DISCOVERY: Rory Andrew, 15, right, with his brother Fraser, 16. Fraser was diagnosed only after Rory was found to have the condition. Picture: TONY MARSH
AFTER a lifetime of struggling to read, Alasdair Andrew was not as concerned as other fathers might be when his young sons first showed signs of having similar trouble.
Used to being dismissed as stupid, he had learned to adapt and almost accepted as normal the increasingly obvious reality that Fraser and Rory found school difficult.
That all changed the day a concerned teacher contacted Alasdair and his wife Carol to inform them that their youngest Rory had dyslexia - it prompted the realisation that Alasdair too was not daft but dyslexic.
"When the teacher explained it to me I said I was the same, and that's how I was finally diagnosed as well," Alasdair, now 53, recalls from his Bathgate home.
He is speaking about his experience as controversy grows over the revelation this week that former education minister Ruth Kelly has decided to move her son to a private school because she believes he will receive better support there for his learning difficulties - reportedly dyslexia.
Critics are lambasting Ms Kelly for taking an option which others cannot afford to escape from the poor legacy they feel she left behind of inadequate state provision for pupils with special needs.
For Alasdair, the state system in Lothian has been a huge source of help and support for his whole family - from Rory's diagnosis at Carmondean Primary School in Livingston to the diagnosis of older son Fraser later at the town's Deans Community High School where both boys, now 15 and 16, are now given ongoing support.
But he cautions that many other parents are far less fortunate, fuelling the debate about the standard of education for children with learning difficulties.
Council environmental warden Alasdair, who now mans a helpline in Lothian for Dyslexia Scotland and has also joined the school board at Deans, says: "My boys have had very good provision. But I'm probably the exception to the rule.
"It's a postcode lottery. I know of other parents who have not had such good experiences. It depends on the school, the learning support and also the parents' attitude. I grew up in Zimbabwe where I got used to being told I was stupid and learned to overcome what I now know is dyslexia by getting other people to do the things I could not do.
"When we moved here about ten years ago I struggled to read the street names and when my children struggled too, I thought that we were just all having the same problems in a new place. When the teacher said Rory had severe dyslexia and I realised I had it too it was a relief really, to know that I wasn't stupid at all.
"We could not believe the help Rory got, including being taken to a literacy support unit.
"Since Fraser was diagnosed too at Deans with mild dyslexia both of them have had so much support, including the offer of laptops [to make writing and reading easier], one-to-one help and extra time to complete exams.
"They are both doing well, and Fraser has even taught himself how to build computers."
Returning to the varying standard of support within the state sector, however, Alasdair adds: "Generally, I think provision in Edinburgh is strong but within that there are some schools that don't provide so much support, and I think that comes down to resources."
One city mother who echoes those concerns and feels that her son was let down by the state system is Elspeth Nurse.
Recalling the treatment her son Philip, got in his final year at Sciennes Primary School she says: "He himself had expressed his frustration to me about not being able to understand the blackboard, but when I raised my concerns with the school and asked if he could have an assessment I was told that there were not the resources to assess him and that the school didn't think it was anything like dyslexia.
"They didn't tell me that they thought he was disruptive. I only found that out later by chance.
"Philip then got a bursary to go to George Heriot's where I had sent my older two children using some money I had been left.
"It was no great surprise but very distressing that quite soon Heriot's raised concerns and offered to do an assessment on Philip which they expected to show that he had dyslexia. It did.
"Heriot's put in lots of support for him including one-to-one outwith the class."
Philip, now 21, is now studying sciences at Edinburgh University. But he remembers well the poor treatment he received at first - which he says was not uncommon, though he is wary of blaming the state system.
He says: "They thought I was a troublemaker at Sciennes. I only received learning support to get me out of the classroom.
"I can't say if it was necessarily because it was a state school but there was a definite lack of knowledge there and I know a lot of people who left Sciennes to go on to private schools and were later found to have dyslexia."
Meanwhile, Elspeth, speaking as both a mother and a social worker, is clear that the state sector is just not good enough.
She says: "Although in my more recent experience through my work, I think issues are being followed through better [in state schools], I don't think the state system has been putting the resources in place.
"I have continuing concerns about the vast difference between what I see provided in private schools and what is provided in state schools."
As parents continue to differ in their views, the schools today put on a united front, maintaining that they are all doing a pretty good job.
John Hamilton, headteacher at Boroughmuir High where staff have helped draw up the city council's policy on additional learning support for difficulties like dyslexia, says: "Every high school in the city has a person who is responsible for additional support for learning and youngsters who are tested and identified as having dyslexia are given support.
"We could always do with more [resources] but I think we provide excellent provision within the state sector and I'm confident that youngsters with additional support needs like dyslexia are well catered for."
Leith Academy also says the 34 pupils with dyslexia or related difficulties at the 960-strong school are well supported, including the introduction of cards for pupils to show to teachers to help them explain their difficulties.
On the other side of the fence at Heriot's, headteacher Alastair Hector is equally upbeat.
Interestingly, he does not think that parents are choosing his fee-paying school because they feel it offers a better education to children with learning difficulties.
"I'm not aware that parents looking for provision for their children's additional learning support needs are coming to us because they are disillusioned with the state system," he says.
That could simply be a sign that, as Ms Kelly's critics say, many parents cannot afford to go private.
Or it could back the state schools' claims that they are doing a good job.
At Edinburgh City Council, a spokeswoman said no-one was available to give any details on what extra provision is currently made for pupils with dyslexia in the Capital - which does not bode well for parents trying to find out how their children will be supported at such a crucial time.
However, the view of education union leaders may offer some reassurance.
Colin Mackay, Edinburgh secretary of the Educational Institute Scotland, says: "There always has been and always will be the argument that there's never quite enough money to go around to meet all the needs. That is just an ongoing situation.
"Edinburgh psychologists have much more work than they can cope with and from time to time league tables come out which for a while showed that Edinburgh was not doing well, but I think they are better now."
He added: "I think in many respects Edinburgh is alert to the problems of dyslexia and making the provisions which they can, and when they can't provide a service themselves they will fund the money to send a child to a special school."
As the debate over Ms Kelly's decision rages on, people with dyslexia and their parents must be hoping that services will improve so that one day no-one will be branded stupid because of their condition.
The facts
One in ten people in Scotland is thought to be dyslexic, with up to one in four suffering from a severe form of the condition.
Literally meaning "difficulty with words", from the Greek words "dys", meaning difficulty, and "lexis", meaning word, dyslexia is defined as "a difficulty in processing language-based information".
The condition can affect short-term memory and concentration and is sometimes linked to other learning difficulties, including dyspraxia, where people have difficulty in performing deliberate actions.
Although sufferers are often branded as stupid, dyslexia is not linked to intelligence - the condition can affect anyone.
If detected early enough, extra support - such as one-to-one work, and aids such as laptops - can help give pupils with dyslexia a good education. For information on dyslexia, call Alasdair Andrew at Dyslexia Scotland South East on 01506 631854, send an e-mail to info@dsse.org.uk or visit the website at www.dsse.org.uk.
Alternatively, Dyslexia Scotland - whose president is racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart - runs a national helpline from Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm. Call 0844 800 84 84.
Source: The Scotsman
No comments:
Post a Comment