[SSC] Communications, assessment and disability

[Megan C. Robertson]

Greetings from afar....

Megan here...

> It was good to meet you all yesterday. Thank you for allowing my daughter
> to
> stay. I wanted her to experience learning set aside from schooling. She's
> been busy with GCSEs which is leaving little time for reading more widely.
> It must have worked; she is full of enthusiasm and is now busy
> transferring
> the creative projects tree to a computer representation.

It is good for youngsters to see that learning is a lot more (and more
fun!) than school tends to make it. It's been my goal ever since she
arrived to get my daughter to share my love of learning, of finding out...
and she has, if it is at times a bit unfocussed - she's developed
considerable knowledge of the history and theories of Jack the Ripper,
reads university level texts in law, and has now got interested in
criminal psychology... but doesn't always do her schoolwork :)

> To the best of my knowledge I am the only member of my family to have been
> affected by dyslexia and by a twist of fate it hasn't been passed down to
> my
> children. However, it should be noted that the word 'dyslexia' is a very
> broad term which can have implications beyond genetic transmission, for
> intergenerational learning. This can be compounded by compulsory education
> where standardisation can fail to capture creativity of the young and/or
> disabled.
>
>
>
> Some describe dyslexia as a specific learning disability (SpLD) whilst
> others see it as a gift of neurological diversity. I guess, where
> adjustments are made to learning it becomes less of a disability, where
> they
> are not the opposite may apply. It is doubtful however to be clear-cut
> because for some the effects can be severe. For example, dyslexia is
> associated with conditions such as ADHD.
>
>
>
> Then there's the issue of how society constructs disability. Some argue
> for
> inclusion, for equality of opportunity, whilst others see inclusion as a
> dumbing down of excellence or cheating. State education in England has
> provided few favours. It has been in a state of flux since the 1944
> Education Act on how to divide children. Recent amendments to state
> education around admissions and academies will mean it will only get worse
> for those who don't fit the mould. What this essentially means is that
> Higher Education will become a distant dream for many.
>
>
>
> There are legal protections in the Equality Act 2010. Basically, if a
> condition is expected to last for more than 12 months reasonable
> adjustments
> must be made. I'll revisit this at some point.
>
>
>
> The Scottish Government have produced a working definition of dyslexia
> which
> is quite useful
>
>
>
> Dyslexia can be described as a continuum of difficulties in learning to
> read, write and/or spell, which persist despite the provision of
> appropriate
> learning opportunities. These difficulties often do not reflect an
> individual's cognitive abilities and may not be typical of performance in
> other areas. The impact of dyslexia as a barrier to learning varies in
> degree according to the learning and teaching environment, as there are
> often associated difficulties such as:
>
>
>
> .         auditory and /or visual processing of language-based information
>
> .         phonological awareness
>
> .         oral language skills and reading fluency
>
> .         short-term and working memory
>
> .         sequencing and directionality
>
> .         number skills
>
> .         organisational ability
>
> .         Motor skills and co-ordination may also be affected.
>
> Dyslexia exists in all cultures and across the range of abilities and
> socio-economic backgrounds. It is a hereditary, life-long,
> neuro-developmental condition. Unidentified, dyslexia is likely to result
> in
> low self esteem, high stress, atypical behaviour, and low achievement.
>
> Learners with dyslexia will benefit from early identification, appropriate
> intervention and targeted effective teaching, enabling them to become
> successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and
> responsible citizens.
>
> My extreme view for what it is worth is based on retrospection combined
> with
> what I have learnt at the University of Lincoln on a child studies
> programme. Everything we become, our ability to process language, with the
> exception of profound and unrelated illness, relates to our attachment to
> our primary caregiver and our culture: social interactions with other
> people
> and institutions.
>
>
>
> The work of Russian educational psychologist and revolutionary Lev
> Vygotsky
> has had a profound influence on me, but not in the usual sense. As is
> common
> to many dyslexics I often miss chunks of text, transpose meaning and
> arrive
> at a different place. I misread Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development
> (ZPD) meant I would need to analyse gaps in my own skills in order to find
> additional support for my children's homework. Anyway, all was not lost by
> failing to realise that teachers are intended to provide support within
> the
> zone of consolidated knowledge and potential ability. At this point I had
> spent three years campaigning for the underlying deficits associated with
> premature birth to be passed from health into education so knew Vygotsky
> had
> been at work here too (long story). It also became apparent that
> interventions such as REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) use his
> theories of ZPD and language development. Moreover, the correct
> interpretation of Vygotsky's work was he rejected the notion that children
> have to first meet a particular stage of maturation in order to move on to
> the next stage of learning. With the right support learning could take
> place
> through effective use of language. Most importantly, he had noted learning
> can precede child development. He was ahead of his time. Current fMRI
> studies are noting that brain development occurs in spurts and the brain
> is
> far more plastic than was previously thought, particularly in teenage
> years.
> Professor Price (UCL) recently said: "We have to be careful not to write
> off
> poorer performers at an early age when in fact their IQ may improve
> significantly given a few more years".
>
>
>
> Why am I waffling on about brain development and how does it relate to
> dyslexia?
>
>
>
> Allen Schore et al. have provided a multi disciplinary synthesis of
> neuroscience from which they have determined sensitive periods of brain
> development, particularly in the first 6 months, 24 months and adolescence
> (up to 21/25 years of age). Most importantly, this type of research
> reinforces the influence of the environment on the brain throughout life -
> on human potential. Furthermore, it is now generally noted that when
> damage
> occurs to one area of the brain, the problem can be mediated by making
> another area of the brain accessible for that activity.
>
>
>
> This is why we need to make reasonable adjustments for students with
> disabilities in the assessment process. We need to move away from
> standardisation and state control.

Fascinating stuff. From the perspective of a teacher (Sixth Form and FE),
my approach has always been that some people may require more assistance
and support than others - and need to  make more effort! - but there is no
reason that they cannot achieve just as much as their peers.

It wasn't until I was working as an FE college webmaster (this was before
I became a teacher) that I discovered that I am very mildly dyslexic. I
knew from schooldays that I tend to transpose letters, and just developed
a knack for proofreading on the fly. I chose typefaces that are regarded
as 'good' for those with dyslexia on the grounds that I thought that they
looked good... and only later found out the theory behind it! It was the
college's specialists in learning disability who first spotted that I
might be dyslexic, after complimenting me on building good webpages from
their point of view and then finding that I'd done it instinctively rather
than with consideration.

Now I teach students with dyslexia to proofread... because in programming
you HAVE to type your code precisely, a computer is not going to be
sympathetic to your neurology! Sorry to ramble, but it's how I developed
the tools to help learners take control of their own difficulties - and
it's all about sharing ideas and ways in which to manage, isn't it!

Must go, class in 40 minutes...

Higs from Megan, the lurking e-learning specialist.