Worldwide statistics indicate that one child in eleven has a learning disability (LD). Teachers recognise that any learning disability needs to be corrected as soon as possible, before it is entrenched and a child's self-esteem diminished. Often the student is bright and has the ability to learn, but they need a different type of teaching. Yet, by the end of the school year the child is pushed up to the next level, compounding the issue. The Jenny Lamond Method (JLM), with its many years of success behind it, has proven to be a good resource for LD's.
LD's derive from numerous directions. They could be emotionally inspired, dyslexic, ADHD, Irlen syndrome, Autism, and Asperger’s. Even gifted children can have a LD, and so need help with spelling and reading. There are those who have difficulties because of socio-economic and emotional trauma issues, and, of course Dyslexia, which has its own host of issues, such as Dysgraphia (a writing disorder where spelling and the putting of thoughts on paper are difficult) and Dyspraxia (now known as Development Coordination Disorder), and poor handwriting (motor coordination).
The following are excerpts from an interview with Pat Grayson, a dyslexic author, for Success magazine. It begins: Damn it, once again I bank 103 instead of 301 dollars. I’m dyslexic and as you read this, you’ll see that being dyslexic has governed my entire life…
Dyslexia is derived from two Greek words, Dys – meaning poor or inadequate and Lexis – words or language. According to research the cortex has six basic layers, with layer one having essentially no cells, but dyslexics typically have bunches of cells in that layer.
In my first years of school, I could not form the letters of the alphabet, like prissy Mary could. Even with concentration the result was still a mess – the pencil simply had a will of its own, and all these years later, it’s just the same. This was the start of my being labeled ‘different’. I was held back at the end of that first year, to ‘try again’ with another bunch of kids.
In time I discovered that there were more things that I could not cope with. The label ‘different’ was later amended to ‘dunce’. Yet, I didn’t feel stupid. But as time went on, I told myself, "Maybe this is what being stupid is like!”
The school system, and the ability to form neat r’s or j’s, was the measure. School is still the standard by which our intellectual capacity or lack of is gauged. It didn’t take long before I lost faith in school, thought of myself as hopeless and blocked learning even more (a common occurrence). I developed a brittle self-esteem and became an unfulfilled and angry person.
A new school year was always interesting as the incoming teacher, either unconsciously or consciously classified each child. It was never long before I was relegated to the back of the class and considered a waste of time. Provided I behaved I was generally ignored. That was forty odd years ago. School may be different today.
Of course, I wasn’t quiet and well behaved and through expressing my frustration I disrupted the class. So not only did the teacher consider me ‘slow’, but a nuisance as well.
Year after sorry year passed with me sliding further back into academic oblivion. I became angrier and more rebellious. Halfway through year three of high school they told me to leave. This was fine by me, and as ironic as it may seem, I left school to get an education… The reality was that they dumped the problem!
… Continuing with the answer to Interviewer:
My mind has difficulty deciphering gothic script, and most cursive writing is gobbledygook and must be read to me. But being dyslexic forced me to achieve in different ways, such as always working for myself. I could not have managed in mainstream commerce because my handwriting and spelling would not have been of an acceptable standard – the corporates would have disposed of me, like a pack of wild dogs abandoning an injured or aged member.
… Now, if I am in front of a group of executives, I don’t care about my scrawl. I have learned to establish my own worth, and not to allow society to provide the rules by which my value is measured…
All LD's can improve their reading and spelling.
However, there must be intervention and
determination.
There is no doubt that the schooling system let Pat Grayson down. That was many years ago and it should be different these days, but often it is not the case. The following is a brief exert from the Sydney Morning Herald Feb 9th 2014: Teaching children how to read; The author of Diary of a Wombat, and Australian Children's Laureate, Jackie French, who is severely dyslexic, accused schools of not ensuring each child could read at the same level as their classmates and of failing their students… … “They are not given the qualified help they need to find out why they are having problems with reading. All this does is teach the kids that they are dumb.''
While she praised the commitment of teachers, she said they were no substitute for trained professionals who were in short supply. ''The teacher might only be able to give them one or two hours a week, which is not enough. They need at least an hour a day. I don't know of any state-funded school where there are enough trained teachers who specialise in this area.”
Although things are not as bad as it was in Pat Grayson’s day, our experience of working with schools has seen a pattern; that most schools cater for the mainstream 80% of children. But those at the top and the bottom (which often includes those children described above and on the Jenny Lamond page) are less catered for as there is inadequate training or resources. Most schools do not have methods to teach children with LD’s. Teachers today work over fifty hours a week. Even if they had the skill, when would they have time to take the LD students aside and teach them separately? They don’t. And like Pat Grayson, they usually leave school early, illiterate, to fend for themselves.
Learning Disabilities are just that – a disability. Again, from Pat’s article, “People do not realise how disabled dyslexic people are. They are as dis-abled as the visually/hearing impaired. They are as hamstrung as someone with mobility issues. LDs are not life threatening, but they are life-diminishing. When your self-esteem is trashed, when you are limited in the vocation you can choose. When you are too embarrassed to hand-write someone a thank-you note, or birthday card, these are disabilities. Because of LD’s, these people live on the edge of society… I did…”
The saddest thing about
LD's is failure to believe
in your own ability to learn.
It is believed by many that a large portion of jail inmates end up in jail because of that lack of self-worth. One of our JLM tutors, Pamela, spent many years working in prisons teaching the JL method. Although she gave them reading and writing skills, she also gave them something even more valuable – a belief in themselves that they are not stupid. She gave them hope.
We here at E-S do not diagnose LDs. Nor are we interested in the form of LD you may have. We are only interested in helping anyone who has been left behind. The JLM has helped many people with LD’s. One recent case in point is Roselea, who was so happy with her improvement she was determined to give us the testimonial on the home page. Rosalea left school many years earlier, completely illiterate. Over the years she had been on numerous government sponsored courses, most of them at TAFE’s. Although she gave it her best shot, Rosalea emerged no more literate than when she started. However, after only one session with a Jenny Lamond tutor, she knew it had changed for her. In her own words, “These lessons are different… they reached me”. After her rapid and positive results her spelling growth improved quickly. Rosalea is now literate, and often contacts us to thank us for making her life-long wish come true – the ability to read, write, and spell.
We have seen these results repeated time and time again with Jenny’s methods. However, our help is governed by the severity of the cause and determination of the student.
We know that most people with LDs are not stupid, they just learn in a different way. There is a great deal of research that indicates that dyslexics often have higher than average IQ’s. In fact, Ronald Davis in his popular book on dyslexia calls it The Gift of Dyslexia.
According to the International Dyslexia Association they suggest that dyslexics have difficulty pronouncing sounds within words (Roselea had such problems). As many of Jenny’s methods use the 'Sounding Out' and the recognition and familiarising of sounds, this makes sense to many students with LD's.
We cannot guarantee that Jenny’s methods will work with all LD people, but we can happily say we have had great success with LD's. Applying multi-sensory tools (listening, hearing, seeing, and feeling {kinaesthetic}) seem to be particularly helpful to LD students, especially if supervised by a teacher, assistant teacher, or parent. Using E-S, the student can take all the time they need, unlike in a classroom. Also, there is no embarrassment to be had here.
How Easy-spelling can help all learners, LD or otherwise.
Be not afraid of growing slowly
Be afraid only of standing sill
In short, this online spelling course and online reading course and online grammar course is likely to make a big difference for all with a learning disability.
Why not pop over to the FAQ's page (see the bottom of the page) to find out more.
For further information visit: https://dyslexiaida.org/ for the International Dyslexia Association.