4D is for Dyslexia: A Guide for New Zealand Schools

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Feedback

4D not just for schools?
Thanks for the latest very informative information. Your new website is excellent – user friendly – but why only allow access to 4D to people working in schools? There are many people who take an active part by supporting/teaching dyslexics who are not employed by schools. Please could you make the 4D for dyslexia more widely available? Karen

Thanks Karen. We are currently happy to provide our guide to anyone who asks for it, and welcome inquiries from outside of schools. In respect of formally introducing 4D to other areas of society, such as family and the workplace, this is something that is very much on our radar for the longer term.

Dyslexia and maths skills
Hi Team. It's nice to hear from you again. After a quick look through the 4D site I think it looks really good, so congratulations! I was curious why you don't include difficulty with maths among the identifiable traits of a person who is dyslexic? Steve

Hi Steve, thanks for the feedback. You’re right that maths and numeracy skills are often a key challenge for dyslexic children. While these are not mentioned specifically on this site, you can rest assured they’re identified as part of our chart of potential dyslexic signs on page 14 of the Guide for Schools. This is available to all interested parties, not just schools, and you can request a copy on the ‘Send me the free 4D Guide page’.

A guide for parents?
Great work again - thank you so much for this. Just a thought: I have now spent a year working with a number of students in state and private schools. The level of understanding of this issue and the support each student gets differs widely from school to school, and within the school it often varies from teacher to teacher.

As you can imagine, parents are confused as to what they can expect, what questions to ask and what to do. For parents that are not dyslexic themselves, it can be a confusing time - read this, go to this website etc. For parents who do have difficulties themselves, it can be overwhelming.

A simple handout giving a brief outline of what to expect from the school, what questions to ask, and how they can work with the school to achieve success would be great. If it was directly from DFNZ, it would be ideal. Ann Cook, www.dyslexiaworkshop.co.nz

Great idea Ann. We’re currently working on our plans for 2009 and the handout you suggest may well be something that we can consider for the future.

Positive feedback for 4D
I have just accessed the 4D For Dyslexia site as detailed in your letter today. What a fantastic resource!! And a fantastic, easy to navigate site! My now 16 year old son was diagnosed last year in Year 10 with dyslexia. He had thought himself dumb. With a reader/writer last year he passed English for the first time ever, gaining 63%. He is a very visual /aural boy who has always asked questions, and still is. Thank you so much for this resource and I hope that the Ministry of Education will take it on board because, as you say, this programme will help and assist with all learners. I don’t know if my son’s school has accessed this programme but I am on my way to show it to the Learning Support teacher. Catherine

Thanks Catherine. Your son’s experience mirrors that of many dyslexic children in New Zealand. We appreciate you sharing our programme with your teacher and will look forward to them signing the school up for 4D!

The Australian experience
I am a literacy and Special Learning Needs specialist, consultant and tutor in Western Australia. I am passionate about having dyslexia and learning needs recognised by our education system in Australia. I am excited by the moves in NZ concerning the recognition of dyslexia, and I continue my struggles here in West Australia to have dyslexia recognised and accommodated. I would appreciate any access I could have to forums and blogs etc and information which could help us here. Linda Brotherton

Great to hear from you Linda. We welcome making use of our 4D site and hope that we can share with and learn from each other in years to come

Understanding dyslexia
Having struggled to make sense all my life with one many differences, and gives me much hope for the next generation of children with such information and site like this. Dyslexia is just one of my many neurological differences; others include Dyspraxia, Aspergers ... I am a combination really - as Donna Williams would say, "a fruit salad mix!”. School to me was a total waste of time - a nightmare - and I hate to think of any child suffering as I had to at school and growing up feeling alone, alienated and having no choice but often retreating from the world.

