Education reform

Reading time 13 minutes

#21stCenturyDyslexia Dyslexia Awareness Week 1 – 7 October 2018

Overarching Focus: Enabling Technologies (Assistive Technology)

Key Words/ Phrases: Enabling independence; empowering; raising self-esteem; boosting self-confidence; fulfilling potential; technology for learning; reasonable adjustments

Overcoming Barriers: Throughout the week we will include myth busters; address key barriers that prevent people from using technology, but shouldn’t; how to guides; redress psychological barriers; tech champions – peer support

The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission noted recently that education is the primary way of ending the cycle of poverty in some families.

Post pandemic as we look to solve the problems we face in society together, and support young people through our unprecedented troubled times.

50 years ago the Worlds first purpose built centre dedicated to multi-disciplinary Child Psychology and Psychiatry at Guy’s Hospital in London with expert teaching staff Opened its doors,

focused on supporting families from deprived backgrounds its Alumni include prominent Londoners including Teachers, Engineers, Barristers and Writers.

I was Identified as Dyslexic at primary school and Received learnings support from the Bloomfield clinic an hour a week.

At primary school filmed by LWT London WeekEnd Television drawing geometry on first Computer in school and its possibilities

Education reform

As I struggled to read at primary school I was put in a room on my own for hours on end, one day allowed pencil and paper to drew the new computer, it shocked the teachers and hung in head masters office then was allowed to use the computer and started drawing geometrical patterns.

credit to The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)  publicly funded British service broadcaster.

Look and Read Television programming developed to assist teaching and Played during the schools day and shown to children in classes on the school television. including Dark Towers series produced and aired by the BBC in 1981 without commercial interruptions. 

Education reform

described once as the person who discovered what to do with a computer.

Interviewed at Victory primary school with Lisa Schofield by LWT London Weekend Television in 1983, drawing geometrical patterns at primary School on the first computers in schools on London's largest housing estate Aylesbury Estate in Southwark London.

Image credit the Guardian article Lnk
A BBC Micro Model B  1983: the BFI British Film Institute tell me the recordings of LWT are held in the National Archives.

Guys hospital next to  Bloomfield centre Worlds first purpose built centre for children with learning disabilities.and Next Cancer and to early AIDS/HIV centre

Traveling during the heights of IRA campaigns in London, situated across the road from early HIV AIDS centre considered the gay plague at the time, on the original site now stands one of the leading Cancer Research centre's

The sort of comments I have received Jokes: Dr letter results Impotence so proud To be important. if I should have children it was an accident in the womb and born in a car crash as if damaged goods. The bible will cure you, When I show them humanity.

“I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops” Stephen Jay Gould,

Time line

1887

2009 Holstee Manifesto Life poster (do something we are passionate about!)

German physician Rudolf Berlin first used the term "dyslexia" to encompass reading challenges as a result of a disability.

1968

Colour blindness test

In the US it was at Scottish Rite Hospital for Children that the first consensus definition of dyslexia occurred.

1973

The Bloomfield centre the Worlds first purpose built centre for children with learning disables opened its doors at Guys Hospital London.

1975

In the US the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (PL 94-142). This public law defined learning disability.

1989

Education reform, Evidence based demonstrable Continues assessment was introduced, the following year with the learning support Bloomsfields clinic had provided  I was the only student to pass all of my subjects with no mention of Dyslexia in the newspapers

1990

The development of neuroimaging technologies during the 1980’s and 1990’s enabled dyslexia research to make significant advances.

1995

inexpensive light grey transparent colour film can help those with light sensitivity by toning down the white page. And helps many read.

UK Disability Discrimination Act 1995 making it unlawful to discriminate against disabled persons in connection with employment, the provision of goods, facilities and services or the disposal or management of premises; to make provision about the employment of disabled persons; and to establish a National Disability Council.

2017

US Social Security added learning disabilities to the Blue Book of impairments that qualify for disability benefits when they are severe.

Neuro Diversity and Neuro Difference become commonly used term.

important figure in the abolitionist movement in America.

Before children where failed by the education system for decades their whole future decided on a single day final exam i.e. nerves, bereavement, hunger, pain, family or social issues, and surrounding distractions and loss concentration Etc. Universities are so aware of people wanting to maliciously affect exams they place the fire alarms on silent mode.

