Todd Rose’s presentation was built around a premise of the need for society to change a belief, one that gives credit to the myth of the average person. Our education system is build on averages rather than supporting the different needs of the individual.

Click photo to see full size

Todd knows whereof he speaks. He was a high school dropout.  His education did not support his learning differences.  When he discovered that boredom, not laziness was the issue, ideas and the drive to create a different life emerged.

A high school dropout he accepted that he needed an education.  Perseverance at night school resulted in obtaining his GED.  A teacher in a community college gave him the encouragement and support and with hard work on his behalf  he graduated cum laude. He was accepted at Harvard. His initial experience at this institution gave him the feeling that Harvard’s process of education and his ADHD were at odds.  A Harvard professor challenged him, commenting that it wasn’t Todd it was the education system that was the problem.  Harvard did not nurture individual talent.  This gave him the drive to challenge Harvard. He began to focus on designing a new approach, away from the concept that our education is about a science of averages. His study promoted the need to find a way to evaluate individual talents, rather than comparing one individual to another individual.

Todd along with others have initiated Project Variability which focuses on the science of the individual, creating flexible environments. Its sole purpose is to bring to the public an awareness and new approaches to ensure a means of learning that lives up to our capabilities.

Todd offered the EdRev audience a challenge: start shifting.  The change is about a mindshift.  He asked this PEN membership who knows there is a problem with the education system to become a part of creating the solution.

He offered a first step involving one week of effort.

When there is a behavior, be it your child’s or your own, that needs correction find a context for making that change. Begin by asking yourself what is your default habit. State it and see what change you need to make. The goal is to allow your or your child’s true potential to emerge?  Consider:

• What environment do you or he/she need?
• What relationships are important?
• Spell the information out for yourself or your child and put it into action.
• Ask yourself what do you need to do to be ready for this change
• How can you contribute to this?
• Discover the first step.

There were two keynote speakers with a similar theme; the need for a different education process.

Sir Ken Robinson, an education and creativity expert and author of the New York Times best-selling book ‘Finding Your Element’ set the tone stating:

The challenge with the education system is a world-wide problem. One word describes the cause:   Conformity.  Currently the education process is based on the belief that everyone must conform to basic principles.  This denies the fact that we are all biologically different which means students are spending time on what they must do instead of what they can do.

A recent study has shown that 30% of students in 9^th grade don’t finish the 12^th grade. Many of these students end up in jail. The current solution is to pour more money into the correction system ($25,000 a year for an individual).   If that funding was redirected to the education system to address the learning needs of the dropouts, the costs to state government would decrease. Educating a student has the average cost of $10,000.  Cutting by half the number of dropouts from grade nine the net gain result in 10 – 11 years would be twelve Trillan dollars.

Sir Ken promotes three principles for an evolving education system.

1.  Diversity

Accept the principle that we are all different with unique talents.  We are different because we are biologically different.  Human life relies on diversity.  It is why human life is so interesting.  The reason the current education process is unsuccessful is its lack of focus on diversity.

2. Creativity

Creativity is at the heart of what it is to be a human being. The opportunity for each student to explore their creativity is essential. Our imagination gives us the ability to bring into mind what doesn’t exit.  Sir Ken asked us to remember that creativity is what has driven this country, the United States of America, to be successful.  It’s a national asset.  Now is the time to re-energize the education system allowing creativity which presents itself differently in different people to flourish.

We need an education system that supports students in finding what is their true talent, what do they love to do.  It will result in them defining who they are so they can discover a path that is satisfying and provide a lifestyle that supports their life.   The goal is to do something you have a natural talent for.  Something you get. It is time those administrators leading the educational process think differently.

In light of the above he offered a commemt about ADHD and the high % of students currently being diagnosed with ADHD. If students are required to sit and listen to boring things, don’t be surprised if they develop ADHD behavior.

3.  Life is organic, not linear

We can’t predict how a life will shape up. The key is following the passion that comes from creative exploration.  Keep the focus on what is it that you love to do.  It is the parent’s responsibility to help their child discover his or her talent, to encourage, support and expect it to go in different directions.  The path will not be linear. Remember, we compose our lives. It’s time to accept that one’s life is about diversity and being creative.

Summary

We have to press for a different education system. The academic world needs broad curriculum that embraces the fact that we learn differently.  We have to get governments away from trying to impose standardization.  Education has to be radically personalized so individuals can identify their special talents. There is no reason why students should do the same things every day. Conformity doesn’t work.

