Dyslexic Friendly book

Many of you have been following my stories about Lochie.  I've also had many messages and emails asking when my book will be ready for release.  Spider and Bat IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRESALE!!

Spider and Bat is printed in Open Dyslexic font and is interesting enough to engage the intelligent dyslexic mind.  All Spider and Bat advententures have a personal development element.  As a qualified Youth Worker, I believe that all stories should encourge learning and discussion.

Lochie developed a strong fear, even hate of books when he was about 8.  To him, they were something all his friends could master, but he could not.   There are a few publishers now releasing novels in Open Dyslexic font which is fantastic, but I believe that a childrens book series can assist a dyslexic child before they become reluctant to read.

Spider and Bat is a flip book, meaning that reading from front to back it is in Open Dyslexic font.  Turn it to the back and read in normal text.  This means, if you have a dyslexic child, they can learn to read the Open Dyslexic font and you can read them the story in normal text.  Or, if you are a dyslexic parent, you can read to your child!

When Lochie read Spider and Bat for the first time, he looked up and said "This is amazing, the words dont move".  I just wish someone had developed something like this much earlier.

This book is the start of a series.  Available now for presale on http://www.p101.com.au/dyslexiaenhanced.htm.  In order for me to get these books printed and sent, I need to presell.

All of you that have encouraged me alog the way, this is now the time to support.  Please go check out the link.

Dyslexic Friendly Workplace

I run a call centre (along with lots of other things).
I had a lovely new girl start on Monday.  She had great phone manner, really polite and a fantastic voice.
One of my experienced staff came to see me about half an hour into her training and told me the  new girl was in tears in the bathroom.

 I asked what had happened and she told me that she wanted the script to be on the screen not on paper.  The experienced staff member told her that she had to have a paper script.  Thats when she started crying.

I called the new girl into  my office.  Got her some water and tissues.  She was sobbing.

"Tell me, what is it that is making you so upset?  I'm sure we can sort out whatever it is", I said.

"No, you cant", she said.  "I've worked in lots of call centres but I get fired from the ones that use paper scripts because I cant read off paper.  I can read ok on the screen but not off paper."

She then went on to describe how the words run together and move.
I said "Please stop worrying.  You could not have landed in a better workplace.  Are you dyslexic?"

Her head went down.  She nodded.

"I'm sure I can help."

I retyped her script in Open Dyslexic font and printed it on blue paper. As soon as she saw the new script, she said it was so much easier.   I bought a stand to angle the script at the right height and made sure there was no glare on the page.

AFter just a few days, she is now working without a script and speaking with such fantastic confidence that she is selling at a great rate.

I get sad when I think about all the places she has worked that could have easily helped with her dyslexia instead of just firing her.  It's not that hard.

OpenDyslexic font is available free of charge thank you so much to the amazing creater Abelardo Gonzalez.

http://opendyslexic.org/

Why dont you try it in your workplace on posters, induction forms etc and see if you find people might feel more comfortable.  You never know who may be dyslexic and struggling because they are often extremely good at hiding their problem with reading.

If you can't see it, it doesn't exist

Writing that last post, I was reminded of another interesting Parent Teacher interview I had the displeasure of attending.
Lochie had been having trouble in English (as usual) and I wasn't expecting an uplifting interview.  I was further convinced it wasn't going to be positive when the teacher glared at Lochie before we even got to sit down.
"Well Lochie, I guess you can start explaining to your mother why you don't even try in Engligh", she leaned over the desk, still glaring.
Lochie looked at me and shrugged.
I looked back at the teacher who had shifted her glare to me.
"What is it exactly that Lochie doesn't try", I asked her.
"He REFUSES to read out aloud."   She sat back in her chair and folded her arms and glared even harder at Lochie.
I looked at Lochie, who looked at me and shrugged again.
"Are you aware that Lochie is dyslexic so reading is a problem for him?" I asked.
"Being obedient is a problem for him and yes I know about his apparent dyslexia" she snorted rolling her eyes. "Last week I asked him to stand up and read out aloud and he just said no.  When I told him he had to he just walked out of the class".
Loc had his head down.  I asked him to wait in line for the next teacher while I finish this one up.  I didnt want this woman to further embarress him.
I turned to her.  I believe my glare was ten times more intense than hers.
"Do you understand that Dyslexia is a disability and asking a dyslexic child to read out aloud is the equivalent of asking a person in a wheelchair to walk?  Lochie struggles to read and he does try and suffers a great deal of anxiety and depression over his problem."
 "All I know is that when Lochie has to read he comes up with all kinds of excuses.  I know about dyslexia but it seems that every kid who wants to get out of work is suddenly dyslexic", she shook her head.
"Lochie has been having tests since he was in grade one.  His file is thick and he has spent a lot of time with the welfare team talking about strategies to deal with his dyslexia.  There as a teaching plan in place.  He should never have been asked to read out aloud."  It was no use, she wouldn't listen. 

