDC” in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. The purpose is to gather funding for the NCDC and their great programs. Businesses and associations register a team who enter the various segments of the race. The grand prize is a trophy and the knowledge that you have helped kids. Here’s another cool part though, the “boats” have to be assembled at the park, the build must be done in 4 hours AND all the parts must be recycled goods and the “boat” must have nothing but human power. No engines, no electricity. So you will notice lots of shovels and brooms made into paddles. Notice the boat in the video that has the paddlewheel? That’s me with the red hat and my son and my business partner, Karey Hope. The same Karey Hope who is the Dyslexic founder of Dyslexia Victoria Online. In fact the entire project was done by members who are either Dyslexic or really, really right-brained like my son and me.

I have mentioned the Vancouver Island Dyslexia Association (VIDA) in previous blogs but here is a brief recap. This association is located in Nanaimo and I am a board member. Most of the board members and the founder are Dyslexic. The association has an informational website and holds general meetings once a month, as well, they are building on their parents support group. About 6 ago months we became aware of the Silly Boat race and decided it would be a good opportunity for VIDA to get some exposure to both the media and the general public. Our information booth in the local park and the boat itself certainly did attract lots of attention.

Okay now you have a quick explanation of what the video is about. Our entire boat project was devised, planned, built, disassembled and rebuilt at the beach by Dyslexics. And I will tell you why I think this is so important. Normally when an association or business or corporation, or whatever, decides to embark on a big project there will be lots of discussion and planning and more discussion and more decisions and generally lots of inertia to overcome. One to the strengths we mention when we talk about Dyslexic individuals is their ability to see the “Big Picture” or how to problem solve or how they think outside the box. In the instance of this project the solution, which was actually the entire design and build of the boat, was already figured out by the 2 designers of the boat before we could even start to make the committee that was supposed to be in charge of the project. The two “J’s” who are both proudly Dyslexic, an aeronautical engineer and scientist had the boat built in their minds and brought a scale model of the boat to a meeting months before we had even registered for the “race”. The inspiration for the boat came from another famous Dyslexic, Leonardo da Vinci, that’s why the boat was named the “Leonadro da VIDA”.

This was the first time we had ever entered this event and even against other entries who had been there on previous races we almost won, not only our individual race but the whole event. If you watch the video closely you will see we were actually pushing another boat in to the shore when it turned in front of us and we locked “hulls”. In fact they weren’t even paddling for the last part of the race.

We were invited to come again next year and the plans are in the works for that. We already have plans for a “Leonardo da VIDA, Mark 2”. The new boat will be more streamlined, have a bigger paddlewheel, a four person drive system and faster. We need to find some recycled paint so we can make it more colorful. Yes it was lots of fun for everybody involved and for the public who attended and we certainly hope we helped NDCD with our efforts.

Later in the year we will produce a longer video that will have a full story about the build and the brilliant Dyslexic people involved.

Happy Trails!
Howie deGraaf
Editor for Dyslexia Victoria Online
www.dyslexiavictoria.ca
or email me at: degraaf@dyslexiavictoria.ca

Our Resident Travelling Right-brained Goddess Exeriences another Encounter with a Left-brained Official

LOST BAG

by Cate Frearson

That’s actually a funny title as my sister and I call each other “bag” all the time, as a term of endearment of course.  She might actually think I’m writing about her as she’s been lost on more than one occasion.  She has a very right brained ability to tune out completely and run into walls, trip down stairs, leave her purse or a baby on top of her car then drive away, rear end a big yellow school bus with big red flashing lights (explain THAT to the cops when you aren’t under the influence) and drive blindly past her teenage son walking home from school – five times.  I can tease her about all this because I have the same tendencies.  But those are stories for another time and this is about something much more mundane – an actual lost bag.  And my consequent brief but meaningful relationship with a very polite customer service representative who likely resides in Mumbai and I suspect has a good deal of his mental activity coming from the left side of his head.

For over 45 years, my father has lived on a small farm in Prince George, British Columbia, a rather chilly outpost a few hundred miles north of Vancouver.  These days he doesn’t venture south even for the deep freeze which is winter a fraction south of the tundra.  This means if we his children who don’t share his love for frostbite want to see him in the flesh we have to dig out our long underwear and brave the frigid temperatures measured in degrees below zero and wind chill factors of 20.  My father has always seemed oblivious to this rather obvious rationale for living closer to the 49^th parallel despite the fact that every sane person around him is forever planning their retirement in Las Vegas or Baja California.  To be fair, summers in Prince George though brief are surprisingly hot but I never seem able to make travel plans in the summer so it feels to me as if the place is locked in a perpetual freeze.  I honestly don’t think my father would care if it was.

