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After four days of complex scientific and psychological terms, Mike Juggins' lecture regarding the real side of dyslexia came as a breath of fresh air. Mike demonstrated in a dynamic, multi-sensory fashion the strength and ability of the dyslexic mind.
Beginning with a self-composed and constructed, four part video, Mike outlined vividly the fight that dyslexia presents to the individual, illustrating the traditionally documented difficulties with the written word, and the pain and humiliation experienced by the majority of dyslexics, during their school career.
Leading with the idea that the word-based nature of society excludes the dyslexic individual, the impact of the video was realised through the voice of Mike's son, who paraphrased his father's words saying, "I'm a dyslexic boy in a word-based education system".
This exposed the true nature of an education system that professes to provide an education for all, but which, realistically, only caters for those to which the use of words and language come easily. There are a large number of highly intelligent dyslexic children whose confidence is slashed and intellect doubted, by teachers who force them to sit on a remedial table, working through 'cat', 'sat' and 'rat', while their peers are dealing with information that, the teacher believes, is at a level that the dyslexic child cannot cope with.
The reality of the situation, however, is that the dyslexic child is functioning at a level that leaves them more than capable of dealing with the work that the rest of the class are doing. Their only stumbling block is that they are unable to read the reference books and write the answers to the questions that they cannot read. This does not mean that the child should miss out on the work. It is for the teacher to provide a holistic, multi-sensory learning experience, giving all children access to material regardless of their reading and writing ability.
Mike continued by emphasising the fact that dyslexic children are often labelled disruptive when really they are bored, and who can blame them, how can a child be expected to work at a level that is years beneath them, when intellectually they may be ahead of their years. Our prisons are full of yesterdays frustrated and ridiculed dyslexic children. There is no reason that the dyslexic children of today should end up in the prisons of tomorrow.
It is well known that the dyslexic child thinks in pictures. What is the point in doing research if nobody acts upon it? It is time that the educational world learned to embrace the dyslexic thinker and not be so narrow minded as to exclude them from knowledge until they are capable of accessing it in away that requires them to be literate. It is time to stopped treating dyslexics like square pegs and insisting that they fit into the round holes that society and the education system provide. Reshaping those holes will not hurt anyone, but it will benefit many.
Mike's lecture was an inspiration to the teachers and parents of dyslexics. His dyslexia friendly style of speaking and multi-sensory presentation was a breath of fresh air to the dyslexics in the audience, leaving us with the message that 'Dyslexia is OK'. He made it clear that the dyslexic individual is more than capable of learning and it is for society to make that learning accessible to them.
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