We need to talk about .......

....dyslexia.

The website Dyslexia Action suggests that one in ten people have dyslexia. They also make a very succinct point: 

"if you cannot learn to read, you cannot read to learn".

For someone like me who feels 'not quite alive' if I'm not learning something - however informally or casually - such a thing is unthinkable. I gape in horror at the thought that I would lose the freedoms that being able to read brings me. 

These days much of my 'learning' comes via the internet. I think of something, hear something on the radio, someone else mentions something and, like many other people, I Google it. Or I might nhs.uk it. Or direct.gov it. Or .....well, you get the idea. 

And while Google is often good at guessing what you are searching for even if you've misspelt it, not all websites are the same. Even with Google, I imagine it's difficult if you can't read. As dyslexia affects 'the ability to convert letter combinations to sounds and vice versa', how much more difficult it must be if you might not recognise Google's possible correction to your original spelling. Maybe you won't recognise anything at all.

Dyslexia isn't an indication of intellectual ability or IQ, but is apparently a biological condition. I have three dyslexic nephews. Their sister isn't dyslexic. Their mother, already a teacher, trained as a specialist dyslexia teacher. I'm sitting here now, reflecting on what all that means. 

Over the years I have struggled to think of birthday presents and Christmas presents for the boys. Partly because they were boys (& I'm not) and we don't live nearby so I don't know them well and ...well....my default gift option has always been books. 

And books are for sharing. You read something, you like it, you tell someone. You like it, you give it to someone. When my previous doctor retired, aiming to do some travelling, I gave him a copy of my favourite and much re-read non-fiction book, Steinbeck's autobiographical 'Travels with Charley' -in case you're interested). And I haven't felt able to share things I have loved with those boys - now men. 

How can you explain the experiences you get from a book to someone who can't read? I'm not just talking about the dry reading of another person's life. I'm talking about ...two things, I think. Firstly that sense of no longer being aware of where you actually are, because you are so absorbed by the world you have entered. It's almost a 'floaty' sensation. It can make you a little deaf to the real world. Almost trance like. When you come out of it, you can feel a great sense of well-being. 

And secondly there is the sense of being changed through what you read. The taking of what is on the page, measuring it against your own understanding and experience to date, and then sometimes at least building it into how you view the world, how you view yourself and ultimately how you choose to  relate to the world.  

It makes me want to talk to my nephews about how its been for them. It would be patronising of me to suggest that, just because I experience things in a different way to them that 'my way is better'. There are many successful & dynamic dyslexic people out there. If they give me permission I'll link you to some of the work my nephews have produced musically. But now I'm curious to know just what they feel its impact has been on their lives so far.


FRED does not specifically offer help with dyslexia,  but if Dyslexia Action is right about its numbers then it is not surprising that some of our learners are dyslexic. But how many? Strangely, I've never thought to ask.

If you know someone with dyslexia (& you probably do), think of them as you send a cheque made out to Forest Read Easy Deal to:

Frank Rainer, Treasurer, Oaklands, George Road, Yorkley, Lydney, Gloucestershire, GL15 4TL


- and thank you

Catherine