Dyslexia is great -I wouldn't be without it!

Catherine -grainy on my little phone camera, but still captivating

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking to Ausssi author and outspoken TV personality (most recently appearing in the ABCs Get Back to Where You Came From) Catherine Deveny who herself has dyslexia or, as she sees it, a different and dynamic way of thinking. 

Dyslexia (trouble with reading and especially with spelling) didn’t slow Catherine down much.  “I managed not to buy into the “You’re-not-trying” myth,” she said. -Her advice for fellow dyslexics.  -“Authority isn’t truth and remembering things isn’t intelligence.” Did you have any dark moments in school?” someone asked.  “No. I’m a pathological optimist,” Catherine said, waving her iPhone. “I remember a teacher saying to me, “You know Catherine, you won’t be able to carry around some kind of magic dictionary that spells for you and gives you your daily schedule…”  

-Catherine likes the app. Speak It. “It lets me record my thoughts and listen to them over and over while I’m doing other things (I like to walk and listen.  You get a kind of motor learning happening so you soak up the information better).  I also use Audio Note which lets me find my place in a recording and add notes.”

 “Dyslexic thinking isn’t linear,” Catherine told me.  “It’s creative and dynamic.  -If you walked into my kitchen at any given time you’d likely find me simultaneously stirring a pot of pasta sauce, answering two or three phone calls and cleaning the shelves, with every cupboard door swinging wide open.”

I was so glad to have met Catherine Deveny -she's a reminder of how dyslexia is just one facet of a person, and maybe a beneficial one they wouldn't part with.

For more: Dyslexics may take a different route but we get there in the end

STORY Household Chores

Household Chores

A. Reading

Tanya is 15 years old, and she lives with her mother and her

younger sister.  Her mother has two part-time jobs, so Tanya

has to do most of the housework.  Tanya doesn’t think this is

fair.  She thinks her sister should have to help with the

housework.  Her sister is only ten years old, and she likes to

play with her friends after school.  Tanya remembers that she

had to do housework when she was ten, so she doesn’t

understand why her mother doesn’t make her sister help with

the household chores.  Tanya is tired of doing all the

housework.  She wants to hang out with her friends after

school or go to the library and use the computers to do her

homework.  She is going to talk to her mother about this

problem, but she doesn’t know what to say.

B. True or False

1. ________ Tanya and her sister are both ten years old.

2. ________ Tanya’s mother has two pairs of teeth.

3. ________ Tanya would like to go to the library to use their communal showers .

4. ________ Washing the dishes is boring.

5. ________ Tanya is tired of doing all the houseplants.

6. ________ The girl in the picture is shrinking.

7. ________ The sink is a nice place to sleep.

8. ________ Tanya believes it isn’t chair.

9. ________ Tanya believes it isn’t far.

10. ________ Tanya believes it isn’t fair.

C. Write

1. My worst chore is….

2. If I could afford a cook or cleaner or nanny or gardener I would get a …..

3. If I had to work as a cook or cleaner or nanny or gardener I would be a …..

Thou shalt not forget SPACING

Recently I was talking to a workmate who has dyslexia.  Any tips for other people I asked?  “Hmmm,” she said, “I don’t really know. I guess, for me, I won’t read a book unless the writing looks nice.” 

And there it is.  An uber-simple strategy for every document, every note, every message  of  hope or doom, bottled or otherwise.

To make writing accessible, use:

·      A clear font.

·      Lots of spaces.

·      Bullet points.

·      Diagrams.

·      Cheerful cartoons and the like.

Easy! -But well-worth reminded ourselves.

JOKE The Day Off

 The Day Off

1. Read
Two factory workers are talking. The woman says, "I can make the boss give me the day off."
The man replies, "And how would you do that?"
The woman says, "Just wait and see." She then hangs upside-down from the ceiling.
The boss comes in and says, "What are you doing?"
The woman replies, "I'm a light bulb."
The boss then says, "You've been working so much that you've gone crazy. I think you need to take the day off."
The man starts to follow her and the boss says, "Where are you going?"
The man says, "I'm going home, too. I can't work in the dark."