To many people, dyslexia is made up, or just an excuse.  To  a dyslexic person, it is an incredible frustration to have a high intelligence and low ability to read  at the level of other people.  Lochie is highly social and very popular.  Getting made to stand in front of a class and be made to look a fool because he couldn't read was more than he could bare so he walked out.

I sincerely wish the people would understand and learn more about this issue.  Teachers especially need to be more supportive and understanding.  I do know that it would be very difficult to have a dyslexia child in the class, that would need extra attention, different work, different methods of assessment.  But, if you think about the impact that having your self esteem totally shattered and how long that takes to rebuild; the impact that being understood can have on a persons sense of value; wouldn't it be worth it?

 

What will I be when I grow up

Trent, Lochie and Haydn were discussing careers. Trent has been many things but is now settled as a Protective Services Officer and really enjoying it.  Haydn, also, has a had a few different careers but has recently applied as a PSO as well.  Lochie, hasn't really changed.  He started his apprenticeship when he was 16 and at 20, is nearly qualified as a cabinet maker.  Not satisfied with that, he is now starting a carpentry apprenticeship. 

Lochie was saying that while he enjoys working with wood, he would really perfer to be an osteopath.  He watches many shows and studies on the internet about the human body, muscles, health etc.  He was asked why he didnt return to study.

"No way," he said, "I'm too stupid". 

Its amazing that the most intelligent person in the room, is also the person who thinks of himself as stupid. 

He remembers things better than anyone I've ever met.  His ability to find solutions to problems is also outstanding. 

Perhaps if Lochie's school experince had been different.  If teachers had understood his learning problems and given support instead of calling him lazy, he may not see himself as stupid.  He may see the value in his incredible brain and feel that he is gifted rather than disabled. 

Please give dyslexic people a chance.   Don't judge people on reading ability only.  Intelligence is often hidden.

Battle continues

I sent a letter to explain the situation with Lochies condition and why the ticket was not purchased for the train.

My son, Lachlan Montgomery, has been issued the above infringement notice for travelling without a valid ticket. 

Lachlan is dyslexic and does not use public transport.  On the day in question, Lachlan lost his car keys and had to get a train home.  He is unable to read the instructions to purchase the new metcard from the machine.   As a 19 year old with a disability, he felt embarrassed to ask for help to buy a ticket from the ticket machine.  As the station was unmanned, he could not purchase a ticket through the station either. 

Lachlan took the train to Dandenong, got off the train and went to purchase a ticket before he continued he journey home to Beaconsfield.  He was on his way to purchase a ticket when he was questioned by the ticket inspector.  He explained that he cannot read or understand the instructions on the ticket machine and was on his way to the line to purchase a ticket, but the ticket inspector issued him a ticket anyway. 

I understand that Ticket Inspectors hear many stories each day and most are not valid.  Lachlan has an actual disability and until he began working, I was paid a disability carer allowance from Centrelink to assist him with day to day activities.  In general, Lochie functions quite well, but, in a situation where you need to read, he is unable to cope and this is what has happened in this instance. If you could look at the amount of reading on those new ticket machines and think for one minute how someone would feel if they couldn’t read at all, I’m sure you will comprehend his anxiety in this situation.  If I could have foreseen any circumstance that Lochie would have needed a metcard, I would have bought him one for emergencies, which I have now.

