Thanks Liz!

Glad you liked the film, shame you can't join us on Friday.

As to when the next one is coming out - well that depends on the Arts Council, or other funding body!

Cheers

Neil

Wow! What a fantastic display of written and dramatic talent. I found all the sketches interesting and thought provoking. A brilliant way to get your messages across and I feel honoured and proud to think that I have had the chance to work with you all in the past. Well done........ and when's the next one coming out??

Sorry I can't make it on Friday.Congratulations to you all!

Liz Gibson

Thanks JanIcke!

I don't know whereabouts in the world you are, but there is a premiere of the film at Norden Farms Arts Centre in Maidenhead England on the 9th November at 8pm - it would be great if you can be there!

Cheers

Neil and the team

What a wonderful and powerful podcast. I am extremely impressed by the talent in this work. With all the negativity surrounding Dyslexia, this film proves that Dyslexic people are bright, motivated, talented writers and performers, and above all brave and determined people.

Well done for getting the message accross to those of us who are not Dyslexic and have little understanding of the condition!I found the film informative, intelligent, witty and compassionate.

Congratulations to you all!

It was great fun but tremendous hard work making this film. HOwever, everyone worked as a team finally. Everyone having dyslexia in common meant we had a good attitude to trying to spead the word that dyselxia is not all bad news.
Who said that dyslexics were not good at writing!Here is evidence that creative ideas can be turned into script and sketches for performance.
Dyslexia Rules KO!

Are computers useful?

They can be. Dyslexic learners need to understand how word processing applications work e.g:
* It is a page that can be moved up and down.
* It is not necessary to use 'line return'.
* Spell-check is helpful but not infallible.
* Grammar-check can be downright confusing.
* Terms such as 'icon', 'toolbar', 'dot' as in 'dot com' will need explaining.
* Presentation generally improves but basic keyboarding/mouse skills need to be taught.
* Show undo button and shortcuts: home, end, page up, page down, ...
* Students should use at least 14 point font to facilitate error correction.

Keyboarding can be a multi-sensory activity: look at the word, say the letters as your fingers do the typing.

How can I help with speaking and listening?

Many dyslexic learners are good at expressing themselves but not all. Lack of confidence may make them reluctant to speak out. Build a supportive, encouraging class environment where individuals can feel secure.

Dyslexic learners may have difficulty remembering what they hear. Tell students to visualise what they hear and pause when reading aloud to them. Dyslexic learners are literal; they may need help understanding figurative language.

How can I help with writing?

Dyslexic learners are understandably reluctant writers. They worry predominantly about spelling.

TELL THEM NOT TO WORRY ABOUT SPELLING!

Give them stimulating, real-life, relevant things to write about.

Use discussion, whole class planning, brainstorming on the board.

Use a variety of planning tools: Mind Maps, flow charts, writing frames.

No one writes a perfect first draft.

Be enthusiastic/inspirational. You will initially be the source of their confidence.

Entry level spelling does not mean the content of the writing will be entry level as well.

Ways to anchor spellings

(All solutions are best thought out by the student with tutor help if necessary).

Mnemonics are often too long and complicated: Never Eat Chips Eat Side Salad And Remain Young (for 'necessary') is long-winded._Try instead a picture of 1 Coffee and 2 Sugars (1 'c' and 2 's's)

Look at the part the student gets wrong; get them to highlight it.

Use colour to break words into syllables: sep ar ate. (Use 'How many times your chin drops' to count syllables. Some students cannot hear syllables).

Find words within words and link with an image: bus in ess

Teach root words then prefix and suffix: re member ing

Change the look of the word div / ide d ivi de

'Difficult to spell' address words can be given an image and modelled (3D) in clay with the word in clay (lower-case) underneath the model. e.g. one student represented the word 'avenue' by modelling two lines of trees with an arrow in between, pointing to the word 'avenue' modelled in clay in lower-case letters.

Encourage students to visualise whenever they try to spell a word.