Following one of my recent forays north to visit my father, I checked in at the airport in Prince George for a flight to Vancouver.  It has only a half dozen counters but no one else was in line.  In fact, there was no one else at that end of the room so what entailed is a bit of a mystery.  There were two agents at the counter having a conversation while checking my bag and that should have been my first clue, but in typical right brained fashion my attention was engaged elsewhere.

They took my bag and handed me a boarding pass with a little sticky on the back.  Of course I didn’t look at it; why would I?  Did you know that the bag sticky has your name printed on it? I’ve never noticed this important detail before.  Nor that the sticky on the boarding pass was related to my bag, even when looking straight at it for several seconds.  When I got into Vancouver and had to collect the bag at US Customs before boarding my next flight to Seattle, I waited for several uncomprehending minutes watching one unclaimed bag go round and round on the carousel.  Finally it sunk in that my bag wasn’t going to appear and I stood somewhat stupefied peering around the baggage area and wondering what to do next.  I scanned the room several times before the very prominent lost baggage sign came into focus along with the agent at the counter.  I was somewhat panic stricken by then and quite annoyed that she hadn’t revealed herself earlier.

In that state of mind though my thoughts are like tractor beams I can’t seem to put sentences together so it took a few frustrating minutes to make her understand my problem.  She took the boarding pass and while I was still blathering on about the bag and inattentive ticket agents, she identified the problem and pointed out that the sticky on my boarding pass had the name of “Bone” on it.  That stopped me in my tracks.  I was almost positive my name wasn’t Bone.  Turned out the two agents chatting happily at the check in counter in Prince George – though NO ONE ELSE was in line before or after me for several minutes – somehow put Mr. Bone’s sticky on my boarding pass and his tag on my bag.  This is not a situation conducive to stress free travel for the right brained.  I was immediately popping blood vessels.

The agent gave me a handful of computer printouts stapled to the boarding pass and a number of instructions to follow once I got to Seattle, most of which I promptly forgot in my state of increasing anxiety.  I was sure the bag was lost and was admittedly hyperventilating about visiting my 22 year old son and his four male roommates of roughly the same age, without clean underwear and deodorant.

I arrived at Seattle airport without further incident but of course the bag did not arrive with me.  Mr. Bone’s bag with my tag on it was there going round and round on the carousel, and unless Mr. Bone had a thing for women’s underwear my bag was doing something similar on a carousel in Calgary.  In any event, I was certain it was gone for good and was already dreading the loathsome shopping trip I would now have to take to get through the next couple of days.

Back at my son’s house and relieved to find most of the roommates out of town for the weekend, I called the number on the claim slip to see if the bag had been found.  This was my first introduction to the customer service agent who would be conscientiously tracking it for the next two days, his methods and sincerity reminiscent of Inspector Clousseau.  He must have either been the only one on duty that weekend, or the airline assigns each case to one agent.  Or they were just trying to keep him busy.  In any event, I spoke to him several times while the whole bag tracking business was going on.  The conversations went something like this:

“Am I speaking with Mrs. Catherine Frearson?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“This is Mr. Singh of ….airline.  How can I help you Mrs.?”

“I’m tracking a lost bag.”

“You’re tracking a lost bag?”

This was said as if he sold women’s lingerie and I was calling to discuss fishing tackle.

“Yes, I am.  Would you like the claim number?”

“You have a claim number, Mrs.?”

“Yes, would you like me to give it to you?”

“Is this for a lost bag?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a claim number?”

“12345678.”

“Mrs. please where is your bag now?”

“I was hoping you could tell ME that.”

“One moment, please Mrs.  Thank you so much but I must speak to my supervisor. “

I waited a couple of minutes and he came back on the line.

“Thank you for waiting, Mrs. I am so sorry for the delay.”

“No problem.  Does your supervisor know where my bag is?”

“Thank you, Mrs.  Your bag is in Seattle.  You didn’t collect it at baggage claim.”

“Well that’s because the bag that arrived in Seattle belongs to Mr. Bone and not to me.”

“Mr. Bone?   Who is Mr. Bone please Mrs.  Did he travel with you?”

“No, but his bag did.  I was told he went to Calgary and I’m assuming so did my bag.  It should be in the notes on the claim form. We had a tag switch in Prince George.”

“Prince George? Are you in Prince George now?”

