My
Story of Resistance:
What
Happened to a Human Being?
part 1.
I was a dyslexic child of the 1970’s.
In Primary school I was considered a slow
learner, Dr Gavin (2013) in her report states that dyslexia is a learning disability that makes it hard to learn to read
and understand written language. Heresay tells that the local council
ignored childhood dyslexia in the 1970’s because of cost implications, this is
upheld by a more recent document stating that the city council does not, even
now, employ any dyslexia support staff for school children (Moor, 2012).
I was in my own dream world, in my imagination. I had no idea what teachers were talking about most of the time, there was an incomprehensible element to each days tasks which seemed to make perfect sense to the other children, I was amazed at their abilities to so readily comprehend when I found it so baffling. The other children seemed to 'get it', to
intuitively know what was expected of them in class, to appreciate the assignments. They were given exercises to do and they got on and did them but I
did not. So I removed my mind from the class room and the difficult task of trying to understand.
However Dr Gavin’s prognosis is challenged in an NHS fact sheet (2015) on
dyslexia which is at pains to point out the similarity yet distinction between
‘difficulty, and ‘disability’. It clarifies the term by stating that, ‘Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty
that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling. It's a "specific
learning difficulty", which means it causes problems with certain
abilities used for learning, such as reading and writing. Unlike a
learning disability, intelligence isn't affected.’
I would sit in agonies of
embarrassment that I would have to put my hand up for an extra explanation, yet
again – deciding whether I would do it this time, sometime yes but often no. I
just did not want to put myself under scrutiny or the spotlight of negative
attention. I wanted to be invisible. I dis-engaged with lessons and what was
going on in class and soon teachers stopped interacting with me. In the
dyslexia factsheet (Gavin 2013) it states that teachers could provide extra
time for reading practice and give reading assignments in audio formats. I was
seen as 'naughty', or 'lazy' and was often in trouble for making my own learning
interventions (doing something completely different to the rest of the class
like singing or drawing).
Gavin, M. L., (2013) Special Needs Factsheet, Dyslexia, What Teachers Should Know,
<http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/dyslexia-factsheet.html> accessed 26/01/18
Moor. D., (2012) Request for Leeds Council Policies on Dyslexia
Diagnosis and Support,
image - Quilt pattern in Lapis and gold, Frances Norton 2017.
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