For kinaesthetic learners get them to trace, write and/or model words many times.

Say the word wrongly (for old chestnuts like 'Wed nes day').

Do not teach homophone/homonyms together e.g. 'where' and 'were'. Teach in families instead e.g. here, where, there.

Colour and image are the best tools to work with.

How can I help with spelling?

Dyslexic learners need to be able to attach an image to words they want to spell. This is why simple words are often misspelled.

Auditory discrimination is not good, so similar looking words may be confused: want/what, there/they.

How can I help with reading?

Students usually read two types of texts in the classroom. Text from outside sources: newspapers, books, articles etc. and text prepared by the tutor for the student's use. Many students prefer to read off coloured paper or use a coloured overlay: yellow and blue are useful but preference will be individual.

Cerium Visual Technologies is a good source of coloured overlays, www.ceriumvistech.co.uk, or use coloured plastic wallets cut up, from any stationers. Tracking exercises are excellent for developing reading skills. Make up your own sentence tracking sheets on topical matters. An example tracking exercise can be found in the 'Reading' section of the Skillswise 'Lessonplans' area: http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/tutors/lessonplans/reading (Ann Arbor Publishing Limited also produce tracking material, http://www.annarbor.co.uk)

Encourage students with tracking difficulties to use a line guide: coloured perspex ruler or similar, or card cut out to the correct size of the column to be read. (This helps with reading newsprint).
Presentation of text is very important:
* use a sans serif font: Arial, Tahoma, Comic Sans
* make headings stand out
* do not capitalise first word on a line, unless grammatically necessary
* do not justify right-hand margins
* space information clearly
* use 14 font minimum
* use colour and appropriate images to help student find information easily
* box information to make it stand out
* do not try to fit too much information on a page
* do not double-side; use two separate sheets (even if it is bad for the environment)
* do not write all in capitals; lower case words are easier to read.

Picture at Punctuation: Some students have problems with using punctuation to aid meaning when reading. They do not always see it there. Take time to explain the main functions of , . ? !

Ask students who have comprehension difficulties to stop and picture what they have read at each full-stop.

In the classroom: Do I have to teach the dyslexic student differently?

Yes, if what you are doing isn't working - as with any student. However, fortunately, the best way to teach dyslexic learners is the best way to teach the whole class.

Multi-sensory teaching methods are the best. In the classroom, students are likely to learn mainly through three senses:
* visual
* auditory - speaking and listening
* kinaesthetic - through doing a task: handwriting, cutting/pasting, modelling.

All teaching sessions should provide opportunities to learn through these three channels as students will have their own preferred learning style.

Why do dyslexic learners often have problems with reading and writing?

Hmm, complicated ...
* Dyslexic learners seem to process written and spoken language differently.
* They are usually not aware of separate sounds in words (lack of phonological awareness) and may not perceive the symbols (letters) that make up words on a page as real or meaningful (visual processing difficulty)
* Even dyslexic learners who are good at reading may have difficulty with small confusable words
* Dyslexic learners are often visual thinkers and need to link words to images to make them memorable.
* Dyslexic learners may have problems tracking print and reading black print off a white page.

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is an odd word. Many people use it without understanding what it means, including those who have been given the label 'dyslexic learner'.

What it means, literally is 'a difficulty with words' but in eleven years of teaching dyslexic adults in Basic Skills and other classes, I have found many who are wonderful with words. That is to say, their heads are full of stories, opinions, comment and debate. Getting them down on paper is a different matter.

Dyslexia is a different way of thinking. Please forget the words dysfunction, difficulty and disability or you will be faced with dismay, disaffection and disappointment. The dyslexic difference stems from the brain functioning in a more 'holistic' way than the average brain. i.e. the dyslexic learner may use more of his brain on each task and therefore, not travel the quickest route to the answer or even not 'see' the answer at all.

Dyslexic learners tend to be good conceptual thinkers and may be creative but are less adapted to tasks requiring analysis and logic.