One thing I have learned on my whole journey: I perceive, feel, sense the world differently from others. An understanding and acceptance of that has totally changed my life around and given me the confidence to believe in myself. I have spent half of my life loose in a complex network of at times jumbled chaos. Being intelligent and not being able to be taught to process those thoughts can be devastating, leaving children often frustrated, angry. When, in a desperate cry for help, they hit out, they get crushed even more. I truly hope that seeing as dyslexia has been recognised and come such a long way in raising recognition and awareness, it will be the same for all neurological differences, which to me all should be under the same umbrella! Alyson Bradley, www.asplanet.info

Thanks for your comments Alyson. Dealing with difference can be a difficult journey, and it is encouraging to hear from people like yourself who have made such significant progress. The 4D programme is initially focused on dyslexia but we envisage that, over time, it can embrace other learning differences and diversity, such as Aspergers, Attention Deficit Disorder and Dyspraxia. The mindset of 4D and the majority of its strategies and interventions offer transferable benefits, both direct and indirect.

Challenges for rural families
I just want to say - keep up the good work DFNZ. I really appreciate the work you are doing to get dyslexia recognised by schools, the government and political parties. I shall give this website to our school principal but won't be holding my breath on any participation. Can only but try though. If I had the choice I would certainly choose a school which had signed up for it but as we live rurally there is no choice. Helen

Thanks Helen. The more people who push for change, the more likely it is that we can make a difference for our children – so keep up the good work too!

Official Assessment update
Thank you for the copy of 4D is For Dyslexia. I found it very informative. One little inaccuracy, however, in the section 'Official Assessment', registered psychologists are not the only people who can provide the official assessment. It has been sanctioned by NZCEA that assessments provided by NZCER Registered C-grade (or higher) Testers are also acceptable. Helene

Helene, thank you for this important point – it illustrates the value of the collaborative process and having a Guide in a format which can be easily updated. We will review accordingly.

The gifts of dyslexia
You may be interested in the work of Linda Silverman of the Gifted Development Centre on Visual-Spatial learners:
”Visual-spatial learners are individuals who think in pictures rather than in words. They have a different brain organization than auditory-sequential learners. They learn better visually than auditorally. They learn all-at-once, and when the light bulb goes on, the learning is permanent. They do not learn from repetition and drill. They are whole-part learners who need to see the big picture first before they learn the details. They are non-sequential, which means that they do not learn in the step-by-step manner in which most teachers teach. They arrive at correct solutions without taking steps, so “show your work” may be impossible for them. They may have difficulty with easy tasks, but show amazing ability with difficult, complex tasks. They are systems thinkers who can orchestrate large amounts of information from different domains, but they often miss the details. They tend to be organizationally impaired and unconscious about time. They are often gifted creatively, technologically, mathematically or emotionally. You can tell you have one of these children by the endless amount of time they spend doing advanced puzzles, constructing with Legos, etc., completing mazes, counting everything, playing Tetris on the computer, playing chess, building with any materials at hand, designing scientific experiments, programming your computer, or taking everything in the house apart to see how it operates. They also are very creative, dramatic, artistic and musical.
http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/Visual_Spatial_Learner/vsl.htm
Mary Hall, New Zealand School Trustees Association

Thanks Mary – this is a great summary and very much ties in with the messages of 4D. Dyslexia is an alternate way of thinking and if properly addressed, can offer significant creative gifts – the blessing in disguise, as we call it.

Understanding the dyslexic mind
Hi Folks
I am mentoring a young lad suffering notably from dyslexia and would like to receive this hand book that may assist in my working with him: “4D is for Dyslexia: A Guide for New Zealand Schools”.