“No, I’m in Seattle. “

“You’re in Seattle??”

Like I’d said Hong Kong or Shanghai.

“I’m staying with my son for the weekend.”

“Is your son Mr. Bone? Perhaps he has your bag?”

“No, I’m pretty sure my son’s name isn’t Bone.”

“And what is your home address?”

“I live in Australia.  Do you want that address or where I’m staying in Seattle?”

I realized adding another country to list of locations was asking for several more minutes of clarification and a possible rerouting of my bag to Brisbane, but I didn’t want to lie about where I lived.  I closed my eyes and prayed.

“Do you want the bag sent to Australia?”

“No, please deliver it to the address in Seattle that’s on the claim form.”

“But you live in Australia?”

“I’m staying with my son in Seattle at the address on the claim.  If you find the bag in the next couple of days you can deliver it here.”

“Yes,  Mrs.  Thank you for your patience.   I will telephone the Calgary airport and call you back.”

I wasn’t hopeful that he would locate my bag but he was so polite and sweet that I couldn’t wait for his next illuminating phone call.  It came an hour later.

“Hello Mrs. Catherine.  This is Mr. Singh.  I am calling about your lost bag.  I have good news.”

“You found my bag?”

“Yes, it’s been here in Seattle all along.  You didn’t claim it at the carousel.  It is on its way to you now.”

“I thought my bag went to Calgary and the one on the carousel in Seattle belongs to Mr. Bone?”

“Are you not Mrs. Bone?”

“Not as far as I know.  But this wouldn’t be the first time a significant event escaped my attention.  Perhaps he drugged me, carried me off to Vegas and married me in one of those little wedding chapels on the strip, all to get his hands on my bag, full of clean women’s underwear and deodorant.  Which I now need desperately before my sons’ strapping young roommates show up.”

“Pardon me Mrs.?”

“I’m sorry. Just kidding. Shall we start again?”

“I must talk to my supervisor. I apologize but would you please hold?”

“Absolutely. “

Less than a minute passed and he came back on the line.

“Many apologies, Mrs.  We have located your bag in Calgary and it is on its way to Seattle.  When it arrives, I will call you.”

I didn’t share his optimism since he apparently thought Mr. Bone was either my son or my spouse, but I was game to play this out.

“And Mr. Bone’s bag which is on its way to me now? What do I do with that?”

“Please give it to the driver when he brings your bag.”

I couldn’t wait to see what would turn up.

Several hours passed and the driver finally arrived.  By some miracle, he had my bag and not Mr. Bone’s.  God knows what happened to his bag; it was probably on its way to Prince George.

Nonetheless, I was saddened that this would mean the end of my conversations with Mr. Singh.  The phone rang minutes after the driver left.

“Hello Mrs. Catherine.  This is Mr. Singh.  I am tracking your lost bag.”

“Yes, hello Mr. Singh. Thank you for calling me back.”

“I regret to inform you that your bag has been returned to Calgary.  I am calling the airport now to arrange another flight.  I must apologize on behalf of the airline.”

“But Mr. Singh, I have my bag.  It was delivered a few minutes ago.”

“Was that not Mr. Bone’s bag?”

“No, it was mine.  It had his tag on it but it was my bag.  You see, there was a tag switch.”

“Oh I am very happy for you.  When the driver gets there with Mr. Bone’s bag, please have him return it to the airport.”

“I will do that.”

“You have been very kind and cooperative, Mrs.  On behalf of the airline, I must thank you for your patience.  Please enjoy your stay in Calgary.”

“Thank you, Mr. Singh, I love Calgary and will enjoy every minute I’m here.”

Cate Frearson

Brad Elder – an Eloquent Dyslexic Spokesperson

Recently I was looking up some specific info for a client from our book “Assessments and Evalutions” for Dyslexics.  My mother and partner, Jan Turner put this book together outlining and detailing our methods for assessing for Dyslexia.  When I was going through the book I noticed an introduction that I had never paid attention to before.  It was an excerpt  from a Dyslexic gentleman named “Brad Elder” from one of his webpages about being Dyslexic.  I was fascinated, called Jan and asked her about him.  Jan said he and she had communicated for  awhile a few years ago about Dyslexia.  They had ideas in common and differences of opinion which she found really interesting.  She said he was a really fascinating  man to talk to in regards to Dyslexia, what it is to experience it and how to work with it.

