Dear Editor:
Recently I attended a showing of Decoding Dyslexia made by the Redford family.
I am a huge fan of Robert Redford and admired the well made film. However, it reminded me of the Knowledge Network film Deciphering Dyslexia.
I remembered feeling sick to my stomach. It was beyond patronizing. We dyslexics were being patted on the head – don’t worry, it’ll be OK, we’ll find something you are good at.
This Redford film was not patronizing, it was well intentioned, meaning to uplift and encourage, but it sent out the same old message that perseverance will win the day. Just find something you are good at, early intervention and accommodations are needed. The words learning disabilities and disorders abounded.
I found it difficult to watch because I know that one-third of the population who live with a myriad of so-called learning disabilities are learning able, they just don’t learn the way they are taught.
When they appear to be struggling, they are given the things they couldn’t do, over and over and a different result is expected.
This is the definition of insanity – and yet it happens every day in our current education system.
How do I know this? For the past 18 years I have been working with dyslexic children and adults. I am tired of seeing “crumpled” children arrive on my doorstep believing themselves to be stupid.
I am tired of hearing them say: “I have a short term memory problem.” None of this is true. Dyslexia exists for three reasons, simplified into this analogy; dyslexics are the little “Apple Macs” in a “PC” education system.
I also happen to know that if the K-3 classroom teachers use an easy-to-learn method that works for both the little “Apple Mac” and the “little PC” the challenges have no reason to occur. If you remove the cause of the problem, the problem ceases to exist, and the problem is our education system, not the children.
There is nothing wrong with their brains, there is everything wrong with a system that refuses to teach them in a way that allows them to fulfill their full potential.
We don’t need early intervention. We don’t need to be tested and set apart. We don’t need more of what we couldn’t do in the beginning. We don’t need Band-Aids. We need change.
Sue Hall
North Vancouver
What are your thoughts? Send us a letter via email by clicking here or post a comment below.