If you are teacher, parent or student take up the challenge and be the change you want to see. Collectively teachers, students, and parents are the ones who can change the system.  The movement is powerful enough.

And, don’t waste time on those who are stuck in the old model. They are never going to change.

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Sir Ken Robinson’s new book is titled Finding Your Element:  How to discovery your talents and passions and transform your life.

I am taking a Speaking Circles speaking class with Lee Glickstein in San Francisco. http://www.speakingcircles.com

Over the last ten years I have worked with him and his colleague, Doreen Hamilton, in part to improve my speaking skills but also to discover what it is I have to say about a topic.  The sessions are taped. I often transcribe them to see what I can learn about my speaking skills and the topics.

Over the last month, during two different Speaking Circle sessions, I addressed feedback. As part of the class process we are asked to give positive feedback on the other speakers’ comments. I have a block with this aspect of the class. I sense other dyslexics/hyperlexics might have a similar experience and thought my learning on this topic might be useful.

This blog is reporting almost verbatim my talk - a spontaneous narrative.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I want to talk about feedback. I have real terror giving feedback in this class.  I realized it tonight.   I am watching my whole body.  Oh god, will the words come up.  I don’t know what it is but words don’t want to come easily in feedback.  I have no problem talking but I sure do with this required feedback.

Years ago when I was married my husband was a stage designer. He would always say to me:  Come and take a look at what I have done and tell me what you think. My whole body would go into terror.  Oh my God, I can’t.  So, I would stumble through but I never felt good about what I was doing.

Years later I discovered that I am hyperlexic which means I don’t image well.  So, the cat has a pink tail that wiggles.  I often only see the words but I don’t always see images. Yes, I have been trained to image so I am better at this now but if I don’t have an image and I only see the words, then my left and right brain don’t work well together.   I have a sense this is what is going on here.  Physically my brain does something weird.  It doesn’t coordinate. It is very frustrating.  Honestly I don’t know what the answer is.

I was thinking about this during the break after the first session. I said to myself, if I had my magic markers I could tell you very fast what I felt. That is not a problem. This really points out the issue of words for me.  I have spent my life in the theater, opera primarily, not as a singer. I can see and have seen over the last ten years why opera, not theater has been my choice - because, theater is about words. I space out if I am not imaging as fast as the words are spoken.  Chooooo, I am gone.

I was at Yale at the Drama School.  They are very verbal people.  At that point I didn’t know what the condition was. Thankfully, they are also heartfelt people. I never felt uncomfortable but I felt bloody well frustrated because I couldn’t conjure up what I needed to say.

I don’t quite know how to solve this.

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More insights on this topic on my next blog.

No Wifi or 3G

There is no need for Wifi or 3G access. Everything is embedded in AppWriter and runs directly on the iPad.

Read Aloud

The App offers high quality synthetic voices to ensure a great user experience. All menus and buttons are read aloud. And, one can choose between different reading strategies:

• Read from cursor position
• Read selection of text
• Words and letters can be spoken      back as you type.

Visual tools highlight the text as it is being read aloud.

Word Prediction

Word prediction enables you to develop your writing skills by providing the tools to construct sentences with ease. Context based word suggestions will allow you to produce high quality work and reduce the time it takes to do so. AppWriter predicts the word you want to use next. This means that you will be less likely to make grammatical or spelling errors. Word prediction is available with the ability to hear each word before selection.

OCR

The powerful Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology in AppWriter means that any paper document or image becomes accessible. Through the integration of Mobile OCRKit, textbooks, photocopies and handouts are easily converted into text documents. The text can be spoken out loud by AppWriter with color highlighting or edited.

Please note that good OCR results require the new iPad.

File Management

How do you manage the created document? It can be emailed, copied to clipboard for use in another app or exported to Dropbox or Google Docs.

Font

The Dyslexie font is another great feature in AppWriter. The specific characteristics of the Dyslexie font make it easier for people with dyslexia to distinguish the individual letters. This reduces the number of reading errors as well as the effort it takes to read the text.

To learn more

Go to:  http://lingapps.com/apps/appwriter.  They are also on Facebook and Twitter.

Parents Education Network presented its 4^th Annual EdRev (Education Revolution) Event on Saturday, April 21^st, 2012 at the San Francisco Giants Ballpark. It is amazing to me that no matter how much rain or fog we get during April, in San Francisco, somehow the sun comes out on EdRev day. A huge crowd, around 1,500 hundred (we  await the final count) showed up to learn more about dyslexia and ADD.  This blog focuses on the Keynote activities.