I’m asking for this infringement to be waived due to Lochies disability and the fact that we have now put a strategy in place for any future emergencies. 

If the infringement is not waived, I request having this offence heard and determined in court. 

Regards,

Tracy Montgomery

0425748459

The response I received was a return letter stating that I would need a GP (doctor) to write a letter to show that Lochie was in fact, suffering from Dyslexia.  

Really?  A Doctor can now diagnose dyslexia?  Insanity.  

Of course no doctor could provide that kind of letter.

I responded with another letter stating that dyslexia was not something that a doctor could diagnose.  I requested a court date where I could state my case and Lochie would have a chance to explain his situation to a Judge. 

Next letter, Infringement waived.  

Yay, it's not often I get a win but I did today for Lochie.  

I sincerely wish that government organisations had a bit more understanding of certain disabilies including dyslexia.

Do you have a story of having to prove dyslexia?  Please share in the comments or email me directly at tracy@nutsup.com.au.

As easy as public transport...NOT

Lochie struggles to read at the best of times.  When he is stressed or suffering anxiety, it becomes twice as hard to concentrate at the level he needs to be able to understand the written word.

Melbourne has undergone a change to its ticketing system for its extensive public transport networks. As Lochie has not needed to use public transport since he got his licence two years ago, he paid little attention.

After working onsite all day installing a new reception desk, Lochie returned to the workshop.  Ready to leave at the end of a 14 hour day, he looked for his backpack to get his car keys.  Rolling his eyes at his stupidity, he realise he had left it onsite and it would now be too late to get back to pick it up.  The trains run fairly close to his work so he headed to the station.
When he got to the station, it was very busy.  He looked at the new ticketing machine and gazed up at the lengthy instructions.  He looked down at the words scrolling quickly across the monitor on the ticketing machine.  Busy people were pushing past him, pressing buttons and retreiving their tickets.  It didnt look to hard.  He fronted up to the machine.  Pressed a few buttons that looked like they might be right.  "PLEASE INSERT $70" scrolled across the monitor.

Lochie decided he would run the 1.5 km to the milkbar and purchase a ticket from there instead.
The man at the milkbar shook his head.
"No mate, we can't sell the new tickets", he said.
Damn, thought Loc.  He ran back to the station.  There was no staff at the station so he decided to get on the train and and get off at Dandenong, which he knew was manned and he would be able to get assistance to purchase a ticket.  After he got his ticket, he would get back on another train and continue on home.  What a long day.  He had left home at 5am and it was now 7.30pm.

Lochie got off the train at Dandenong and walked to join the queue to purchase tickets.  The ticket inspector approached him.


"Do you have a valid ticket?" he asked.
"No I don't", answered Lochie.  "Thats why I'm in the line to buy one".
Lochie explained the full story about how he couldn't work out the ticket machine and how he could have simply stayed on the train without a ticket and continued on home but he wanted to do whats right.
"Ok," said the Inspector, "Here's a ticket for you".  He handed Lochie a fine for $295.

Loc got back on the train.  He wasn't angry at the Inspector, he was angry with himself.  Couldnt believe he was too stupid to buy a train ticket.  Something that school kids manage to do every day.

He arrived home at 9pm.  16 hours since he had left home to go to work.  Tired, stressed, upset and exhausted.
I was furious at the lack of understanding from the ticket inspector, but Lochie just kept saying it was his fault for being stupid.

I've contested the ticket.  I will post a copy of the letter I wrote and lets see how I go.

If you have any similar stories about issues dyslexia causes for you please comment and share your story.

Dyslexia in workplace

So much of the world revolves around reading.  People who have no trouble reading, don't even notice it.  A flyer on the wall of the post office, political brochures, newspapers, instructions, menu's...the list is endless. 
One thing I hadn't thought of before was all the paperwork when you start a new job.
As much as starting a job can be daunting for anybody, imagine sitting down to read and sign all the policies, OHS documents and tax forms that come with starting a new position.

