MP says dyslexia is bollocks

[mids]

Is it? Isn't it? Seems like a real condition to me. Is it overdiagnosed though? He's certainly right that under Labour education has reached an appalling low.

A Labour MP has claimed dyslexia is a myth invented by education chiefs to cover up poor teaching methods.

Backbencher Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley, describes the condition as a "cruel fiction" that should be consigned to the "dustbin of history".

He suggests children should instead be taught to read and write by using a system called synthetic phonics.

But Charity Dyslexia Action said the condition was "very real" to the 6m people in the UK affected by it.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7828121.stm

[VikingHumpingWitch]

I bet it is overdiagnosed. 6 million? Getouttahere.

[cheyenne]

I don't know if dyslexia is over-diagnosed or not. I wouldn't be surprised if what this MP has said has some truth in it though. Slightly off-topic, I also suspect ADHD, attention deficit disorder, is over-diagnosed to excuse poorly disciplined children.

I believe teaching methods were so much more effective when I was at school - we learned the basics when it came to arithmetic, that is, we learned our times tables parrot-fashion. 40-odd years later, guess what? I still remember them all. My daughter, on the other hand, was not taught that way, and 14 years later, guess what? She still doesn't know her times tables and finds mental arithmetic calculations very difficult indeed.

[VikingHumpingWitch]

Not sure that's proof of anything though. I was taught parrot fashion like you and I can remember my timestables, but to do mental calculation I have to work through them (once twelve is twelve, two twelves are twenty-four and so on) until I get to the right one. And even then it's only any use if I don't need a multiple above 12.

[Deleted]

Dyslexia is Bob's lock? Nah, it's lack of condensed milk. Anyone thinks otherwise can suck my chicken.

[radge]

its like all these made up problems, ADHD, Autism...over diagnosed by a long shot...hee hee im joking!!!! but im not joking about the over diagnosis issue. thats happening far too much. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY IS BEING ERRODED. I hate it! thats my beef these days.

[flatandy]

Bunch of different things. First, Graham Stringer is, and always has been, an utter tool.

Second, dyselxia isn't a fake syndrome. It's real.

Thirdly, though, as everyone says, it's overdiagnosed. Like autism and adhd, it's suddenly one of those things that's given a spectrum, which means people who are just a bit thick, or people who'd learn to read a little slower in the past, are now diagnosed as having a medical condition, and given excuses for failure and treatment where it's not really needed.

[Deleted]

My Mum's a special needs teacher and she reckons that most dyslexic are just a bit fick. That being said, I think she's being a little harsh and probably means that the Big H is just wheeld out as a convenient excuse for fickies who are usually called George.

[joliet]

My mum tried to teach me my times tables parrot fashion and it just didn't work. I can do 1x, 2x, 5x, 10x and 11x. All the others I draw a blank at.

But give me the intro to a song and I'm in like Flynn. Just a matter of what your strengths are really.

Dyslexia exists but, as has been said before, not every bugger who can't spell has it

[radge]

i cant spell dyslexia without looking above. does that make me?

[gibman]

Talking of dyslexia, where is Rude Eric?

[justmyopinion]

How many times has anyone heard of this MP?

I'm sure that it is overdiagnosed, as is flu, but it is real and very distressing for those affected. My daughter suffered and she had real problems at school, private schools where the teacher - child ratio was good. She had to have additional assistance, she is now doing brilliantly although she will never be able to read fluently or quickly.

This MP is talking in general terms without real understanding.

[Deleted]

And that other syndrome, where if you don't get a joke, or take everything literally... ffs, we have to be able to pigeonhole everything now. When I had Attention Deficit Disorder my teacher used to hit me on the head with something and suddenly I didn't have ADD thing. My cousin Bernard had something like autism, but a hard punch on the nose soon cured that. It's all something I tell yuh.

[tarrant]

Wouldn't surprise me if it were.

My father was a school teacher and very old fashioned in most respects. He called it a trendy excuse.

Talking to people who've learnt English as a second language, most say that the problem, on a class room level, is there is no consistancy, no standrard spelling rules.

Once in the real world, problems tend to disappear simply because mistakes in English spelling don't tend to cause too much cnfuson.

English has continually evolved, spellings and syntax has continually changed. I wonder if we're worrying too much about spelling at the expense of allowing that process to continue?

editied for spelling

[gaia]

I rememebr at primary school we had a fairly old fashioned headmaster, and 2 kids in the school who were SEN. There were no behaviour problemskids who did misbehave were told off and kept in at break or lunch, Every kid left the place able to read, write and do maths. When the headmaster retired we got a younger trendy model who announced in an assembly that at his last school 2 in 10 of the kids were SEN, and it was one of his priorities to ensure we were all properly testwed and diagnosed.

by the time i left a year later, there were at least 10 SEN kids

[vania]

a) I do think it exists but I'm sure it is very over-diagnosed. I think it's the case that 'dsylexia' is mainly a wealthy middle class word for 'a bit slow'.

b) How do you get quotes to fit into nice neat boxes?

[Deleted]

Jan 14, 2009 14:42:09 GMT @vania said:

a) I do think it exists but I'm sure it is very over-diagnosed. I think it's the case that 'dsylexia' is mainly a wealthy middle class word for 'a bit slow'.

b) How do you get quotes to fit into nice neat boxes?

Look over to your right, click 'quote' and your screen goes all weird and you fill in the box like this.

[luckysprite]

Jan 14, 2009 14:48:52 GMT @oneofthelessergods said:

Jan 14, 2009 14:42:09 GMT @vania said:

a) I do think it exists but I'm sure it is very over-diagnosed. I think it's the case that 'dsylexia' is mainly a wealthy middle class word for 'a bit slow'.

b) How do you get quotes to fit into nice neat boxes?

Look over to your right, click 'quote' and your screen goes all weird and you fill in the box like this.

Oooh not sure I like that.... might take some getting used to..

[vania]

Jan 14, 2009 14:48:52 GMT @oneofthelessergods said:

Jan 14, 2009 14:42:09 GMT @vania said:

a) I do think it exists but I'm sure it is very over-diagnosed. I think it's the case that 'dsylexia' is mainly a wealthy middle class word for 'a bit slow'.

b) How do you get quotes to fit into nice neat boxes?

Look over to your right, click 'quote' and your screen goes all weird and you fill in the box like this.

Ah, ok.

[Deleted]

Anyone know how to get italic?