Fighting through the fog of dyslexia (From Barry And District News)

Fighting through the fog of dyslexia

THE depth of resources available to detect and tackle dyslexia can vary from school to school - this is how one youngster boosted his reading age with intensive classes.

He was part way through the lesson and it was time for him to leave to go to his "special class." As he grabbed his coat and bag and made his way out, he heard the stinging words of one girl follow him out of the door. "You've got to go to your thicko class now," she taunted.

The boy tried his best to ignore her and fixed his eyes on the exit... Andrew Eyre was used to kids calling him "thick", but this didn't make the insult any less hurtful.

Andrew's experience will be familiar to most people with dyslexia, a condition which affects reading, spelling, memory and concentration.

According to the British Dyslexia Association one in 10 people suffer from mild to severe dyslexia with four per cent classed as severely dyslexic.

Andrew's mum Jill, 33, says she recognised there was something "wrong" with her son, now aged 11, when he first started school.

But it took almost two years to get official recognition that he was dyslexic. "He couldn't read or write three letter words and the teachers kept saying he was just taking a long time to settle into school," she says. "But he'd been there 18 months by this time. What he could do on paper and what he could say just didn't add up."

Jill says she eventually paid about £200 for a private individual assessment at a dyslexia institute, which confirmed his condition. But he still had to go through an assessment from an educational psychologist before he was officially diagnosed. "I don't particularly agree with labelling kids but it meant I could explain what was wrong with him, then I knew what to do and where to go," she said.

At junior school Andrew was withdrawn from his lessons once a week for intensive work with other special needs pupils. Desperate to get more help, Jill took her son to see Carol Saxby who set up a local Dyslexia support group three years ago. He spent the next three months for one hour every Thursday morning undergoing intensive one-on-one tuition.

He was achieving level two in his mock standard assessment test (SAT) before seeing Carol, the average for his age group being four.

Then Jill moved him to another school where he attended two early morning booster classes in English and maths and an additional weekly class run by a dyslexia-trained teacher. Resources included specialist computer programmes, talking word processors and electronic ACE (Aurally Coded English) spelling dictionaries where pupils can tap out the syllables to a word or the first vowel sound.

Seven months later, he is achieving level four in his mock SAT papers and has a chance of reaching level five if he keeps up the good work. He says he has gone from feeling "upset and isolated" to looking forward to the next challenge.

"Everybody says how they can't believe the difference in him. It's like a cloud has been lifted," says Jill. "They work him really hard but they get the results out of him. I'm really proud of what he's achieved."

The school and Jill have a system where messages are passed between them via a lunch box - the only item Andrew, who has difficulty remembering instructions in sequence, is guaranteed to take to school every morning. He doesn't mind that three times a week he is at school by 8am. "I love it there," he says.

Bill Miller, special needs co-ordinator at the school, says: "If you've got one-to-one tuition or you're working in a small group then when they lose track, which they do, it's easy to see that and bring them back in. It also boosts self esteem.

"I don't think any school can be described as being dyslexic-friendly because school is all about things that dyslexics find difficult such as reading and writing. But as a staff we recognise that and try and do all we can to understand that these children do have problems."

Carol Saxby says the number of dyslexia-trained teachers varies from school to school. "We're very sympathetic with the workloads of teachers but it needs to become more compulsory that teachers become skilled so they can identify it and then strategies need to be put in place," she says.

The Government says it has also pledged more funding to help teachers recognise and address special educational needs, such as dyslexia.

In 2001-2002 £30 million of the special educational needs standards fund allocation of £82 million will be spent on special needs training.

Thanks to his additional support, Andrew is now looking forward to starting comprehensive school and wondering about his future career.

"I would like to do something with computers or to do with history," he says. "I love history like the Romans but my favourites are the Egyptians, the Vikings and the Aztecs. I'd also really love to be a professional swimmer."

His options are endless.