I decided to track down his webpages and I found his home page and then other ones connected to it. I also Googled his name and found more.  I also found many commonalities in our beliefs and approaches to Dyslexia and his list of sources are helpful and his view of  the experience of  Dyslexia is very moving and enlightening for those trying to understand how it feels,  how to deal with it and to realize as Dyslexics we are not alone.

So I have quoted part of his home page and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  I strongly suggest you go to his other webpages and review Brad Elder’s information and sources.  Also, I am trying to find a good email address or phone number for Brad.  If anyone knows how to contact him, please let me know.  You can email me at: khope@dyslexiavictoria.ca

Thanks!
Karen Hope
Co-founder of Dyslexia Victoria Online

Brad Elder and Dyslexia

So here is my tail.

Sorry but its a little cluttered.

by Brad Elder

I have left this un spell checked so that you can see my world a little better.

Like I said this is really hard to put into words.  Hard on the emotional level.  But I think it will help me to do it.  And I hope it will help you.

Ok,  where to start.  well I was diagnosed in the 6th graid.  That really helped!!!  It was the single biggest event in my life.  Suddenly there was a name for my problem.  I wasn’t lazy, or didn’t cair, or was………  what ever they called me that week.  It was like the unevers was lifted off my sholders.  I think I know what it must be like to slowly sufficate.  I don’t know really how to describe it to you but i’ll try:

Imagen that nobody could see their hands.  Everybody in the world.  Nobody can see anything from the elbo down.   Also assume that everybodys  hands work just like thay do right now today.    Now what if your hands didn’t work like “the normal hand”?   What If you didn’t have any fingers?  Everyone else can type, turn keys, scrach an ich, dress them sleves, tie there shoes, and feed them sleves.  Every one but you.  No one can see why you can’t “Do what everyone else can”.  You don’t know  why you can’t do what “normal” kids can.  You just know you can’t.   you walk and talk just like every one else.  there is no way to see an obvous reason why you can’t do it.  Adults don’t know.  How could they.  All they can see is a kid that isn’t doing what they were told to do.   And they lable you lazy, slacker, rebbel, and what ever they can come up with…….They my even point you out to your class mates and tell them not to be like you.

Rember You Have NO Idea Why You Can Not Do What The Normal Kids Do.

None.

All you know is that no matter what,  nomatter how hard you try,  you just can’t do it.   You will,  as your only choise, beleave the adults.  You must be lazy.  You must really be a slacker.  How could anyone be as worthless as you? the other kids susceed.  They must be trying.  You, there for, are not trying.

I want you to stop here and think about this senario.  Where does a Child go from here?  where does a Child go when they KNOW, becaues everyone tells them, they beleave with all there heart,  they are worthless?  Who does a Child turn to when everyone (even your parents) give up on you?

I really  want you to think hard about that.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?   YOU HAVE NO REASON TO DOUBT WHAT ANYONE IS TELLING YOU.  YOU HAVE NO ONE TO TURN TO.  NO ONE IS TELLING YOU ANY THING POSITIVE ABOUT YOUR SELF.

This was me at ten years of age.  I wanted to die.  Not because I was depresed (though I’m shure I was) but because I was imbarsed to be alive.  I was imbarsed for my parents,  for my sisters, for my teachers.    I loved them all and respected there openions.  After all they could do what I could not.  How could anyone deserve the burden of putting up with me?

Don’t you quit!!!

How are you going to get help?  no one, not even you know the truth.  you have no fingers!!!  thats it.  Nothing sinester about your behavior.  you just don’t have any fingers!!
Your only chance will be if someone actualy sees you.  and says to them self “what a nice kid.  shurly if they could have tied their shoe thay would have.  I wonder why they don’t?”  If your luckey they will have heard of a handy cap called “nofinger” that has symptems like yours.  And they will sugest that you get testing.

To parents reading think about this.  How can a Child get help if the parents don’t want to help?  “My Kid Is Normal!”  “Not My Son!!”  “My Daughter Is Just Quiet”.  the world cann’t help unless you allow it.  I don’t know what self centered fears parents have about children,  But try and rember “a rose by anyother name would smell as sweet”.  your child is alive and suffering and is a rose by any name.  Any help you can give them will help them bloom.  Many of my friends in the LD classes I have through out my life never were alowed to sucesed because their parents refeusd th help.

Don’t you quit!! (eather of you)

Now suppose all the politics required in getting parents, teachers and famly menbers involved come togeather and you are going to get tested.
You probably won’t know or cair about whats going on.  You have spent 10 years being told and fearmly beleaving that you are just dumb and lazy.  And lord knows you have seen your shair of tests.  The test is a new fangled machane that takes a picture of your hand and can see what we can’t.  after the test you are shown the results and have them explained to you.

