Dyslexia

[dirtydog]

I doubt you could show you are Dyslexic when you are not. Most people who think they are are not and never receive any support from the LEA.

I understand how it can be annoying if you "believe" some people cope perfectly fine, a number of students are embaressed by there Dyslexia and wish to remain anonymous in class.

An example of this is a Note taking. During a lesson there maybe someone in there class taking notes for the student who wont sit anywhere near them. So you may think they cope fine, but they are receiving help without your knowledge because people really need it.

What does it achieve though? Employees will not receive extra help and be excused using bad English in the workplace so why should it be tolerated when studying for a degree? Everyone who does a degree should have the same help and the same time to do the exams IMO. If your 'dyslexia' means you aren't capable then so be it, hard luck.

As for getting three grand for a computer, well words fail me.

It seems like every man and his dog is dyslexic nowadays, it is a farce.

 

[ac1d1ty]

Im dyslexic and at university at Edinburgh studying chemistry. I never really knew i was dyslexic until just after Christmas this year as my school or high school never picked it up, but i had a flat mate this year who was dyslexic and he tough i was so i went in for a test at the disability office (every collage uni should have one.) I got diagnosed with dyslexia and now get extra time in exams (which is awesome 15minutes +25% of exam time), lecturers have to give me lecture notes before a lecture, i allowed to get a tutor for free to help me with essays and my dissertation. and best of all i got £2880 of the government to buy a laptop, printer and some software. I also get stickers to put on my essays so i cant get down marked for spelling and grammar.

So tell her to go to her disability office and get a test. it will take about 2 months but its well worth it.

if her uni/collage doesnt have a disability office then im afraid its a lot more complicated and expensive. you have to go get yourself tested(not sure where) and it costs £200 for the test.

Sweet. Might fake me some results.

 

[Nitefly]

I doubt you could show you are Dyslexic when you are not. Most people who think they are are not and never receive any support from the LEA.

I understand how it can be annoying if you "believe" some people cope perfectly fine, a number of students are embaressed by there Dyslexia and wish to remain anonymous in class.

An example of this is a Note taking. During a lesson there maybe someone in there class taking notes for the student who wont sit anywhere near them. So you may think they cope fine, but they are receiving help without your knowledge because people really need it.

To some extents, you are probably right. I know people who really are dyslexic and for them I truly sympathise, but there are certain individuals I do know that make me raise my eyebrows, particuarly when you have spent time working with them on presentations, research projects and discussion groups and have never once batted an eyelid. In my experience, you really do know when somebody has dyslexia - it certainly isn't a made up disease.

I just get disgruntled when individuals are given a handicap that completely outweighs their own disadvantage. I agree with ditrydog, then funding shown in this thread is utterly ludicrous.

 

[platypus]

It seems like every man and his dog is dyslexic nowadays, it is a farce.

We don't always agree, but you're spot on with this.

 

[D D Danneh]

I can't write stories for ****. I make constant spelling mistakes (although I do correct them), and this leads me to take longer in my exams, as well as writing in tiny spaces because the rest is taken up by scribbled out words. I can read fast, but I often finish a page and forget what I read completely, so I have to go back two pages and read it again. But I'd hardly say I'm dyslexic.

 

[Blackbadger]

I ASSURE you that you don't have a bloody clue about dyslexia.

Far from it, I clearly know you more than you. Your just playing the victim and if you keep it up your daughter will do so for the rest of her life too. If you had for example taken your daughter to do a Mensa test instead, no doubt she would have come out feeling proud of her mind with a bright future ahead.

It's a fact that people live up to their expectations.


It's no co-incidence that the people who refute the reading of books are the ones struggling. It's natural to avoid what we find difficult to deal with.

 

[kEn_sct]

What does it achieve though? Employees will not receive extra help and be excused using bad English in the workplace so why should it be tolerated when studying for a degree? Everyone who does a degree should have the same help and the same time to do the exams IMO. If your 'dyslexia' means you aren't capable then so be it, hard luck.