Up first was Safe Voices, a student  community within PEN that strives to educate, mentor and support students,  parents and teachers about the challenges and strengths of Learning  Difficulties (LD) and Attention Deficit Disorder(ADHD) Through this program LD  students discover that what they perceive as their greatest weakness, in fact, can become their greatest strength.  A  first step is learning how to speak up for what one needs and who one is.

At the Keynote, Safe Voices students were dotted amongst the crowd in the ballpark adjacent to first base.  Each had a  soap box and a microphone.  Each spoke up for themselves sharing short phrases which have been instrumental in helping them change their attitudes about themselves.  Phrases like:

• If you teach me 1,000 times and I  don’t get it, who is the slow learner?
• Learning different students think outside the box.  If they didn’t, what would the world would be like?
• We own our differences, we accept them.
• I am much more than my learning difference.  The only thing that matters is: I am who I am.
• I get up on a box and am heard and am sparking a revolution in education.
• And, so it went.

Jonathan Mooney, a much respected dyslexic who has no trouble in speaking up for himself,  took over as moderator. He posed questions to guest speakers, all successful dyslexics,  who have found careers that take advantage of their ability to think outside the box.  Joining Jonathan were:

Eric McGehearty CEO of Globe Runner SEO, a top-performing, Dallas-based SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and digital marketing firm. In an addition he’s an award-winning artist.  Filmmaker Leah H. Bell, produced the documentary Access Denied about the intersection of Eric’s life, art and dyslexia. His told us:  Nothing in school worked for me.  In Grade One I had a teacher who didn’t get  me. She shook me very hard.  I was very shy, very scared to interact. In middle school I began being an advocate for myself and my life began to turn around. I had suicidal thoughts until being
connected to people who supported me.

Tracy Johnson, was not diagnosed with dyslexia until college age. Her story is notable a) for the many hurdles she had to overcome, b) for persevering and c) being willing to work harder than most college students do.  She was recently featured in the HBO documentary, Journey  into Dyslexia, Great Minds Think Differently. In grade school, Johnson was diagnosed as “learning disabled,” a label that stuck through high school and a failed try at community college. The education system broke down for her as the label didn’t identify her LD. Then, her self-esteem plummeted. Tracy realized she was dyslexic when she was cleaning classrooms for a living. Now, she is an enrollment advisor at Eastern University. 

Steve Walker is a self-taught dyslexic, engineer and entrepreneur who founded and is now President & CEO of New England Wood Pellet LLC. A true visionary, Steve has been a leader in promotion of renewable energy policy for biomass thermal technologies at the state, national and international level. He, too, is featured in Journey into Dyslexia. Steve told us that if an ally had been around to help him when he went to school he would have been a doctor.  Instead, he stared at the clock.  When he had to write the letters on the yellow paper with lines he was stumped. In high school he couldn’t read the math questions. Instead he developed low self-esteem.  To make matters worse his mother told him if he didn’t go to college he would work in the factory. Well, now, he owns factories and has ended up hiring people who gave him a rough time.  Yes, he said, I had a lot of anger.

Each of these speakers and moderator have different backgrounds, but there are common threads in themes and solutions they see and some are outlined below.