For many jobs, dyslexia isn't a problem, in fact, the skills and thought processes of a dyslexic person can be a huge asset for many organisations.  And yet, in the formal induction or training, we still sit people down with paperwork. 

Companies who hire apprentices for trades frustrate me the most.  Many kids excel at trades and working with their hands, but don't do well at school.  Whether they are dyslexic or just have learning difficulties is irrelevant.  Still, those companies simply sit those kids in front of a computer to do an online induction or hand them booklets of policy and OHS documents and tell them to read, complete and sign. 

Imagine for a moment that you are a 16 year old boy, who has always struggled to read.  You are lucky enough to get an apprenticeship and you turn up for you first day, already nervous.  Your boss walks in and hands you a large document, plus a tax form and says "get this read and signed before you can start". 
You look at the document.   It looks very important and formal.  A contract.  The words are long and you can't read them.  The more you look the harder it gets to understand them.  You feel your stomach in knots and your breathing becomes shallow.  Your head starts to pound and you begin to wonder if you are going to be able to do this job at all if you can't even do the first thing they ask of you.  Your mind begins to think of just taking off out the door and never coming back.   Fear is a terrible thing. 
Just then, your boss walks back in.  "Geez, that should have only taken a minute, what they hell have you been doing?".  
You hurridly sign the documents and hand them over.   You look out into the workshop, already feeling that you don't fit here.  Too stupid. 

Organisations need to think about having appropriate induction processes which build confidence, not destroy it.  Motivate and encourage rather than scare.   People who are motivated to do well, achieve more than people who are scared to do poorly. 

Consider learning styles when designing induction programs. Just because someone has a problem with reading, doens't reflect on their intelligence.  Often people with reading difficulties are more resilient, dedicated and motivated than others that everything comes easy to.

Reading

“Lochie, your turn”.

Upon hearing those words, a heavy stone formed in my stomach, weighing me down further as each moment passed.  Everything is going in slow motion.  I imagined the stone becoming so heavy that it would force me down through the floor and into the earth with only my head poking up.   I braced my legs and hoped that it would happen. 

The clock on the wall was shouting down at me, “THREE MINUTES TO GO”, teasing me with each slight movement of the second hand.  I blinked and stared at it.  It seemed to have moved backwards.  How was that possible?  As I watched that hand, it seemed to be that the movements were in tune with the pounding in my head as the blood rushed through my brain, searching for the area which held the knowledge I needed.  Would it find it this time?  It doesn’t usually.  Stupid brain lets me down all the time.

My stomach now had butterflies fluttering around the stone.  I could picture them clearly flying around, pausing to land on the stone.  Surprisingly those little butterflies made the stone even heavier.  Who would have thought that?  They look so light?   I imagined again being swallowed up by the ground below me.  

Original Artwork Opal Vagelatos 2012

“Lochie!”

I glared at the clock are realised that all the imagining in the world wasn’t going to make this go away.  I swallowed hard, wiped my sweaty hands on my pants, scratched my head and looked down at the page. 

It was worse than normal.  All I could see was black lines, moving like waves lapping onto the shore, and the white rivers running through them.  The harder I looked, the more everything moved.  Waves and rivers, moving, getting bigger, smaller, moving moving.  I felt sick. 

“Can I go to the toilet”?  I asked.

“Lochie there are two minutes before the bell.   Just do your reading and then you can go”, replied the teacher getting annoyed.

I look back down at the page.  The black wavy lines were faint and still moving.  I could feel the acid raising in my stomach and sitting in my throat.  Burning.   A very unpleasant sensation.  I wiped my hands on my pants again and picked up the book.  I took a last glance at the ground.  It didn’t look like I was going to be swallowed up in time.  My mind went briefly to thoughts I have had before.  Bad thoughts, about V-line trains and never having to go to school again.

Squinting, I put the book close to my face.  “Sir, I haven’t got my glasses, I can’t see it”.

“Lochie, you don’t wear glasses”, he said exasperated.