As for getting three grand for a computer, well words fail me.

It seems like every man and his dog is dyslexic nowadays, it is a farce.

The reason dyslexics get help is because a written test like an exam is hard for them and therefore hinders them and doesnt acuratly portray the students actural skill or knowledge of the subject.

Im a chemistry student and therefore english isnt an important part of the course so i think its right that im not penalised for being bad at english.

 

[dirtydog]

But if someone had crazily bad eyesight problems (so it takes them ages to read and write, using a magnifying glass) then it'd be okay for them to have the extra time?

Is that what happens now? Again I question how useful the person would be in a workplace, which I believe is the general point of doing a degree after all.

 

[kEn_sct]

Far from it, I clearly know you more than you. Your just playing the victim and if you keep it up your daughter will do so for the rest of her life too. If you had for example taken your daughter to do a Mensa test instead, no doubt she would have come out feeling proud of her mind with a bright future ahead.

It's a fact that people live up to their expectations.


It's no co-incidence that the people who refute the reading of books are the ones struggling. It's natural to avoid what we find difficult to deal with.

how do u know clearly more??!? what qualifys you? reading a few tabloids?

Also at everyone that says "everyone has dyslexia nowerdays" well diagnosis has gone up due to a greater awareness. This is not because people are faking it. It is nearly impossible to fake a dyslexic test as its to personal.

 

[CliffyBiro]

What actually defines whether someone is dyslexic or just unwilling to learn how to spell properly and blames it on dyslexia?

 

[kEn_sct]

Is that what happens now? Again I question how useful the person would be in a workplace, which I believe is the general point of doing a degree after all.

Not many jobs include taking an written exam... so if the person is bright i dont see why they would be any worce in the workplace than anyother peorson with the same qualifications.

 

[kEn_sct]

What actually defines whether someone is dyslexic or just unwilling to learn how to spell properly and blames it on dyslexia?

Dyslexia is they way the brain works. So therefore effects more than just spelling. Its also hereditary

 

[linktoinsanity]

I found out I was dyslexic (the test result was pretty high in the tests, imagaine the graph suddenly going skyward for the dyslexic sensitive tests and being relatively flat for the others) in my final year at university. So last year. I've been living with it unknowingly up to then and coped ok. Maybe if it was so flippin' obvious my schools should have noticed?

The university however was great at helping me when my tutor figured it out so maybe you should tell your friend to go speak to her tutor? Or wait until the beginning of uni and go and speak to the help sections there.

EDIT: Having read some others I never got any money from the government (too late into my final year at uni), though I got a scribe for one of my exams and the option for extra time (Extensions for handing in my uni coursework were given too, only used one however).

 

[w11tho]

People with your attitude really, really wind me up. You are treating it like some sort of bonus - you are bragging about it.

My spelling is absolutely crap, and is matched by my poor grammer and handwriting. Now, I know that I could milk this and probably claim dyslexia, but I don't.

I'm not dyslexic - my writing skills are just crap, and will always be crap. I'm not going to try to pretend that I have some sort of disease when I don't.

It makes me want to punch people in the face when they cope just as well as everybody else, then pull out this magic card to get them extra time in exams. Just 5 minutes can make a huge amount of difference - so you can imagine how outraged I was when in my recent exams (4 essays in 3 hours - 45 minutes per essay) people were getting half an hour extra time when I have witnessed them coping perfectly normally before.

Sure, dyslexia is clearly a problem for some, that I will not deny. But if people are so flamboyant about it and treating it like it is a good thing, people like me who decide to just get on with their own weaknesses rather than exploit them are going to get irritated time and time again.

Hear, hear!

 

[Nitefly]

Im a chemistry student and therefore english isnt an important part of the course so i think its right that im not penalised for being bad at english.

I'm a biological science student and I think 20 minutes extra is a huge amount of time to have to think about how to approach an hour long experimental design written essay in an exam.

If it was simply a case of being let off for spelling mistakes then that would be fine, but it rarely is.

