Dyslexia is characterised by a significant disability with reading and spelling. Dyslexia often presents in children who otherwise appear capable and academically promising. It is estimated that two to three children in every classroom have dyslexia.
5-10% of children and adults struggle with dyslexia daily. Research shows that children with dyslexia are at greater risk of behaving badly at school, becoming socially withdrawn and developing depression. Currently dyslexia is not recognised as a learning disability in any state other than New South Wales. Similar nations such as Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States have 'dyslexia friendly schools'.
With the national focus on standardised testing, it seems incongruous that the Western Australian government does not recognise dyslexia as a learning disability, thereby enabling the appropriate educational support for our dyslexic children.
If you live in Western Australia, please click the link below and sign the petition to the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia to recognise dyslexia as a learning disability.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-dyslexia-as-a-recognised-learning-disability-in.html
Hello Mother of Riley,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to sign the petition, but then realised it's for WA only. I live in NSW.
I'm surprised you say dyslexia is recognised as a learning disability in NSW. How does NSW recognise it? I had the impression nobody even believed it existed.
A few weeks ago I met someone who is moving to America to enrol her son in a school for dyslexics. It shocked me into taking some more action for my daughter. She gets support for her Aspergers and I take her to speech therapy for her reading, but I didn't know there was anything else other than Davis Dyslexia, which I had been warned against.
I have now booked my daughter for Irlen screening, but I would love to know if there is some sort of extra help I could be getting for her, since we live in NSW.
By the way,she didn't sit for NAPLAN, because she could have had a scribe, but what she needed was a reader.
Thanks for taking some action,
Penny
Hi Penny, thanks for your thoughtful response. I spoke to a friend who alerted me to the fact that NSW recognised dyslexia as a learning disability, apparently even thopugh it has now passed through Parliament, it can take some time to filter through the system. My email is mylifewithriley@gmail.com, email me if you want me to send you the NSW bill. Good luck with the Irlen screening, but be cautious, there is not a lot of scientific eveidence to back the Irlen movement up. I have a website, Dyslexia WA, which does not focus on WA and shares lot of dyslexia info if you are on facebook.
ReplyDeleteColleen
Is Dyslexia WA a facebook page, or website? I found a fb page which looks new, called Dyslexia Wa. Is that it?
ReplyDelete