You may be interested to know that in my professional capacity as an Intimate Interviewer I am developing a series of indepth insightful interviews with both high profile local personalities and internationally famous personalities suffering from dyslexia and their intimate story. The insight and resulting interviews may be of interest for the Foundation. Kevin

Good to hear from you Kevin – your work sounds very exciting; please do keep us up to date. We’ve sent you a Guide as requested and look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Frustration with the Government
The Guide is printing off now – at a quick glance I am reassured to know that we are already doing most of what is recommended but the Guide will be so useful for new or beginning staff. It is sad that the Dyslexia Foundation has had to do all this. When MP MaryAnn Street visited our staffroom recently I got stuck into her about dyslexia – the acknowledgement by the Government, but its lack of resources for teachers, funding and professional development. You would think that, if they checked with NZQA, they would get an idea of how many students we help by way of reader-writer assistance, often after parents have paid for an educational psychologists’ report. The data is out there – they’re just not looking at and considering the implications for us teachers.

Good luck with your initiative. I will request time with my principal in the hope that our school will agree to take on the 3-Step 4D programme. Jeanette, HOD Reading/Learner Support

Thank you for your feedback Jeanette. We share your frustrations with the lack of resources available, but it’s great to have ambassadors like you out there in schools. It sounds like you already have some good systems in place for dyslexic students – hopefully the Guide will help you to fine tune these, and that you’ll be able to share your experience with schools that are not so far along the dyslexia journey.

Positive feedback from the front line
Thanks for the holding statement and logo. I have been impressed at the speed at which you respond to my inquiries by the way – very helpful when schools are so busy these days. Keep up the great work. Keryn, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator

Our pleasure Keryn. The holding statement and logo are provided to schools who are ready to sign up for 4D, and will be working to implement the three-step programme.. It’s a way of saying “We’re committed to dealing with dyslexia. Watch this space for how we’re going to do it!”

Bringing correspondence schools on board
Thank you so much for sending the Guide to me. Being so remote we are struggling greatly with our son and this is going to help immensely. I have forwarded your information on to our NZ correspondence school teacher as well, trying to encourage them to join up as I imagine dyslexia is a big reason why a lot of NZ children are now using the correspondence system. Once again, many thanks. Di

Hi Di, thanks for your email – you make a very good point. You’ll be pleased to know that we have been contacted by some teachers at the Correspondence School and we will maintain and develop this contact. They are a very important part of our educational landscape.

“Just what we’ve been looking for”
Thank you so much for this Guide. A very quick look shows me that it’s just what we’ve been looking for. Many of us know some of what is outlined in the Guide but I haven’t been able to access something that is really specific to teachers in New Zealand classrooms. I’m looking forward to reading this in depth. Many thanks. Lesley, Deputy Principal

Thank you Lesley. We’ve had plenty of great feedback about the Guide, and we think that much of its appeal is that it has been written by experienced educators who know the day-to-day issues of working in a classroom. We’ll look forward to your school sharing its experiences with dyslexia as we work towards our next version of the Guide in 2009.

Explicit teaching followed by generalised opportunities
The teaching process needs to be more specific for the child who does not make learning connections automatically or for those who may have difficulty with some areas of processing.

New learning needs to be taught explicitly, which means precise instruction and very clear specific learning intentions identified so the learner is making the necessary learning connections. Once their is a level of understanding of the new learning then there needs to be opportunities for generalising that learning so that the student develops growing levels of independence and can apply and adapt the learning to other settings and situations. It allows the learner the time to gain some mastery and for strong connections to be made with working memory and long term memory. Following the cycle of explicit teaching and then opportunities to practice, generalise and expand that learning ensures greater success with recall, retention and application and therefore rewards for the learner. When the student does not feel like they are making these links then the recall is threatened and the confidence to apply the learning is challenged.
Raewyn.

Great insights here Raewyn - thanks

Frustration over funding
I am an overseas trained teacher, with a qualification to teach children with dyslexia. I have worked in New Zealand school for the last five years. The last two have been on a part time basis to enable me to work with children with special needs or dyslexia. I am passionate about teaching dyslexics, especially as I have many success stories of children I have taught in class or tutored. My frustration is that although I have these skills the schools do not have the funding to employ me, on a full time basis, in my field of expertise I see children struggling on a daily basis, yet, I cannot help them. I’m always looking for an opportunity to work with dyslexic children.
Jo.