“No wonder I can’t see it then!”, I said.  There were a few giggles from my classmates.  I put on my charming smile and looked around the class. The smart girls were rolling their eyes but most of the kids looked amused.

Ding……..ding……..ding…….ding 

Saved by the bell.  I grabbed my bag and ran.  I was out the door before the teacher could say “please stack your chairs”.  I knew he would catch up with me the next day but for now, I was out of there!  I could breathe.  My head no longer pounded.  The stone in my stomach had reduced, but was still there as a reminder that it was only a temporary reprieve and that I will still have to face up to the teacher tomorrow.  Maybe not.  Perhaps I’ll never go back to school again. 

These few paragraphs were put together with my son Lochie who is dyslexic.  It shows the absolute fear and pressure that schools put onto kids with a learning disability.  I certainly hope that teachers read this and get a bit of an insight into what goes on in the head of some of these kids. 

It is also the introduction to a book that Lochie and I are putting together to raise awareness of dyslexia. The book will tell stories of what Lochie, and other kids like him have been through.  Lochie is a survivor.

Fish Can't Climb Trees...

How true is that?  This quote came around on one of those facebook things that people post all the time. I read that and thought OH MY GOODNESS!  That perfectly describes dyslexic people.  Expecially Lochie. 

Dyslexic people can be highly intelligent, incredibly creative, ingenious, popular and very successful.  But, they all must endure years at schools, and sometimes throughout their entire lives, where they are made to feel stupid.

Lochie is very intelligent.  His memory for details, information from documentaries and recall of converstations etc is incredible.  He is an amazing social person with a fantastic personality.  Non of this comes out when he is faced with one of the most scary things on this planet to him.  A sheet of white paper with black writing.  Or as he says, black wavey moving lines with white rivers. 

I can't wait to get my book finished and make more people aware that ability to read is not a sign of how intelligent a person is.

Best Teacher EVER!

Throughout all of Lochies time at school, he had only one very special teacher who put in huge efforts to understand, help and support him.

In Grade 3, Lochie was pretty excited to have a male teacher.  Mr Daniels was a fairly young teacher.  Full of enthusiasm, energy and ready for a full on year.  He arranged meetings with all the parents at the begining of the year to have a little bit of insight into all his students.  The meeting with me was a little longer because he had read Lochies file and knew about his problems.

Mr Daniels spent a lot of time engaging with Lochie and building up his confidence by highlighting things he was good at. If the class was doing sports, he would often use Lochie to demonstrate a skill, or explain a rule.  In the classroom, he would never ask Lochie to read out loud or do the times tables competitions because he knew Lochie just couldn't do it and would feel bad.  Mr Daniels understood that Lochie was always willing to try, but didn't push him if Lochie wasn't comfortable to do so.

It is rare to find a teacher with this much insight into their students.  In my experience anyway.  Mr Daniels encouraged Lochie to try things and would stay back with him after class, to hear him try to read out aloud rather than making him do it in front of his class, only to be laughed at.

One of the main things Lochie says that frustrated him in school was that teachers always said that he wasn't trying.  How frustrating would that be?  Trying so hard that your brain hurts and then getting told that you weren't?  What does that do to a young persons self esteem?

It was grade three when Lochie was going through a lot of testing and he also got the coloured glasses.  Mr Daniels printed all Lochie's worksheets on coloured paper because Lochie often "forgot" to wear the glasses because classmates always asked him why they were blue.

There was little point with Lochie attempting to read off the board and Mr Daniels understood that.  Rather than sitting him in front of the board as a constant reminder of the things he couldn't understand, Lochie sat with his back to the board, facing Mr Daniels.  This helped Mr Daniels keep a close eye on when Lochie was getting frustrated and offer help straight away.

As I just re-read what I have already written, it comes across as if Lochie was a favourite.  I dont believe this was the case.  Every kid in that class blossomed that year and it was due to the efforts of a teacher with energy and a passion to bring out the best of everyone.

