Fàilte!

The problem with dyslexia in the UK is the lack of scientific basis for the diagnosis of the various cognitive subtypes of dyslexia.
Dyslexia is about having problems accessing a man made communication system, the visual notation of speech, or text.
The cognitive skills sets required to perform the task of reading varies from one writing system to another. Our culture uses the Latin alphabet writing system, and English is the most complex orthography in this system. The purest languages in the Latin alphabet system are Finnish and Italian.
We need identify which of the main sub types of dyslexia affect each dyslexic either auditory visual or attentional or some combination of the three cognitive sub types.
Each cognitive sub type of dyslexia requires a different approach to the type of support and help required, and the types of support can conflict between the varying cognitive sub types.
The medical conditions which cause these cognitive deficits can be clinically diagnosed/ When anyone is diagnosed as being Dyslexic they should be referred for a clinical assessment of the possible cognitive deficits which are causing their dyslexic symptom. Or have a multi – discipline assessment to identify all of the potential medical issues.

The UK has a dyslexia industry which has for the most part ignored international dyslexia research as it conflicts with their remedial program agenda, which requires dyslexia to be viewed a a condition with a single cause.

I am have a clinical diagnosis of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) , which is the the cause of my dyslexic symptom. My three sons and my wife also have a clinical diagnosis of APD which is the cause of their dyslexic symptoms. If we did not have APD we would not be dyslexic.

For more information regarding international dyslexia research please have a look at two CiteULike online research paper libraries the first regarding Developmental dyslexia at
http://www.citeulike.org/group/12693/library/order/year,,
and Alexia (acquired dyslexia) at
http://www.citeulike.org/group/13563/library/order/year,,
The research into Alexia has resulted in the evolution of the many psycholiguistic models of reading since the 1970s.

VCOP
My wee girl had a favourite subject: creative writing. She achieved her level E in P6 although it does not seem to matter now with the new CfE. Now she detests writing as it is all VCOP! Planning sheets, targets, evaluations and criticisms but guess what – no writing! Thanks guys! She now plans the work she has no time to do and marks, in green pen, her own work so that the evaluation box can be ticked and she hates it!

I have children making their way through both primary education and, as of last week, the early stages of secondary education. Until recently, I knew how well they were doing from simple A to E level. This told me in a very straightforward way whether they were doing what was expected at their age, were ahead or were beginning to lag. Yes, I appreciated the times with teachers discussing the finer points. Less so, the achievements and “next steps” found in their annual reports, which could generally be applied to any child. But the one simple measure that many parents understood that wasn’t PC “teacherspeak” and the even worse politically inspired waffle that emerges from Holyrood, has now gone.
C for E was meant, in part, to engage parents and involve them more in their child’s education. Instead, reams and reams of paper have been sent to parents in an attempt to explain the new curriculum. All these ever do is re-iterate the aims and objectives and, whilst these are laudable, it seems impossible for anyone to explain the C for E, let’s say, two paragraphs. I finally got an explanation from a Head Teacher “Curriculum for Excellence is how all teacher’s should teach, how good teachers have always taught and how bad teacher’s can disguise how bad they really are”. Yes, I agree!!
Please can parents and pupils have a simple assessment system, which, at the end of each year, will give them a level in each subject area to let them know (compared to their national peer group) whether they are “Doing OK”, “Doing better than OK”, “Need to Try Harder” or “Get some help urgently”.