BINGO!!!!!
you are not lazy.  you just don’t have any fingers!!!!!!!
Of corse no one could tie there shoes if they didn’t have fingers!!!
Of corse no one could dress them selves if they didn’t have fingers!!!
Of corse no one could type if they didn’t have fingers!!!!!!!
Of corse!!!!!!!!

I hope that helps you under stand.   I finaly knew why I couldn’t tie my shoes.  There was a reason.  and it wasn’t because I was lazy!

I really got mad after that.  I was mad at all my teachers.  mad at everyone who was trusted with my life and failed!  I soon (longer for others) forgave them all as They  did’t know anymore than I that there was aproblem (execpet that they did’t lisson to me.  But who lissons to a 10 yr old who doesn’t do what he is told).  I thought that that was it!  I’d  just show the teachers “look here are my test results, look no fingers!  I can’t type.  but I can tell you the answer.”
well that didn’t happen. All, most all, of them didn’t buy it.  and a few were determind to show the class and the world that I was a faker.   My math teachers were indeferent.  They didn’t cair about it at all. and they didn’t change anything.  but at least they didn’t fight me.  a few of my english teachers realy let me have it.   I couldent rember the alphibet, (and still can’t!!) but had to sit in on recesse and after school to look up the spelling of words.

Now if you have no fingers how can you type?   how comical would it be if you were held in the class room during recess and after school because you didn’t finish or didn’t do your typing corectly?  I wasn’t laughfing then and can only find sad hummer in it now, but that was my life in the sixth grade.  Dyslexiecs generaly can’t spell or do math because we revers letters and numbers.  I still (as you can see) can’t spell. K through 12th grade and I was punished for not being able to spell through it all.  Just as if I had no fingers and was being punished for not being able to type.  The logic behind it is insane!!!  I was going to flunk remadal english in the 6th grade.  remeadial english is nothing but spelling. its the spelling class from hell.  my teacher would make me stay in from recess and after school EVERYDAY!!!!! correcting the spelling on my test.  How do you spell a unknown word?  you look it up?

For more of this entry from Brad Elder please follow this link:

Welcome to Brad (Darb) Elder’s Dyslexia page

Also Google his name Brad Elder for other pages related to him.

Dyslexia Victoria Online’s Approach to Teaching Spelling to Dyslexics

Spelling is the most difficult skill for the right brain but it is the most important. More time should be given to spelling and building a reading and writing vocabulary than any other learning skills.

The Dyslexia Victoria Online Approach to learning to spell is through “drawing” words and understanding them in wholes, not in their separate parts or separate letters or phonic sounds.

It provides an easy method for changing the concrete picture images formed in the right brain into letters and words (the language of the left brain) and then sending them to the left brain for use in thinking and analyzing.

Training should begin with using concrete word images that form whole pictures.  The right brain easily understands word images as it sees and understands the world in wholes: whole sentences, whole paragraphs, whole essays, whole stories, whole lessons, whole concepts and whole assignments. The right brain understands word images it can turn into pictures in the mind’s eye.

We start with learning what a concrete image is and what letters represent. Then we work with concrete words from a story that describe strong images familiar to the student such as pictures of a horse, a man, a child, a house, a barn, an animal, and object such as a table, a book, ruler, eraser, car, truck, box, etc. When the pattern of a concrete object, sound of its name and a concrete word image are understood, we move on to abstract words that are needed for putting sentences together such as  and, for, too, which, why, who because, through, under, beneath, second, third, although, however, whole, whenever, rather, everything, etc.

For more information about Dyslexia and our teaching solutions check out our website at: www.dyslexiavictoria.ca

If you have questions we would love to hear your feedback!  You can email me at:  jturner@dyslexiavictoria.ca

Jan Turner
Co-founder of Dyslexia Victoria Online

Dyslexia Friendly Schools in the UK Benefit all Children

In England they have Dyslexia Friendly schools that use teaching systems suitable for  Dyslexics and they have found that not only are the Dyslexic students doing better, the “normal”  students are achieving higher grades.  A reality check that might cause educating bodies to take a hard look at our teaching methods in general especially with literacy scores in many western countries dropping every year.

Neil MacKay, an international  dyslexia consultant who has worked with the British Dyslexia Association,  Education Authorities and departments in the UK, Hong Kong and Malta has much to say about the benefits of  Dyslexia Aware and Friendly Schools.