• The education system needs to be re-engineered. The system is not serving more than 20% of its population. Dyslexics need to take  the lead. We have to look at where does the education system break down? Teachers don’t know how much these 20% really know because their processes can’t give their LD students away to explain. Vocational training and all activities involving creativity needs to re-instated. The Special Ed’s focus of fixing a  dyslexic’s shortcomings needs to flip to support what LD students can do best, refocusing on the positives. School must be the time to find out what you are good at.  Innovation and creativity go hand in hand.  LD students need to learn how to be a leader feeling capable of listening to different points of view.   Remember there is no normal.
• Communication. Dyslexics have many different dimensions. Vision is how we see it, not what we see.  Learning how to communicate ideas is what a dyslexic’s life wants to be about: communicating the vision, getting my team to go with me. This means dyslexics need to understand concepts to be successful.  Communicating a vision is central to success.  Dyslexics always want to grow as a person,
• Parents must assume an advocate role to support and care for their LD student.  Listen and explore what the child really needs. Go from strength of your LD child.  Don’t let the education process drive your decisions. Find a school where your child fits, where they can excel.  Leave your ego at the door , which means let go thinking your child has to go to a fancy school. Your concern ought to be: how do I make my kid’s lifetime experience a positive one.
• Dyslexics are often artists, starters, builders, teachers. Finding a way to leverage these talents is the challenge not only for parents and teachers but also dyslexics. A successful artist who has dyslexia and who has a dream to help others may not always be successful as an administrator, which requires a lot of busy work.  Dyslexics need to sell their team on what he or she needs. One goal is to get to the point where you have no fear of shouting out from the door: How do I spell this word?  Dyslexics need to learn how to back off if someone is trying to make them be someone they aren’t.
• Leveraging growth after school. Taking what seems to be a menial job can open doors.  a) Steve was working in a factory. The engineers were all struggling with how to solve a program. One night he had a  great idea and stayed up all night solving their problem.  That’s when he turned around. He started his own company at 18 – a lawn mower company.  Tracy was cleaning school rooms to make a living. She kept thinking, there is something wrong here.  I am as smart as some of these students. One night watching the Cosby Show, Tracy learned about dyslexia. The light went on, and she kept going. She re-iterates we need the right, light soil.

I, too, find that meditation helps keep me grounded which supports good results for overcoming the negative attributes of dyslexia and hyperlexia.   Here is an excerpt of what Dr.Weil shares.

The benefits of regular meditation are well known – the relaxation response it engenders can result in lower blood pressure, decreased heart and respiratory rates and can even level out mood swings. New research from UCLA suggests that the long-term practice of meditation leads to beneficial brain changes called gyrification, a “folding” of the cerebral cortex, that are believed to promote and enhance the speed at which the brain processes information. The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of brain tissue that is key to memory, attention, thought and consciousness. The UCLA team compared MRIs of the brains of 23 long-time meditators to 16 controls matched for age, sex and whether they were left or right handed. The meditators had used various meditation modalities for an average of 20 years. The investigators reported that the MRIs showed higher levels of gyrification in the brains of the meditators than were seen in the controls’ brains; they also found a correlation between the number of meditation years and the amount of gyrification. The study was published online on February 29, 2012 by the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

In early March, Dr. Michael Pastor  PhD, MFT was a guest speaker at PEN.  The title of his talk was Family Dynamics in Families with Children with Learning Differences. Dr.  Pastor has worked with children, adolescents and families in his psychotherapy  practice in San Francisco for over twenty years. In addition, he is currently Upper School Counselor at San Francisco Day School.

At the outset Dr.  Pastor said that the goal for a parent with a child who has a learning difference  is to ensure that through the child’s young and adolescent years he/she feels  loved, accepted, safe and understood.  (I,  Ann, the blog  writer) think probably the  latter, being understood, is the biggest challenge.  For the child and most often the parents  don’t know why the child is struggling.  I know this was my parents biggest dilemma  when I was a child.)

When a child is  struggling Dr. Pastor re-enforced the importance that parents find ways to have fun with their child even though it may not be easy.  Why?  You want him or her to remember holidays and trips – maybe simply going  to the beach.  You don’t want your child  to simply remember the struggle.  He  quoted Jane M. Healy, PhD whose book Different  Learners as a good source on this topic.  Remember: the family we grow up in is the most  important environment for a child.

He moved on to some basic considerations for  parents:

• If your child is having problems, don’t be one of those parents who just thinks that things will get better on their own.  In most cases this is not the truth.
• Parents get shocked at the complexity and expense of the solutions and  often decide to let go the step of an evaluation.  This is not helping your child.  You  may find yourself, like other parents have, that you feel relief when learning the results of the tests. Finally there is a way to improve the situation.
• Some parents find it hard to  hear the results – that their child has problems. And, now they have more to  handle which might include the recommendation of medications, or a tutor, or possibly a psychologist.  All of this costs money.
• Some parents feel guilty feeling  they should have addressed this issue earlier. They might also sense it’s genetic  and feel guilt for having passed it on. Dr. Pastor pointed out that if these  feelings are buried and not expressed they will leak out in other ways – anger,  fear, even rage.
• Some parents feel a deep sense  of disappointment.  Their vision of their child being successful in the way they had outlined doesn’t now seem possible.  It’s important to admit this feeling so it doesn’t become toxic.
• Parents need to develop a new level of dialogue with each other. If this skill is not in place the service of a  therapist may be wise.
• One of the first decisions parents will need to make is who will take the leadership in obtaining for the child what is required.  Most often it’s the wife. And,  down the road, anger can build up within the wife for carrying this load. And, it’s not uncommon that the dad’s point of view becomes:  “If the child only tried harder.”Remember while parents may be  disappointed, it is the child who has to deal with the learning challenge.  The parents need to find a way to convince the child that they “aren’t lesser than”, especially in context of their peers. One of the new phraseologies “learning differences” can take the heat off the topic and an explanation that some people have different kinds of brains can give the  child something to express to both themselves and others.   Remember. the conditions of anxiety,  depression and low self esteem are more prevalent with children with learning disabilities.  Learning challenged kids come to expect that they will fail  (That certainly was my expectation with French which being Canadian I had to take through school and university). So, there are both the neurological and psychological issues to handle with the child.
• Parents need to find a way to help the child not decide that life consists only of being forced to do what you don’t want to do.
• If there are siblings, they often find the learning challenged sibling a pain. The sibling deals with it by being a good child but harbors secret resentments.
• And, the learning  challenged child will be jealous of the sibling because they seem to have a  much easier life. Remember, children are like sponges, they absorb everything.  They pick up what parents are believing and how they are behaving.  One caution:  Dr. Pastor  recommends that you don’t tell the sibling not to tell others.  That will backfire in ways unexpected.
• When things don’t make sense, parents  look for help and discover that the  process of identifying professionals is not easy.  The person(s) chosen need to fit both the parent’s and the child’s requirements.
• Parents begin to see that they have to choose when to be firm and when to let an issue go.  Sometimes letting it  go makes sense because, above all else, you want to preserve your relationship with your child.  While you are making the decision the parent needs to assess: is this behavior something unusual?  If yes, letting go might make sense.  The result could be the child might feel: finally my parent gets me.  The fall out with  siblings in that situation is resentment. The child with the learning difference gets more attention.  The core solution in a family is good communication within the family.  Each person listens to each other.  Then, when a reaction happens it is more easy to talk to the child.
• Remember, Dr. Pastor cautioned, you can only talk to a child at their developmental level.  If the child is three and misbehaving, you might say:

“I am going to try to help you stay out of being sent to your room”  and then give them an explanation waiting to see what they have to say.  Often the  child feels better simply because “mummy” listens to me.  Another suggestion Dr. Pastor gave was to say  to the child:  ” I need time to think over what you are asking.” However,  the parent needs to respond not too much later or resentment will build up.  Whatever decision you take the sibling will think it’s unfair.  If this happens, be sure to talk to  the sibling about it.  And the reason is: the sibling might think your avoidance means there is something really wrong.  They will hear “this is so bad it can’t be talked about.”  And, it may have some truth for the parents because they are so ashamed which then means that the parents have a challenge of working out this shame between themselves.

In summary, Dr. Pastor feels the behaviors of the learning challenged child and siblings all starts with the parents behaviors.  He stated that there are  nearly twice as many divorces in families who have children with learning differences.   He cautions: The parents are adults and have to adjust to their children.  There is no question that raising healthy children is difficult.   Some come out of the womb energetic and hyperactive, while others are quiet.  It’s a matter of the parents adjusting to whatever is.

Lately, Sarah Jane has been improving because of the care of chiropractic neurologist Dr. Victor Pedro who employs a technique, Cortical Integrative Therapy (CIT^®).  Donohue met Dr. Pedro at a Harvard conference and reports that: “Within five days of (Dr. Pedro) working with her, she was sleeping through the night for the first time in a year and within a month was off all medication. Within three months, we started seeing changes in her behaviors. All her therapists report cognitive gains. These are monumental shifts.” He added, “(Sarah Jane) now goes to a wonderful school in Manhattan called Standing Tall. She is thriving in the school environment. She can’t speak or walk, but she will. My job as her dad is to change the world for her by advancing new types of treatments and therapies, and raising awareness.” I went on to Dr. Pedro’s link and discovered he specializes in working with learning disabilities including ADHD. http://www.infinitepotentialprogram.com/profiles.php#drpedro

If any of you reading this post have a child or know an adult with these issues and live on the East Coast of the US, near Rhode Island, you might want to read his site. If I lived nearby, I would certainly take the opportunity to explore with him.