Today the learning center continues to provide children and young adults with specialist assessment and literacy teaching for dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties,  supporting Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and work primarily with families from poor socio-economic backgrounds who are unable to afford for specialist assessment and literacy teaching. Registered Charity number No. 1016894

Had hearing tests in the early understanding of Dyslexia that phonic’s utilise, break down the words into there sounds, recently met the Head who apologised as they didn’t have the training tools that they have today.

I certainly don’t judge others on their grasp of the English language as understanding a second language is a struggle.

At university my IQ test for dyslexia assessment was stopped when it reached the score of genius, so I don’t know the true score.

When the calculator became affordable for schools and Universities, digital image recognition reading and writing tools developed, as a calculator excepted today.

Creative mind of artists and musicians, traditionally exploited by businesses , While the most popular degree is Law 90%+ work for criminals interests or business focused on commercial capitalism from the creative talent of just a few. The creative industries out perform other industries by almost double. See music

10-15% of the population is dyslexic and
50% of the staff at NASA and 36% of the students studying at the RCA Royal College of Art the top post grade university in the world for improving society Are Dyslexic. Creativity and innovation, the natural gift that’s not possible to explain in an essay’s for others to copy.

Can you imagine 10-15% of the population are dyslexic in that they make up 50% of NASA 36% of the top post graduate university in the world, improving society and in some cultures they are locked out from education.

Preferring to see those they see as illiterate  take their clothes off or Ring the boxing bell rather than the cancer all clear. See online safety and MedicalTech 3D printing

I attended the Worlds first dedicated special Ed. with expert teaching staff while attended schools in the most deprived area of Europe. and you probably been judging me on my writing.

Met the current staff at Bloomfield's in 2019 who are passionate about teaching all children to read, and have produced decoding English books tools for teachers, support staff and parents, for primary and secondary school age in line with the UK Department of Education's new systematic synthetic phonics SSP teaching programs link.

Bloomfield Centre Alumni include many successful Londoners amongst them, teachers, journalists, computer scientists and engineers. Famous dyslexic people in history include Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Steven Spielberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Branson and more..

Adult reading, it’s reported that There are 2.4 million adults in England, who cannot read, or struggle to read, and they are five times more likely to be unemployed.

The cost to society is far greater if their is a lack of investment in early professional assessment and learning support for Children, who can easily become frustrated and disillusioned with education and fall through the net, be exploited by others i.e. gangs, drugs and grooming, limiting their future educational outcomes / earning potential, and turning to crime to meet their future financial needs. - over half of adult prisoners have a reading age lower than 11. figures show only 5.1% of people with additional needs are in paid employment, employers may be missing out on a rich and untapped pool of talent.

Bloomfield centre the Worlds first purpose built centre for children with learning disabilities, GUYS Hospital London.

Because of lack of focus by Consecutive governments, disadvantaged families find it difficult to gain access to professional assessment and learning support for there children and funding which they often have to meet the cost themselves, once the assessment has taken place delays in funding and access to professional learning support, mean children can wait long into their education. see MedicalTech

All Care and Health workers in England, connected with the CQC The Care Quality Commission are now Legally required to receive training in Learning disabilities and Autism, highlighting the need for professional understanding in care.

Jan 2013 there were 1.6 million school pupils with identified SEN Special Education Needs in England. The latest figures from the Department for Education show 517,000 children and young people had an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in 2023 – the highest on record.

10-15% of the general population is dyslexic, the Worlds top post graduate university the RCA improving design and humanity subjects is approx 29% are dyslexic, and last I looked at NASA over 50% of its staff identify as Dyslexic,

The Royal College of Art “Because dyslexia is associated with heightened visual and spatial awareness, problem-solving skills and lateral-thinking abilities,”

A long running educational debate that Consecutive governments missed a trick to improve society in continuous assessment and learning support and it only got worse. Don’t do well in your exams then struggle to financially provide for their family and have to turn to crime to survive, while children are exposed to drugs at an early age.

Disability support.