Also, if people have reading difficulties, then they should have extra time accordingly - but you don't need 20 minutes to read and process a paragraph. Infact, you are demonstrating you don't need that amount of time by replying to this thread so quickly!

 

[kEn_sct]

I found out I was dyslexic (the test result was pretty high in the tests, imagaine the graph suddenly going skyward for the dyslexic sensitive tests and being relatively flat for the others) in my final year at university. So last year. I've been living with it unknowingly up to then and coped ok. Maybe if it was so flippin' obvious my schools should have noticed?

Yeh schools dont seem to pick it up if your a bright student, and most people who get picked up early is because there parents are dyslexic so therefore know there child is at risk.

But im gessing your parents like mine are too old for the dyslexia thing so didnt know that they were dyslexic

 

[linktoinsanity]

I'm a biological science student and I think 20 minutes extra is a huge amount of time to have to think about how to approach an hour long experimental design written essay in an exam.

If it was simply a case of being let off for spelling mistakes then that would be fine, but it rarely is.

Also, if people have reading difficulties, then they should have extra time accordingly - but you don't need 20 minutes to read and process a paragraph. Infact, you are demonstrating you don't need that amount of time by replying to this thread so quickly!

One of my "symptoms" is that I can't organise my thoughts the right way, so maybe he has the same issue? Ie, it takes longer to work out what to write, let alone read the question in the first place.

 

[kEn_sct]

I'm a biological science student and I think 20 minutes extra is a huge amount of time to have to think about how to approach an hour long experimental design written essay in an exam.

If it was simply a case of being let off for spelling mistakes then that would be fine, but it rarely is.

Also, if people have reading difficulties, then they should have extra time accordingly - but you don't need 20 minutes to read and process a paragraph. Infact, you are demonstrating you don't need that amount of time by replying to this thread so quickly!

Well im not a student that is pushed for time. had an exam this morning and didnt use any of my extra time.

But if i wasnt dyslexic i would be even faster at wrighting and constructuing my arguments, and therefore would finnish even faster.

The idea behind the extra time is to account for the extra time dyslexia slows you down by.

So for example take 2 identical students the only difrence being that one is dyslexic.

say its a 2 hour exam and the none dyslexic student take 2 hours to finnish the exam.

Now to expect the student that is identical in every way but takes him extra time to read and write, he would not be able to finnish the exam inside of the dime due to his slow speed. so i think its fail he gets the 2hours 45min to complete his exam (15min at the start of the exam he is not alowed to right btw)

Also i i could trade my extra time and benifits back in in repacement to get rid of my dyslexia i would without a second tought. Altough i dont feel disabled by having dyslexia its still better not to have it as it make studing so much easyer.

 

[Nitefly]

One of my "symptoms" is that I can't organise my thoughts the right way, so maybe he has the same issue? Ie, it takes longer to work out what to write, let alone read the question in the first place.

I'm sure that for some that might be a symptom and I am sorry to hear that you suffer from it. But how can you quantify it for the general public? People are more or less able than the average bear at working things out, regardless of dyslexia. To say that "I am slower at working things out, therefore I need more time" could apply to anybody.

I hope I am not coming accross as being overly harsh, but considering the ability to work something out is variable, I hope you can appreciate how some people might find the extremely generous allowances given to people claiming to have a disease like dyslexia frustrating.

One of the most perplexing allowance I have seen was for 'reading retention', which I assume makes it harder for you to remember what you have read. Fair enough, for some that might be a genuine problem, but being able to retain what you have read is essentially a skill - I work immencely long hours when studying to remember information and it is difficult to see why allowances should be given for this in an exam situation. If I am coming accross as being ignorant, please explain this to me further.

 

[dirtydog]

Well it was an A level...

But anyway, education, at any level, isn't just about getting a job. Should we cast her aside because it takes her a while longer than most to read and write? It's not like she has extensive brain damage, merely a problem with her eyesight :\. Meh, let's just give her disability benefit and so forth, then put her in a home for retards .

I was thinking for higher level education; I agree that everyone should be given the help they need to learn the three Rs.