In early February, Parents Education Network presented a lecture, DYSLEXIA: Translating Scientific Progress into Policy and Practice – It’s Time.  The speakers were two world experts on reading and dyslexia:  Dr. Bennett Shaywitz is a pioneer in the application of functional brain imaging for the study of reading and dyslexia in children and adults. Dr. Sally Shaywitz has devoted her career to helping children and adults with dyslexia; her research provides the basis for understanding the disorder. Together, they originated a widely accepted model of dyslexia that emphasizes the strengths seen in people with dyslexia. In addition, they are the founders of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. www.dyslexia.yale.edu

At the outset of their talk they introduced the evening’s theme:  the need for national legislative policy to address the issues common to dyslexics. The Shaywitzes are convinced that until there is public policy on the dyslexic condition, dyslexics will be marginalized.  Issues that emanate from comments like:

1. Tests show my son is dyslexic but the school doesn’t acknowledge it because he falls in the average range – even though the discrepancy is huge.
2. I was told my daughter was too bright to be dyslexic.
3. My child’s school doesn’t believe in dyslexia.
4. I am fighting to have an evaluation for my child.
5. Now, as a dyslexic adult, anxiety affects every part of my life.
6. I need to take the LSAT test but they won’t let me use my prior evaluation so I
   can be given accommodations. I just don’t have the money.

There is good news.  Initial steps towards developing public policy have now been taken. The Shaywitzes are part of that momentum.  First bit of history.  Two decades or more ago the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted. Congress intended a broad range of people, including those who are dyslexic, to be protected by the law. The Shaywitzes feel that both United States Supreme Court and testing agencies (like the College Board and the National Board of Medical Examiners) have chosen to interpret the ADA in a way other than as Congress intended. In the case of dyslexia, they have interpreted it to only those who are severely limited for coverage by the ADA— a seeming disregard of the spirit and intent of the ADA and scientific evidence pointing to the absolute need for the accommodation of extra time for people who are dyslexic.  These situations are what the Shaywitzes and others are now working to correct.

Dr.Sally Shaywitz’s presentation moved to content for this public policy. To begin is the definition of dyslexia.  The Shaywitzes have an unusual twist in defining dyslexia.  Unusual because it focuses on the positive. To them dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in reading,  unexpected in relation to: intelligence, motivation, educational status and professional work.  Why?  Because dyslexics are most often very successful in these categories.

Their studies at Yale have shown that there is a relationship to intelligence (IQ) and reading. While they are linked for dyslexics they are not “talking” to one another. Dyslexics can be very bright and at the same time struggling with reading. This fact, they claim, is scientific validation about dyslexia which needs to be disseminated to all phases of the education process in the US.  And, I found it interesting to hear that dyslexia is both found in every nationality and it lasts. Dyslexia doesn’t go away. It can be managed but doesn’t completely correct itself.  (From a personal point of view, I have found this to be true.)

Most dyslexics have a high IQ.  However, they have a neurobiological disruption in the neural systems in the brain which affects their ability for rapid reading.  Instead, they suffer the result of extremely slow and effortful reading. This means that their cognitive ability indicates they have the capability to master complex and very difficult conceptual material within a college and graduate or professional school curriculum even though they experience such impaired reading fluency. Interestingly, this is not necessarily the case for an average person with the same reading difficulties.

So, a one sentence definition of dyslexia, according to the Shaywitzes is: dyslexia can be conceptualized as an encapsulated weakness resulting in slow reading surrounded by a sea of strengths. It is the sea of strengths in thinking and reasoning that, together with the accommodation of extra time, allows a slow-reading but good-thinking  dyslexic to succeed. The accommodation of extra time on test levels allows the hardworking dyslexic to access his strengths and demonstrate his knowledge.

What do we know about reading and reading ability? The Shaywitzes reminded us that we as human beings evolve to speak, not to read.  Every society has a spoken language.  We are hard wired to speak, not read. In fact, there are many societies that  con’t read. Reading is not natural. It has to be taught.  It is acquired. Print has meaning because it represent letters and then words.  Letters, lines and circles, have taken on meaning when they link to the spoken language.  Writing is a way of reporting language with visible marks.  To translate the written words, the word is dissected through the use of a phoneme, a smallest unit of speech.  These phonemes become building blocks of language.  The challenge for a dyslexic is retrieving the sound. Sometimes a dyslexic may retrieve the sound which is next to the letter in question resulting in he or she saying the wrong word: eg eat, instead of cat. In other words readers have to be able to pull each word apart and then blend the sound. For dyslexics, attaching a letter to a sound is very difficult.