The only access to book and reading material was Kingswood Library or Bovril Castle, London. At the back The small  Children’s Libary In the middle of the large Kingswood Estate owned by Southwark Council, this building houses a library and community centre.
A Southwark Council blue plaque explains that it was the former home of John Lawson Johnston (1839-1900), inventor of Bovril, and that it was known popularly as "Bovril Castle".

Kingswood Library or Bovril Castle

Image CC Copyright Christopher Hilton

Bovril is a thick and salty meat extract paste, similar to a yeast extract, Marmite it was developed in the 1870s by John Lawson Johnston. 

Words on advertising campaign for Bovril

The advertising agency S. H. Benson Ltd (1893-1971) introduced a new concept of total campaign management. Bovril Ltd was their founding account, and the early Bovril campaigns were outstandingly ambitious and successful. V&A museum

literarily talked out load what i’m writing since I was ten to form sentence structure grammar and punctuation, partially sighted know what is going on and children grow there vocabulary instead of just being sat in front of cartoons.

Disability support.

Example of text to speech software used to scan books and image recognition Read and Write Gold and Dragon naturally speaking. Voice recognition.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) Read&Write meets the JCQ Guidelines as a computer reader and as a replacement for a scribe in GCSE and A-Level exams.

Disability support.

What does JCQ say? 

“A computer reader is an acceptable arrangement since it allows the candidate to independently meet the requirements of the reading standards.”.

Disability support.

I was technical assistant to a Blind Caribbean Poet (Trinidadian), speech to text, voice and text recognition technology have long been available to support people who are either visually impaired, learning disabilities, or amputees.

Disability support.

The Disability Discrimination Act was introduced in 1995

Disability support started in university over 30 years ago funded a computer to assist with essay writing, I stood with others with disability who faced elitism and attempted to force to leave a friend had  best comeback with undoubtedly the best work in the final show at Central St Martins, and years later out of the blue invited me to his wedding.

Disability support.

Mother of the most senior police officer in the Metropolitan police from the Caribbean, first black officer in the MET was in 1968 and it’s especially challenging, she used a computer for all of her personal and business correspondence escorted her to screening of short film with her poetry at the NFT national film theater, it was made clear there was those from many quarters wanting to discredit him.

Scottish missionary workers educated the illiterate Trinidadian Indians migrants and established the top schools seen today as the educated elite.

Disability support.

Plain English Campaign to clearly communicate safety information on Building sites and elsewhere without legal jargon, officially began in 1979, to campaign against gobbledygook, jargon and misleading public information. Plain English Guild to terms Link

I’m dyslexic and could see the glaring mistakes put into the top legal office documents in Trinidad. How would the average person have a chance.

Continuous assessment has been a long standing debate according to those involved in education, To lift to glass ceiling and improve educational outcomes for those that don’t do as well in exam conditions.

The most common degrading insult is “your an illiterate farmer”

library

Trinidad only introduced a disability discrimination act in the last couple of years and has a low rate of literacy Libraries represent almost 2 per 100,000 of the population. This is lower than the averages for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) (3.4 per 100,000) and the world (6.8 per 100,000), learning with mobile devices discussed with leading academics there real concern of shorter attention spans and the end of internet neutrality delivering paid content faster which easily diverts attention from studying and education. free Award winning library Libby App link simply sign in with your library card, which can be obtained online.

Life long learner

For some people they make mistakes when they where young, and education is not for everyone at that stage of life some are Late learners, adult education allows them to learn new subjects and  technologies they are interested in you are no less at 60 years old learning new subjects. More people are gaining there degrees later in life because they are ready and interested in subjects when they where younger they where not as interested in education.

Community

My mother raised me as a lone parent without family or community around and later in life gained a teaching degree, specialising in adult literacy, training dyslexic adults in evening classes, today helping young children learn to read.

Nigerian university students would say she reminded them of Mary Slessor. The Scottish Presbyterian missionary to Nigeria.

initiative for refugee communities

Late starters, Adult literacy for people with English as a second language, Current initiative for refugee communities from Syria and the Ukraine to tackle social exclusion, libraries of sanctuary link

Bloomfield Learning centre Registered Charity number No. 1016894 (supporting Children with Dyslexia and other Learning Disabilities)

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