From data collected by Neil MacKay, dyslexia-aware schools in the UK are recording improvements in arrange of measurable indicators, including attendance, attainment (measured through data), achievement(measured through assessment for learning), student and parental confidence, not just for dyslexic students,but also for a wide range of vulnerable learners.

This data, collected from schools engaged in the UK Quality Marking initiative – which recognizes schools for the quality of their inclusive practice – shows improved attendance and punctuality once teaching  styles, methods and materials are modified with a dyslexia-aware focus. This focus enables teachers to pull together a range of approaches into a coherent response, and head teachers comment that once they get it right for dyslexic students, this seems to enhance the learning of a majority of pupils in the school, with or without specific learning needs. For those with dyslexia, significant gains towards closing the learning gap have been made, with improvements recorded specifically in writing, reading, maths and science following targeted support.

Quoted from: “4D is For Dyslexia (a Guide for New Zealand Schools“
www.dyslexiafoundation.org.

I strongly suggest you check out their websites and informational pdf files on their progress with getting Dyslexia Awareness Programs into the schools and recognized by the New Zealand government.  Very exciting stuff and a positive hopeful note for the future of all Dyslexics.

“Power to the Dyslexic People”

(Okay, maybe I’m getting a little too enthusiastic.  We do need to start working together to overcome a world that doesn’t understand our special way of thinking and unlimited talents)

Cheers till next time.
Karen Hope
Co-founder of Dyslexia Victoria Online

What Is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is the word we give to the learning problems of those who think mainly with the right brain. Being right-brained means thinking in concrete wholes: whole pictures, whole words, whole stories, whole lessons and whole procedures.

This creates a learning difference from those who are left-brained. The right brain sees the world in whole pictures, not its parts; the left brain thinks about the world in its parts and records its thoughts in letters, printed words and numbers.

The right-brained student must be taught in ways that work with this learning difference. This means we must provide the right-brained student with learning formats that help it change its pictures into the “language of the left brain” so it can think in words and numbers.

To do this requires the right-brained student be taught how to print the letters, spell the words, and organize information in patterns that combine the letters and words in ways that enable it to spell, read, answer questions, organize its thoughts in sentences, paragraphs and essays and use numbers to record its mathematical information.

“What causes a person to be predominantly right-brained?”

Right-brained persons are born seeing and understanding the world in whole “concrete” pictures or images. These are pictures that are complete in all their details. For example, you say “horse” and the sound of that word brings a full real image of a horse to their minds. The left brain can do more. It can sound out each letter in a word to arrive at the sound of the word: h—o—r—s-e and how to spell it.

The right brain cannot do this as it cannot understand what the word says when each letter or groups of letters are sounded out. It thinks in wholes and so must hear and see the whole word “horse” to be able to picture it. The right brain cannot picture a sound.

The learning difference between right and left brain is that the right brain must first memorize the whole picture image of the word horse and put it together in the mind’s eye with a picture image of a horse and the sound of its name, before it can recognize the word again in a sentence or a story or spell it for you. This means the right-brained student must memorize every word in his or her reading vocabulary as a concrete word image such as horse.

The cause of this difference in the right brain is that letters and numbers are very abstract to it and represent nothing on their own. Most of the words in our language are abstract and cannot be turned into mental images, except for the word itself. For example, the right brain can see the image of a horse, but it cannot form a concrete picture of what the words since or while represent because they are abstract words. The left brain, however, understands the abstract concept of “time” and knows the letters in these words represent an idea of “time”. As the right-brain cannot do this, it cannot make sense of the word and its memory will not store it.

What we do at Dyslexia Victoria Online is provide the methods, skills and procedures that enable all right-brained (Dyslexic) students to print, spell, read, write sentences, paragraphs and essays. We also teach methods that enable them to understand arithmetic/mathematics, measurements and the concept of time (clocks, time of day and calenders).

For more information about Dyslexia and our teaching solutions check out our website at: www.dyslexiavictoria.ca

Hope to hear from you. You can email me at: jturner@dyslexiavictoria.ca

Jan Turner
Co-founder of Dyslexia Victoria Online

What’s with the Medical Model and Dyslexia?

It seems when people start discussing important issues having to deal with Education, Sociology, Psychology etc, the discussion goes to whether the Medical or Social Model is most appropriate. So we are all about Dyslexia Awareness and we advocate for the Social Model. It just makes sense to me that because we are talking about people and how Dyslexia affects them that the Social Model is the most appropriate. The reason I feel this way is because the Medical Model says that people with Dyslexia are broken, their brains need rewiring or statements like that.

