A Video Demonstration of Dyslexia

Personally this makes my head hurt - so they are on to something.  You know?

I think the possibilities are limitless here - but this could be done right so that new and upcoming teachers can get a better sense of what dyslexia can be like.

Questions from the Creative Learners at the Assets School

Hi - Dear Friends from Ms **** Classroom.

I wish I has a the time to answer all your questions by mail - individually – I have created a list of answers to many of the questions that you have sent in your letters -

Please free to share them with others in your school as you wish.

When did you first know you were dyslexic?

What grade where you when you found out your dyslexic?

When I was in 2^nd grade I had fallen so far behind the other students that the school system told my parents they wanted to place me in special education classroom.  My mother who was a Professor of education pulled strings in the school system to keep me in a public school classroom.  My parents had me tested and defined as “dyslexic” by a reading tutor.

How hard was it for you?

Very hard – in 3rd grade I was only kid in my classroom that could not read.

What Grade did you learn to read?

4^th Grade I begun to read with some ability.

What level were you reading in 6^th and 7^th grade?

In 6^th grade I was reading the hardy boys and I read a copy of the hobbit in 7^th grade.  I had reading comprehension and processing scores at the college level by 9^th grade.

Did you not like completing an essay or could you read by then?

I did not write my first essay till 8^th grade – I did not write a well written one till 10^th grade.  My first term paper – 10 pages was in 11^th grade.  Even today I think essays are waste of time and I don’t like writing them.  Having aid that I do believe in writing letters to the editor and letters to politicians.

How was it like being different then the other kids?

Denial is an important part of the human experience.  Denial allows us to pretend that everything is fine when it is not.  It also gets us in trouble because we try to do things that we can’t possibly complete with out tutors or writing consolers.

How old is your sister now?

She is 4 years younger then me – still.   I am 41 – she is 37

What was her favorite birthday party?

No idea…

Did the Birthday Party story really happen?

Yep and one of your legs is longer then the other because I have been pulling your leg.

What did the Cake taste like?

Sorry I didn’t eat it.

What type of Cake was it suppose to be?

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate store bought frosting – lots of store bought frosting.

How do you make such realistic stories?

To make a good tall tale you must start with the truth and build into fantasy.  Have fun with your audience believe that your story helps them and share the joy of the story with them.

Great talking to you.

Eric James Wolf

http://www.ericwolf.org

Telling Tall Tales of Dyslexic New Yorker and When Cats Could Fly...

All these funny stories are on iTunes.

Changing the Game

Sometimes technology changes slowly and you can barely see it.  Then there are moments when the tech is seen anew and we realize that the whole world has changed.  The wheel or the printing press.  Today I had one of those moments.  Soon you will to.

American schools have been slow to provide the tools for supporting people with disabilities - but many schools have been quick to supply computers to there classrooms.  Trying to look modern without changing the fundamentals of there internal structure.  Now a group of people have placed all the various programs that make computers tools of access for students.  Basically free open source programs that fundamentally change the rules of the game.  Of course they are cutting at the tree of money that Microsoft and Apple are counting for there supplies.

This is an amazing leap forward - parents acting in there own self interest for the good of there students with out institutional permission or support.  Don't trust me read about it yourself at
http://speedchange.blogspot.com/2011/05/freedom-stick-and-massive-resistance.html

If this had existed when I was in high school - how my world might have been different.

The Law of Unintended Consequences

There are many books about the law of Unintended Consequences.  My favorite is the follow up book too - Time and Again – From Time to Time.  For the dedicated 19^th century enthusiast I would recommend both – but for the rest of us here is the plot point of the book that intrudes me.

Man travels back in time to stop WWI by saving the Titanic.  Man sinks said ship by changing the course of the ship.  Hence the Law of unintended consequence in action.  I have many more from real life… 

What about United States Trains Islamic Extremists to battle evil Soviet Empire… not good ending there either….

Rabbits released in Australia as game animal leads to rabbit invasion…

I could go on and on – humans have been living this story for thousands of years so I am nor surprised to read recently that asking students to lineup in line alphabetically has had unintended consequences that last a whole life time.

I remember fondly they day my 4^th grade teacher had us lineup by last name first – I think it was only once.  Ahh the glory to have a W in your last name!   The authors of this study have discovered that people with letter late in the alphabet were more likely to be quick to seize the first opportunities and people with a, b, c’s are more likely to wait and search for the best opportunity.

I find that I am the fastest eater I know – mostly because in grade school I had 12 minutes to eat my lunch.  I had 12 minutes because it took us 10 minutes to get served and I was always at the end of the line.  Lunch was 50 minutes long – but I wanted to catch the 25 minute group walk out to the recess yard.  Remember when we had recess in grade school? – ahh the good old days?

So today I eat to fast – I really try to eat slowly – but it’s I the bones you know?  Just another reminder of the important and influential role that teachers can have on students with the smallest of decisions.  Choices that last a lifetime.

Read the original report on the paper here...

http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2011/01/26/5909358-how-your-last-name-affects-shopping-decisions#comments

Where the hell are the all the Dyslexic Advocacy Organizations?

I know that many of the readers and followers of this inactive blog - that's a mouthful -  are not particularly interested in following politics - but to quote Howard Zen - "You can't be neutral on a moving train."

Recently I have been following with great interest the recount in Alaska and I am disturb to see that are political system is so willing to dis-enfranchize an entire group of people.  Namely people like me dyslexic folks.   The question arises - is the percentage of rejected write in ballots in Alaska related to the number of people who are dyslexic or other wise can't fully participate in a literate society?