Dr. Ben Shaywitz focused his comments on the neurobiology of dyslexia pointing out that the better the neural system works in the brain, the more fluent the reader.  His research proves that dyslexics neural systems differ from skilled readers. Brain imaging (MRI) has made it possible to observe that there is a neurobiological difference between dyslexic and non-impaired readers: not in intelligence, but in the systems that allow readers to read rapidly. This fact reinforces that dyslexia is real.  In other words, what has been replicated is the fact that dyslexics have an inefficient functioning of neural systems for skilled and fluent reading.  Dr. Ben Shaywitz continued by explaining there are three areas of the brain that are affected. All are found in the left hemisphere of the brain:  two in the back brain (responsible for integration, phonology, orthography, semantics etc.) and one in the front brain (executive functioning).  These differences  hold true for dyslexic individuals from many languages.

Dr. Ben Shaywitz. also mentioned that there are systems in the brain that help compensate when the left brain is not functioning.  Even though these other brain tools improves the speed of reading accuracy, comprehension does not improve.  The typical reader’s brain develops in the left side of the brain by sounding out the words. This is not the case with dyslexics.  They compensate by memorizing. (which, in my case, can mean that I generally do not hold the information for a long period of time.)

Dr. Ben S.  summarized his comments by stating that brain imaging has taught us that dyslexia is real and caused by an inefficient functioning of the neural systems.  However, he was quick to point out, that, at this point, there is no imaging process to diagnose a dyslexic.

The following is a list of some of the contents that the Shaywitzes feel are important
for inclusion in national public policy.

• a clearly outlined definition of the word dyslexia, along with what it means to a
  dyslexic individual, be they a child, adolescent, young adult or adult.
• a reflection of the scientific progress and approaches in the dyslexic condition.
  It must include the fact that dyslexia is real, is an unexpected difficulty and
  support this statement through the data of the clinical proof.
• the reasons behind the importance of accommodations for dyslexics when taking tests, along with the requirement that this opportunity become mandated through public policy.

Now, I am going to focus on a few comments the Shaywitzes told the gathering about how we, the public can get involved in assisting in the dyslexic public policy process. Recently there has been a bipartisan caucus in the House of Representatives organized to support the public policy on dyslexia.  This is spearheaded by Representative Pete Stark (D) from California and Representative Bill Cassidy MD, (R) from Louisiana.  If you live in Rep. Pete Stark’s district send him an email through his website  http://www.stark.house.gov. Go to contact/public comment supporting the importance of this endeavor. Similarly, if you are from Louisiana and live in Rep. Bill Cassidy’s district, go to  http://www.cassidy.house.gov/contactBill.

In addition, Congress is considering the ADA Restoration Act right now. If you want to make a difference, you can help by writing (email) to your Congressional  Representative or Senator.  Tell them you do care and you very much want to see dyslexia included in the ADA Restoration Act.

There was a great deal of content in the Shaywitz presentation.  I strongly recommend a visit to their Yale website.  www.dyslexia.yale.edu to learn more.  I also used this Site to help me as I was writing this blog to clarify some of the information that we heard at the lecture.  In fact, I used some of the language on their site as the articles are very clearly written and most helpful.

If you are interested in more details in the dyslexia public policy effort read the following two articles posted on the Shaywitz website.

http://dyslexia.yale.edu/Policy_QA.html

http://dyslexia.yale.edu/Policy_ADA.html

Ben Foss, Executive Director of Disability Rights Advocates, was a recent guest lecturer at Parents Education Network in San Francisco. This talk provided some advice for parents who are stymied by the schools systems when they are being an advocate for their child and his or her learning challenges.

Mr. Foss is a dyslexic, a fact that was identified early in elementary school.  His parents were his advocates with theresult of him being placed in special education classes. His nonverbal, picture-based intelligence was found to be in the superior range. His greatest difficulty was written language. In middle school he was  mainstreamed into regular school classes where he was able to develop his strengths, all the while hiding his dyslexia. Law School pushed him to the breaking point. He could no longer hide the fact that he was dyslexic. Thus began a journey of self- discovery that ultimately led him to become an activist in the field of disability rights.

Mr. Foss recommended five steps parents and their child can take with the school systems.

1.    Identify the issues.

It’s important to get a profile of your child. Engage your child and find out where their issues lie. Outline what are the approaches that give your child difficulties. Look for markers. Is the school too demanding for your child?  Remember, your responsibility is to support your child, be your child’s advocate. State your goals to solve this issue.