People with Dyslexia are not broken, they don’t need to be cured and there is no pill that makes Dyslexia go away. Sure the Medical Method is appropriate for lots of issues, just not Dyslexia. Maybe the pharmaceutical companies want to get a piece of the action for a “cure”, so far all the medical evidence and research I have seen just is not conclusive. So if the Medical Model is inappropriate then let’s look at the Social Model.

The Social Model basically states that any barriers that we impose on people with “disabilities” are the ones we make because of ignorance of the issues. The issues surrounding Dyslexia are really simple. Dyslexics are not stupid, not lazy, they can focus just like you and me, most can learn to read, write and spell and do all the regular tasks in school and in the work place. All the tasks that non-Dyslexics do aren’t learned without some sort of specific knowledge; it’s the same with Dyslexics. People with Dyslexic issues just need to have the information presented in different ways.

There, now you know what has to be done, just implement some different teaching methods. Sounds like a huge and difficult task but it’s not. The methods we have created are simple to learn, simple to teach, inexpensive and quick. Just how effective is it you ask? Well recent information I found from a major New Zealand Dyslexia Awareness association made quite a profound impact on me. They found that schools in the U.K. who used Dyslexia Friendly methods in the classrooms had amazing results. By using teaching methods that work well with Dyslexics, the whole class, including the non-Dyslexics, moved forward more quickly than if the class was taught using traditional teaching methods. The same traditional methods we are using in Canada and America. What this means is that schools can teach more quickly and effectively if they adopt these Dyslexia Friendly methods.

But why is it taking so long for the “powers that be” to implement the necessary changes, why aren’t teachers in North America being taught about Dyslexia? I know that the ignorance that has surrounded Dyslexia 25 years ago is still with us now. We have done seven presentations to Federal and Provincial “Service Providers” and Pro-D Days for teachers in the last three months and at every single one of them we get the same comments. The Teachers and Service Providers all need more information about Dyslexia because they haven’t gotten the training they need to understand or accommodate it. If they need more information and help and are not getting it why is that so?  I don’t know the answers. I do know one thing though; let’s not wait for the people in charge of the Education of our kids to make the necessary changes any time soon. We have to take action ourselves; we need to be our own advocates.

Good luck.
Howie deGraaf
Editor for Dyslexia Victoria Online

For more information about Dyslexia and our teaching solutions check out our website at:  www.dyslexiavictoria.ca

Dyslexia is a Learning Difference, not a Learning Disability

In our Dyslexia Awareness workshops we talk extensively about how we look at Dyslexia as a learning difference or style, not a learning disability.  However for the last twenty-five years “Dyslexia” has been used incorrectly as a common term for a wide range of learning disabilities.  I heard one teacher refer to it as an “umbrella” for any type of reading, spelling or writing problem.  If a person can’t learn to spell or read they must be dyslexic.

Another aspect of the common perception of Dyslexia that irks us is the medical opinion that Dyslexics are broken.  Their brains are wired wrong.  Without this particular wiring we would not have Einstein, Churchill, Leonardo Da Vinci, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, many of the actors in Hollywood, Edison, Jackie Stewart and Jay Leno to name a few. Their “faulty” wiring was part of why they became who they are.

So when we talk about a different learning style what do we mean?  Let me explain by asking a question.  Do you have a particular innate talent such as being an artist (painter, sculptor, writer, poet, etc.), musician, exceptional athlete, gifted mathematician or scientist, intuitive mechanic that can always figure out what’s wrong, star race car driver, a comedian or maybe a natural orator?

But if you do not consider yourself an artist for example and can’t draw anything more detailed than a stick figure because your mind does not provide you with the ability to draw does that make you broken?  If the highest level of math you ever managed was fractions and percentages, forget algebra, geometry or trigonometry, are you wired wrong?

If you are not proficient with these types of abilities no one realizes or cares.  No one points at you and says you have no ear for music and your singing is like listening to a cat screeching (unless you feel the need to demonstrate to everyone that you can’t sing). But if you are Dyslexic everyone notices that spelling is really difficult for you and that you can barely read or write.  You ask a lot of questions all the time before you get on with a task.  You can’t tell time or read a clock so you have difficulty with arriving somewhere on time.  You misunderstand questions unless they are really specific because you think about everything from many different directions and levels.  You have difficulty communicating because you think in images, not words and sometimes can’t find your words when you are talking so you stumble or say the wrong thing.  People might think you are stupid, lazy or annoying. These issues are hard to hide.  However nobody notices that you are not a gifted race car driver.

