Summary
Lazy', 'wilfully disobedient', 'thick', 'badly behaved', 'no support at home' - these are typical of the comments that youngsters with dyslexia and dyspraxia often have hurled at them by classmates and teachers. Both conditions are categorised as learning disabilities. Dyslexia leads to difficulties with reading and (in consequence) learning, and is thought to affect between five and 17 per cent of the population; with dyspraxia, the brain has a problem processing information, so messages of all kinds are not accurately or fully transmitted. But these conditions tend to inhabit very bright brains. Susan, whose son James, now 17, is dyspraxic, says, 'These are often incredibly intelligent children; they're fed up because they can't understand why they can't get what they know down on paper.'
After struggling through GCSEs with reasonable grades, James came unstuck in spring this year when he was revising for AS-levels in politics, economics and history. 'These children have no ability to sort and prioritise information - it's chaos in their brains, as if there's a neurological missing link,' says Susan. Although many schools are supportive, most teachers don't really understand how to deal with them. 'People would ask if I'd tried writing a revision plan with James. Well, that's the easy bit. Getting him to stick to it, showing him how to organise his time and getting thoughts out of his brain-swamp to then write them down in his slow and laborious handwriting was very frustrating.'See the full content of this document
Extract
A Welcome Lesson in Learning ; Health Notes
As exams loomed, the tension mounted. 'There were huge rows, lots of stomping around and black looks. People would say, "You're just not...
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