2.       Empower the child

1.       Check to be sure the child wants to stay in the school.  Engage the child on the child’s terms asking them what they want.

2.       Sit with your child and teach them why a test is important.

3.       Describe to your child how their attitude affects how well they will do in school work.

4.       Teach them to stand up and be independent, speaking up for themselves.

5.       Explore all forms of technology with your child to see where there is a tool that makes the child independent.

3.       Know the law.

Early in your child’s education process find out the requirements for the SAT, the nation’s most widely used college admission exam.  While the date of that exam for your child may be ten years away, the documentation that you keep will have a major impact on the conditions under which your child takes this test. The goal is to serve the child while not having to engage the law in the process. While it’s important to  have the law the goal is to resolve the issue without having to use the law force. Mr. Foss recommends you consider the law a bodyguard that never does anything but looks menacing. And, remember:  document, document, document.

4.       Engage the school.

Be an advocate for your child at the school. And, have your child learn how to advocate for themselves at school. Let them show the school administration and teachers that they want to become independent.

As a parent, advocate for the accommodations you feel your child  needs. Remember, your child wants to keep up with fellow students.  That fact is very important to them. Accommodations can make that possible.

Mr. Foss described his story about creating a device which made him independent.  After Stanford Law School he joined Intel and created the Intel reader which takes text and reads it aloud.  Now he could access the written word much more easily. Mr. Foss commented that there are many similar products now available.  He said some   kids resist using this machine because of their concern that they are not learning in the same way as their classmates. The goal is to help them see that they can learn faster with the technology.  Sometimes this helps them overcome the embarrassment of using the machine.

5.       Fine Tune your approach.

1.       Remember:  teachers don’t think about your child.  Most just want the learning challenged kids to be sent to special education classes. This means the teacher will just have to deal with the ”regular” student.

Re-examine your strategy with your child.  Make sure it includes discovering how to help them overcome their internal monologue that tells them they are the black sheep.  If you ignore this behavior, it will  stay with them.  Parents must make overcoming this attitude part of  your strategy with your child.

2.   Know the law.
There are two critical laws that protect students in education.

•  Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This law prohibits discrimination in ANY program that receives federal funding.
• “504 Plan” It’s an individualized assessment and plan.  This plan must reasonably accommodate your child’s specific learning disabilities so that his/her needs are met as adequately as the needs of students without disabilities. Examples of reasonable accommodations:

- Extended time

- Preferred seating in the front of the classroom

- Access toassistive technology.

• “IDEA”  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  This Federal law applies
  exclusively to education and provides special education to ensure that the tudents benefit from their education. There are stringent requirements: eg:
  the student must qualify under a “specific learning disability. Contained in IDEA is the IEP Plan, (individualized education plan) which states the education must meet the needs of each student’s unique learning strategies.

Parents must request assessment for school evaluation in writing.

The IEP meeting is to involve the student, parents, administrators and teachers. The discussion will focus on:

1.       Present level of performance

2.       Goals and objectives for student

3.       Services required to achieve goals

4.       Measurements of success

5.       Progress reports
Discussion of services (“placement”).  There is a strong presumption in the law that students should learn alongside the general education students.

Parents remember:  document, document, document.  Year after year be sure to have a folder with summaries of all the discussions and other pertinent information.  You will need it when the S.A.T. time comes to get accommodations for your child.

Should the above fail, here are some organizations to approach for help:

1. Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund:   In Northern California 510
   644 2555.  iephelp@dredf.org
2. National Center for Learning Disabilities:  “IDEA” parent guide.

http://www.ncld.org/publications-a-more/parent-advocacy-guides/idea-parent-guide

3.   Wrights Law:    www.wrightslaw.com

4.  U.S. Department of Education – Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.  http://idea.ed.gov

**  note: this website, although thorough and accurate, is highly technical

If you have taken or will take standardized tests:  LSAT (for legal),  GMAT (for  medical) , and MCAT (for business), Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) is interested in speaking with you.  They ask: Why must dyslexics pay thousands to re-certify on high stakes testing?

Here is a link to “youtube” to learn more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acV_CwhOOVk

If this project intrigues we suggest you contact DRA to find out more about their intentions and to help in their efforts to end this discriminatory practice eleonard@dralegalc.org or  510 665 8644.   www.dralegal.org.