Spelling, reading, writing and number systems were created about 3000 years ago and learning and working with them are not natural abilities we are born with like talking.  Children are trained to spell and read from a young age by using parts of the brain that have made new connections with each other to accomplish these cognitive tasks.  In Dyslexics these connections are not made the same way as they are in left-brained people who read and spell easily and well.  A Dyslexic brain processes information differently with other areas of the brain and does not respond well to left-brain teaching methods. This can result in problems with spelling, reading, identifying and understanding numbers and other tasks that are related to them.  So if reading,  spelling and numbers are not naturally hardwired into our brains why do we say a Dyslexic brain is broken if it has difficulty performing these skills?

With more and more new information coming from medical and scientific research maybe Dyslexia will finally come to be considered what we believe it is – a learning difference.  Then teaching skills for spelling, reading, writing and arithmetic can be taught in a way a Dyslexic does understand rather than forcing us to use methods appropriate for a left-brained person.

Karey Hope
Co-founder of Dyslexia Victoria Online
khope@dyslexiavictoria.ca
www.dyslexiavictoria.ca

An Apology from Dyslexia Victoria Online

This is not a blog or newsletter or weekly report, it is an apology. We have been so busy doing seminars, workshops, presenting at school Pro-D days and meeting other “Service Providers” that we just have not attended to our website responsibilities. I mentioned earlier that we had begun to partner with Vancouver Island Dyslexia Association and were working to raise awareness of Dyslexia. Well, we are sure getting the word out.

The combination of dyslexia awareness presentations by both VIDA and Dyslexia Victoria Online has proven so popular that we are in demand all the time now. We have also done presentations for private and government service providers. As of right now we are booked up to the end of June.

The wake up call, for me, that we had lost track of our website responsibilities occurred when we were doing a seminar for a group of local Government and private service providers. One of the attendees noticed the name of our website on the brochure we had handed out. This person asked if we were involved in the weekly chats and blogs, “Rants and Raves From the Right Side” and she wondered why the articles had stopped. That kind of made this even more real for me. Our messages are getting out around the world and I found a person in my home town who is reading our information. We will try to be more responsible.

So again, this is not really a blog or anything else other than an apology and we will try harder to get back on track and inform you about what we have learned about the world of Dyslexia.

This video shows some of the news coverage we are starting to get. Woo hoo!done

Happy Trails!
Howie deGraaf

Dyslexics don’t See Words in their Minds, they See Pictures

When you ask a dyslexic/right-brain child or adult what they “see” in their minds when you tell them to imagine a concrete word such as “car” they will usually tell you they see a picture of a specific car or multiple cars – they don’t see the word “car”.  Normally when you ask a left-brain person what they “see” when you ask them to think about the word “car” they will see the written image of the word in their mind.

This is a huge difference between a right-brain and left-brain thinker.  Dyslexics have a difficult time trying to learn to read because they see pictures of what the word is, not the symbols of written language that represent the word.

Now let’s take abstract words.  To a dyslexic words like “up”, “down”, “when”, “now”, “is” are difficult to learn how to spell and remember if they can’t easily visualize the idea of “down”.  They need context so they can come up with a visual image to understand and remember these type of words.  You can have a dyslexic practice these words with all the different methods to learn to spell and read that are appropriate for dyslexics along with visualization exercises to pair the meaning of the word with a concrete image in their minds.

One way to have dyslexics practice visualizing abstract words is having the student write sentences using these abstract words in a sentence that represents  a clear picture in their minds of what this abstract word means.

For example, go to Google Images, google a word like “down” and you will get many webpages of concepts of what “down” can mean.  Have your dyslexic student pick images of “down” that make sense to them, copy the pictures to your computer into a document in a program like  Microsoft Word and then on the same page create and write sentences about the picture using the word “down”.  The sentences can be serious or silly, whatever pleases your student.   Always remember to keep the picture and sentences on one page so that they connect the picture with the word as this will help them remember the written image of the word “down”.  This method can be used effectively paired with individual concrete words (animal, place or thing).

Teaching methods for the dyslexic should always incorporate the idea that they see “whole concrete images” best. Dyslexics will often learn how to spell and read words more successfully if they can use their ability to see pictures of the meaning of a word paired with seeing the word as a picture and not several parts and individual letters. For example: instead of emphasis on the letters in the word “d-o-g” they are taught “dog” as a total picture.

More on this another day.

Cheers!
Karen Hope
Co-founder of Dyslexia Victoria Online