Ysgol Bro Morgannwg Ben Lloyd, who has been the Dyslexia Action Young Person of the Year in the past, has become one of the UK’s leading campaigners on the issues surrounding Dyslexia and was invited to share his experience to Members of the Houses of Parliament.

The event, organised by Dyslexia-SpLD Trust, included some of the UK’s senior politicians with an interest in the field.

Student Ben Lloyd and his family were joined by Vale MP Alun Cairns, and following his presentation were taken on a tour of the Houses of Parliament.

Alun Cairns MP said: “It was fantastic to welcome Ben and his family to Westminster and hear all about the Dyslexia SpLD Trust.

Read the full article here.

Fortunately, humor and hard work proved a good strategy. Also helpful were my crafty parents. They often read out loud to me and, noticing my passion for fantasy novels, would stop at the most exciting point in a chapter — then leave the book in case I wanted to read by myself. It wasn’t long before I was sneaking paperbacks into study hall.

Though slow out of the gate — I couldn’t read fluently until 13 — I went to Yale, then medical school at Stanford, and I published two fantasy novels with disabled heroes (think Harry Potter and the Special-Ed Classroom). At every step, I used my diagnosis to my advantage, arguing that I had succeeded despite being dyslexic. It helped me stand out.

Read the full article here.

Poor Handwriting
Teenagers with dyspraxia tend to have poor handwriting because they lack the fine motor skills that are needed to accurately write words or sentences, according to the website Teens First for Health. The Dyspraxia Foundation states that these teenagers often have a hard time completing schoolwork because they lack the muscle movement and coordination that is needed to grip the pen or stay within the lines of the paper. Teens with dyspraxia may have a hard time completing tests in the allotted time because they write at a slower pace.

Speech Impairment
Some teenagers with dyspraxia have a difficult time coordinating the muscle movements needed to pronounce words or speak clearly. These teenagers have a hard time controlling their volume, pitch or pronunciation. They may appear awkward or clumsy because they are unable to clearly communicate with people. Many times these teens will avoid socializing with other people for fear of rejection or ridicule. Teens with dyspraxia may talk too loudly in a movie theater or have a hard time pronouncing words in class.

Lack of Coordination
A common symptom of dyspraxia in teenagers is the lack of coordination. Teenagers with dyspraxia lack the gross motor skills needed to play sports or participate in physical activities such as gym. Teenagers with dyspraxia may have a difficult time playing basketball or soccer because it is hard from them to control their movements. These teenagers usually avoid physical activities because they have a hard time learning and remembering the rules and guidelines.

Read the full article here.

As a globally-recognised expert in working with students with special educational needs, Mr Williams was invited to share his views on the Olympic legacy with the Government.

During the debate, he said: “We have found it impossible to get funding for competitive sport beyond the school for young people with high functioning autism and challenging behaviours.

“We still created an Olympic-themed event for those children across seven local authorities but without any funding. Young people with high functioning autism and challenging behaviours are sometimes the forgotten souls of society.”

Mr Williams is known worldwide as an innovative leader who has worked throughout the educational sector, from primary and secondary up to university level. At The Springfields Academy he’s responsible for driving strategic leadership and continuous improvement.

Read the full article here.

Special school head Trystan Williams is passionate about learning outside classroom and has taken his pupils to the ends of the Earth to prove it.

Tell us about your career and how you became head at The Springfields Academy.

I had no interest in becoming a teacher, my dad was a headteacher and my mum was involved in special needs education and I didn’t want to follow their lead. I did a master’s in sports science research at University of Wales and at the end of my master’s, two of my senior lecturers came and told me they had a place for me on a PGCE course. They persuaded me to take it and they were absolutely right. I loved it.

I did the majority of my teaching practice in a really tough Welsh-speaking secondary school and discovered that what I really enjoyed was working with the most challenging kids. I was motivated by wanting to help transform lives of children. But I must admit in the first six months of my first job at Mounton House, a special school in Chepstow I did think: “What the bloody hell am I doing?” It was so challenging. I was PE teacher there for two years and then promoted to head of PE. After five years I got a job as deputy head of The Springfields Academy in Wiltshire.

What was the situation when you started at The Springfields Academy?