I have teachers as friends, and they say, "we have 25 students in class, there is no time to focus on one who is having problems?"
I disagree with that.  If teachers put in effort at the begining of the year to really engage and get to know students, it isn't a huge effort to keep track of each one individually.

Lochie and I would like to find Toby Daniels.  He was teaching at Beaconsfield Primary School but only for a few years.  He then went overseas to China to teach English.
If anyone can track him down please pass this blog on.  I really hope he gets to know how much difference the year with him made to Lochie.

Thank you!!

Fishing for self esteem

As you have read from past posts, Lochie's self esteem suffered badly due to his dyslexia.  One thing that I always tried to focus on was, find something he was good at and encourage that to the fullest.
Something quite often associated with dyslexia is a midline issue.  For example, Lochie is

ambidextrous.  This has made him an outstanding sports person.  Playing footy, he was always one of the higher skilled kids, despite his small stature.  His self motivation and determination is extreme to say the least. 

Another thing that we tried with him was fishing. 

Unusual for little kids, Lochie's favourite shows were never cartoons or Sesame Street.  He loved programs about the outdoors, animals or travel. Especially shows about fishing and camping.  He learned a lot from these shows, and taught us all many things we didn't know.

Years ago, we lived in the same street as a local celebrity, PaulWorsteling, has created a fishing show called IFish   Lochie was pretty inspired by this so we bought him a rod and he watched show after show and of we went.  His ability to learn was demonstrated pretty clearly.  Anyone thinking that dyslexia is an issue of intelligence is seriously mistaken.  

The more we fished, the better he got.  He knew all the tips and tricks.  

Lochie left school when he was 14.  He couldn't handle it any more.  School can be a cruel place when you are dyslexic and faced with many people (mainly teachers)  who lack understanding of the issue.  

He worked from the day he left school and saved up until he could buy a boat.   

Such a sense of achievement.  At 16, he had actually bought a great boat.  Lochie got 100% on his boat licence test.  The only test he had ever got such a high score for.   

Loc says that some of his happiest times are out on the bay in his little boat just pottering around, dropping in a line.   He knows that having the boat and being a good fisherman is something to be proud of.  Far away from the struggles he faces in everyday life. I love this photo.  To me it shows Lochie at his happiest and proudest. 

The aim of my blog and book is to raise awareness about dyslexia.  If you have a kid struggling with a learning problem, find something they are good at.  If they aren't sporty, look at fishing or something like that.  Without fishing and football, Lochie would have even less self esteem than he has now.   

Lochie's next goal is to save up to go on one of those big fishing tours and learn how to catch the BIG ONES!!   Whoo hoo.  I"m sure he will get there.  

,

 

A Mothers Pain

From the time Lochie was born, he and I had a special bond.  Lochie was attached to me for the first 12 months of his life.  He had severe colic and just couldnt be put down.   He used to twirl his hands through my hair....actually, he still does.  He never had a security blanket or dummy.  Just me. 

When I first realised he had a problem with reading, I literally did everything I could to help him.  I went from test to test and really got no help.  I will give you a bigger run down on the tests in a later blog. 

As a parent, I was told that if only I had made him spend time on the floor with mobiles hanging over him, or made him crawl, his nerves in his brain would have developed and he would not have reading problems. 

After being blamed for that, I was told that if I hadn't taken him to babyshows then he would have had less issues with self esteem and would have responded better when offered help. 

I was also told by a psychologist that if I hadn't pushed him into footy (which I didn't, he loved the sport and was/is still brilliant at it) he would have spent more time wanting to read. 

My heart breaks when I see him struggle and it always will.  At night, he used to run into my room several times to get me to remind him about things for the next day.  He used to tell me that he would lay in bed and watch the day replayed in his head feeling every emotion.  Happiness, sadness, anxiety etc.  After the day had played out, he would then think about the next day identifying any problem that may come up.  No wonder the kid never slept.  Again, something I was blamed by the teachers for. 

To every parent going through what I go through having a dyslexic child, I will dedicate my book.  Please pass on your stories to me and I will include them in the book. 

Lets work together to help people understand dyslexia and give support to the people who are sufferers.