I am going to send this question to Nate Silver of the 538 blog - I am not sure if busy Nate will have time to answer - I hope he gets to it.

Before I go into the logistics of this - here is the situation in short

Lisa M's  whose name I will not even attempt to spell - father lost a governors race to Sarah Palin - Sarah endorsed Lisa M's tea party primary opponent - Guy in checkered shirt.  Guy in checkered shirt (Joe Miller) actually campaigned - Lisa M did not - resulting in a surprise - Lisa M lost primary and Joe Miller received the Republican endorsement - which in Alaska is basically the election.

But it's personal so Lisa M declares herself a write in candidate.  Now that would be hard any way - but she has an impossible name to spell here is it is pasted from else where - Lisa Murkowski

The last federal senate write in candidate who won an election was like decades ago...  Since that time lots has changed about how we view writing and reading - I hope we live in a society that honors those who struggle with literacy and dyslexia.  Unless of course you live in Alaska - as of last week Joe Miller's campaign has been challenging any ballot that is misspelled or even written in script - as opposed to being printed.

Gets us back to the question...  is the percentage of rejected write in ballots in Alaska related to the number of people who are dyslexic or other wise can't fully participate in a literate society?

Many people who have trouble reading choose not participate in voting because they don't want to self identify and feel foolish as non-readers or below par readers.  I found some academic  papers that demonstrate a direct effect between literacy and voting in the States.

The National Institutes of Health says that "About 15 percent to 20 percent of people in the United States have a language-based disability, and of those, most have dyslexia."

Let's assume that the percentage of dyslexic people in the general population is 2x the percentage voting in the election.  Let's say that many of those people have successfully compensated by bringing in one of those rubber bands or a piece of paper with Lisa's name on it.  But let's say that roughly half of those people who are dyslexic - forgot to bring something in writing to copy or other wise are in denial.  I am a big believer in denial. or they did not vote at all.  or had the paper and still miswrote it.

I think it's fair to say that the only natural answer to arrive at is that most of the people having there ballots overturned in Alaska are the literate challenged, the dyslexic and the illiterate.

Luckily for Lisa M - she has attracted enough votes that she does not need to worry about the 8% that are being challenged by Joe Miller - that guy with the checkered shirt.  But in the meantime I have another question - where the hell are the all the dyslexic advocacy organizations?  

Where are all these expensive nonprofits who claim to have my self interest are heart?  


At what point are they going to start actaully representing and protecting the interests of the people they claim to serve?

Guest Post - Dyslexic Professor Duane Smith

This Reader wrote this lovely comment on the last post on the Blog - so with his permission I give you his story as a post so you don't miss it.

After failing the first grade, I was diagnosed with Dyslexia. I failed English in the 10th grade, and algebra a total of five times. By the grace of God, I graduated high school with a 1.9 G.P.A on probation for bad behavior. Following high school, I failed out of three different community colleges. The first class I failed was public speaking. After my third attempt at college, in as many years, I became a car salesman. Selling cars was one of the best learning experiences of my life, however, at the age of 21, I did not posses the discipline to work sixty-plus hours a week for commission. So I quit. Needing to do something, I applied for the Los Angeles Police Department, only to fail the written exam. My father was an LAPD sergeant. A friend of my father had administered and graded the test. Severely humbled and having no other options, I decided to try college a fourth time.

I figured if I was going to be serious about school, I should start by retaking the courses I had failed. During the summer of 1991, I enrolled in a public speaking course at Los Angeles Valley College with Professor Betty Ballew. Professor Ballew not only inspired me to take the class seriously but encouraged me to join the LAVC public speaking team. To this day, I don't know why I agreed to do something extracurricular that was academic...but I did! I joined the LAVC public speaking team, and my life was changed forever. Professor Ballew inspired me to celebrate my strengths, and address my challenges.

I am now a tenured professor of speech at Los Angeles Valley College, where I serve as the Director of the forensics (public speaking team). I am now privileged to regularly participate with and foster countless success stories as I serve the very program that changed my life. On April 15-19th, 2008 the LAVC speech team competed against 74 other community colleges and over 450 of our nation's best speakers and won the Phi Rho Pi national public speaking championship tournament held in St. Charles, Illinois. However, the highlight of the year was a very special student named Marcus Hill. Marcus, a former stutterer, became the most successful competitive speaker in California community college history, as well as, the overall top speaker in the country while at nationals in Illinois. Like my Professor Betty Ballew, I am truly blessed with the privilege of helping students discover their individual strengths while actively negotiating their challenges.

In 1991, a college professor asked me if I was "retarded?". That same year Professor Ballew told me that I had "presence," and asked me to join the speech team. Professor Ballew focused on my strengths, and helped me to acknowledge and confront my challenges.

For several years I have contemplated reaching out to the dyslexic community to share my experiences. If I could encourage others to discover the empowerment that can be discovered by identifying and exploiting one's individual gifts; while at the same time motivating people to address their personal challenges, I would honor the opportunity.

Please forgive any spelling mistakes :)

Sincerely,

Duane Smith
http://www.dyslexicprofessor.blogspot.com

Dear Reader

If you are dyslexic and have a story to tell you are welcome to share it here... post you potential post below and Iw ill will consider it in due time...

Eric Wolf

Hiatus

Teh Dyslexic Storytellers Blog is on break because of my work with the Art of Storytelling Podcast, the International Storytelling School, Eco Storytelling Retreat and LA Conference with the National Storytelling Festival.  Be back in a few months - please feel free to read by topic in the sidebar in the meantime.

Eric Wolf
PS: A red head on a beach....