We are the school that children who have been excluded from mainstream schools are sent to but when I started our school had the highest exclusion rate in the whole area. The school wasn’t meeting the needs of all of our pupils. The first three years as a deputy were a massive learning curve. It was a tough school and there were some outstanding professionals here but there were also some that weren’t so good. There were questions being asked regarding the future of the school and it was not far off closing.

Everything started to change when we became the first special school to be made a specialist sports college in 2005, which enabled us to be much more flexible in our curriculum and I was appointed head in the same year. The specialist sports college status meant we were able to be much more flexible in our curriculum. I was able to increase the amount of PE staff and fully restructure. The Youth Sport Trust has been instrumental in supporting me and my school, as well as helping us embed sports and PE in every aspect of what we do. In 2007 we got an outstanding Ofsted. Now 88% of our pupils are making more than two levels of progress in every subject at every key stage.

Read the full article here.

Special educational needs (SEN) schools need more money and support to help them sustain a legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, head teacher Trystan Williams has told BBC News School Report.

Mr Williams, the head teacher of The Springfields Academy in Wiltshire, was one of four teachers from across the UK who were asked to give evidence at the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into school sport and Olympic legacy on Tuesday.

But he also answered questions from School Reporters at his own school on the topic, telling Ashleigh, 15, that he believes sport is important but that government support is necessary.

“I think SEN schools could be looked after a little bit better by the government – we don’t quite get enough funding,” he said.

Mr Williams added that his school has been trying to share the Olympic and Paralympic values with young people, hosting an event with 300 children from 11 different schools and encouraging students to follow core values such as determination, inspiration, courage and equality.

“I like to think what we’re creating here we can take to other schools nationally to help young people develop social and emotional skills which is something that Michael Gove, Ofsted and government don’t always think about,” he said.

In his evidence to the Select Committee, Mr Williams said this was especially important for “disaffected learners” and that sport could have a positive effect on exclusion rates.

Read the full article here.

The firm said that by 2020, 1% of its global workforce of 65,000 employees would be people with autism.

Autism is a developmental disorder that can cause problems with social interaction and physical behaviour.

However, some people with the condition are highly intelligent and have a keen attention to detail.

SAP executive Luisa Delgado said the company believed that “innovation comes from the edges”.

She added: “Only by employing people who think differently and spark innovation will SAP be prepared to handle the challenges of the 21st Century.”

Read the full article here.

A teenager who was predicted to fail her English A-Level was allowed to type an exam after being diagnosed with a form of dyspraxia and ended up wit the highest mark in the country.

Frederica Drewer, 18, had been expecting to get a D in her exam, until she was allowed to use her laptop.

Her neurological disorder affects planning of movements and co-ordination as a result of brain messages not being accurately transmitted to the body.

Frederica had struggled to express herself when writing and was allowed to use her laptop in one of her English A-Level exams.
She sat the paper in January and scored 99.5 per cent – which was the top mark in the entire country.

Frederica did so well that exam board AQA has now asked if they can use her paper as an example to students nationwide.

The exam module paper makes up part of her English A-Level course. Although Frederica was originally predicted to get a D, she is now tipped to get an A*.

Read the full article here.

We are holding an Open Day on Saturday 8^th June at our Stratford-upon-Avon Centre and would love to see you if you have concerns about learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD. This will be Dore’s last open event in Stratford before the school summer break so if you would like to see what we do, view our facilities, meet the team or have an informal chat about the Dore Programme, please come along at any time between 9am and 4pm. If you prefer to book a particular time, please call us on 0333 123 0100, or you can register your details below and we will call you back.

Bookshare: Bookshare is an accessible online library for people with dyslexia and other disabilities. Over 160,000 titles are available, and membership is free for students.

DyslexiaHelp at the University of Michigan: DyslexiaHelp is designed to help you understand and learn about dyslexia and language disability. Visit their site for a wealth of information for individuals with dyslexia, parents, and professionals. If you’ve ever wondered about celebrities who have dyslexia, be sure to check out their “Dyslexia Success Stories” section.

Dyslexia on KidsHealth and Dyslexia on TeensHealth: Are you a parent or educator looking for age-appropriate materials on dyslexia? These articles offer the basics of dyslexia, tailored for the reading and developmental level of kids and teens.

Eye to Eye: Eye to Eye is a “mentoring movement for different thinkers,” providing mentoring programs to students identified with learning disabilities such as dyslexia and AD/HD. Visit their site to learn more about their program and find out how to get involved.

Read the full article here.