Dyslexia awareness week - blessing in disguise

Dyslexia - a Blessing in Disguise is the theme for this year's Dyslexia Awareness Week, 16 - 22 June.

The Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand is focusing on "...promoting greater understanding and acceptance of dyslexia as an alternative way of thinking and one that can offer wonderful creative gifts as well as bringing some learning challenges. The theme refers to the gifts of creativity as well as the difficulties and coping strategies which are the 'disguise'."

"Dyslexia is a term used to describe a range of persistent difficulties children have with reading and writing, and often including spelling, numeracy or musical notation. Students with dyslexia do not make expected progress in these areas in spite of good teaching and the type of extra support that would be helpful for most other children." There is more information on the Ministry of Education Team-Up website. Last year the Ministry formally acknowledged dyslexia as an issue in school. An outline of their work programme and approach can be found on the TKI website.

Rodney Libraries have a number of books on Dyslexia that might be useful. Try the Encyclopedias or Health online databases from the E-resources page. They have excellent articles and entries which are often full-text (i.e. the full article not just a description). One of these articles "DYSLEXIA" from "SICK! Diseases and Disorders, Injuries and Infections." Online Edition. Detroit: U*X*L, 2008, has this definition "Dyslexia is not a disease. It is a condition in which a person's brain learns in a different way from that of other people. Many people with dyslexia are very intelligent and successful. The condition has nothing to do with a person's intelligence. Dyslexics are often highly talented in many areas, including art, athletics, drama, music, and engineering. These talents often require the ability to bring together sight, spatial skills (the ability to locate objects in three-dimensional space using sight and/or touch), and coordination." (Found via the Health and Wellness Resource Centre e-resource.)

The NZ Herald has a story on Geoff Blackwell, "Opening the door to the joy of words". He's one of the men behind the project "Moments of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship." He also has dyslexia.