2. True or False?
1.    The place the people worked in was a factory.
2.    The palace the people worked in was a factory.
3.    The policeman who the people worked with was funky.
4.    The woman was an introvert.
5.    The woman was inventive.
6.    The woman was in an adventure movie.
7.    The boss was a trusting person.
8.    The boss was a trumpet player.
9.    The boss was a trucking person.
10. The man started to pull up his sleeve too.
11. The man started to leave too.
12. The man trod in dog poo.

7 Links to Really Useful Places

www.hellofriend.org
Site of the Ennis William Cosby Foundation. Easy to use and nice personal stories.

www.ldonline.com
Site of the Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities (CCLD). Clear text and masses of topics. There's an option of basic or in depth info.

www.ldpride.net
Site of the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD). Looks busy but in fact the text is easy and the info straight-forward. The fast facts are interesting. There's a chat room and bulletin board.

www.schwablearning.org
Site of the Schwab Foundation for Learning. Easy to read and follow. Loads of info.

www.ldanatl.org
Site of the Learning Disabilities Association of America. Loads of useful info.

www.literacytrust.org.uk
A really useful UK site.

www.ldaustralia.org

Site of Learning Difficulties Australia. Has a wonderfully useful tutor referral service.

JOKE The Grasshopper, The Snail, and The Centipede

 
 

JOKE

 

The ______________afternoon
 

One Saturday afternoon the grasshopper, the snail, and the centipede were sitting around the grasshopper's house drinking beer.
They ran out of beer before they had even had one glass each, so they decided one of them should go out for more beer.
The snail said, "I'd go, but I'm kind of slow. Besides, Grasshopper, this is your neighborhood so you know where to go."
The grasshopper said, "I don't mind going, but my hopping will shake up the cans and we'll get sprayed every time we open one."
So they decided to send the centipede; and the grasshopper explained how to get to the nearest liquor store. An hour or so passed and still the centipede hadn't returned, so the snail and the grasshopper decided to go look for him. They got as far as the front door and found the centipede sitting there putting on his shoes.

1. Fill in the missing word in the title.  What kind of afternoon would you say this was?

2. Write the two words in which "c" sounds like "s"?

3. Write 3 words with "ice" in and 3 with "ace" in.

4. Write 5 words with "ai" like in snail.

5. Write  5 words that have 3 syllables in them (you can include words from the title).

STORY Big Breakfast

Story -Big Breakfast

A. Reading

Jack likes eggs and ham. He works in the city. Every morning on his way to work, Jack stops at a café and buys a big breakfast and a cup of coffee.  Sometimes he buys a sandwich and a donut to take away for his lunch.  Jack likes this morning habit because it is quick and easy. He does not have to cook breakfast or make his lunch or wash the dishes. But Jack is getting fat.  The doctor has told him that he has high cholesterol. The doctor told him to stop eating foods that are high in fat.  Jack must not visit the café so often.  He must start packing himself lunch with foods in it like apples and bananas. Donuts? -Maybe once a week.

B. Reading: True or False

1. ______ Jack must stop eating so much fatty food.

2. ______ Jack and his wife are getting a divorce because Jack is fat.

3. ______ The doctor has a big house, two children, and a cat.

4. ______ In the picture, Jack is standing.

5. ______ Jack has high ribs.

6. ______ Donuts are cooked with milk, nuts, leeks and beef.

7. ______ Your doctor will cook for you.

8. ______ Every morning Jack goes to school.

9. ________ Jack has a pet dog.

10________ Cholesterol will make you sleep well at night.

C. Find 

1. 5 words made of 2 syllables

2. 1 word made of 3 syllables

3. 1 word made of 4 syllables

4. 3 words that you see twice (x2)

5. 1 word that starts with qu

D. Note from Tracey

I adapted this from the free stories at El Civics for ESL Students