a poem about dyxlectia! it made me smile

[lucyellensmum]

I love this poem so much, i have felt the frustration of expectations on my little girl already, she is 22 months for heavens sake and already i feel she is having to live up to the milestones.....hey ho. I hope this makes you all smile too


COLOUR OF MY DREAMS

i'm a really rotten reader
the worst in all the class,
the sort of rotten reader
that makes you want to laugh.

I'm last in all the readin' tests,
my score's not on the page
and when i read to teacher
she gets in such a rage.

She says i cannot form my words
she says i can't build up
and that I don't know phonics

• and don't know a c-a-t from a k-u-p.
  
  They say that i'm dyxlectic
  (that's a word they've just found out)
  ...but when i get some plasticine
  I know what that's about.
  
  I make these scary monsters
  I draw these secret lands
  and get my hair all sticky
  and paint on all me hands.
  
  I make these super models,
  I build these smashing towers
  that reach up to the ceiling
  -and take me hours and hours.
  
  I paint these lovely pictures
  in thick green drippy paint
  that gets all on the carpet -
  and makes the cleaners faint.
  
  I build great magic forests
  weave bushes out of string
  and paint pink panderellos
  and birds that really sing.
  
  I play in my world of real believe
  I play it every day
  and teachers stand and watch me
  but don't know what to say
  
  They give me diagnostic tests,
  then try out reading schemes,
  but none of them will ever know
  the colour of my dreams.
  
  PETER DIXON

[NerdMagnet]

[lucyellensmum]

why the sad face nerd? i think this poem is expressive of how, while we think our children cannot possibly be happy unless they are high achievers, actually, they are happy being children. I know this poem is specifically about dyslexia but i do think it illustrates the point really well and is a really positive poem.

[cornsilk]

That's a fantastic poem LEM!

[NerdMagnet]

As a mother who now home educates her two children because they are dyslexic, I think the theme of the poem illustrates how the school system fails dyslexic children.
How it doesn't try to understand them, or encourage their talents.
How they often end up feeling like failures because the simple basics of literacy are not taught in a way that they can understand.
I don't think it is a particularly positive poem.
I think it is a bit trite, to be honest.
But each to their own.

And being dyslexic doesn't mean you can't be a high achiever.

[lucyellensmum]

i definately see your point re the poem being a comment on the failings of the school system. I should note actually that i think its a fairly old poem that i stumbled upon in a book of childrens poem.

I did say that whilst the poem was about dyslexia in particular i just wanted to make the point of how we expect too much of our children, and yes i think you are definately correct that children with learning difficulties are let down somewhat. (it has been suggested to me that my DD is likely to be dyslexic by my HV - how they know that at 18 months i'll never know!).

Oh and yes i know, you certainly can be a high acheiver as a dyslexic (i know several dyslexic scientists - do dyslexics have a bent for science i wonder?), but you have raised another salient point here - without the proper support then that may not be possible.

I'm sorry if i have posted out of turn, just trying to be positive and in no way trite or patronising.

[NerdMagnet]

I know!
The subject matter is just very close to my heart, understandably.
And my posts were a bit grumpy, I suppose.

[NerdMagnet]

Your HV told you that your 18 month old daughter is likely to be dyslexic?
HVs are not qualified to diagnose dyslexia, and it certainly isn't diagnosable at such an early age.
That sounds like some dangerously silly advice, and it is scary that this person is going around worrying parents with this sort of ill-advised information.
I think I would be tempted to write a letter asking him/her to clarify exactly what they said.

[NoodleStroodle]

Any Ed Psych wont sreen for dyslexia until about 7 years old - a little earlier in extnuating circumstances so how an 18 month old can be diagnosed is madness. Oh yeah, and by a HV...

Forget what she said and move on with life!

[lucyellensmum]

well it is early in the morning so grumpiness is to be expected. I am sorry if i have upset you though - not my intention.

I really dont want this thread to turn into a debate, i just wanted people to see the poem, i was feeling really down yesterday and it cheered me up, is all

I can see that some people may interpret it differently to me, and i did consider that before i posted it in the first place but i felt that it was more positive (with some concience prodding at the education system) than anything else.

[NoodleStroodle]

I did like the poem and will print off for DD & DS - will cheer up DD as this sums up her life pretty well at the moment

[lucyellensmum]

i agree with you both, my DD does have language delay and he HV meant well i guess as i was stressing over autism as DD seemed to lose speech around the time of her MMR. So i think she was trying to make me feel better, if you see what i mean, DD is having speech therapy which is helping actually, more about teaching me how to talk to her to bring her speech on, but sometimes i do wonder if i should take the she will talk when she is bloody well ready to talk approach that my DP has taken.

[lijaco15]

Dyslexia is a gift and dyslexic's are very intelligent. School fails them as they learn in a completely different way than school's teach. They are visual thinkers. They cannot achieve on paper but are usually far more intelligent than children that do achieve. It is an invisible disability.

[Aefondkiss]

I liked it, I think it says a lot about the pressure to perform/conform... which is sad, it makes me feel better too, just to read something like that (my ds is 3 and has "speech delay" and is seeing a paed soon because the health proffesionals have concerns about him...)

it is a lovely poem

[lucyellensmum]

aefondkiss, i totally understand where you are coming from. Our DD has seen a pead at 18 m and she said all was well, wait til she is two - well she is two next month and whilst there is some improvement there is still some delay, well considerable delay actually, but i only notice when i compare with other children, so i have stopped doing it and im going to take things at they come. Hope all goes well for you.

[Aefondkiss]

thank you lucyellensmum, tis hard isn't it? I think I have spent so much of my lovely son's life just coming to terms with someone telling me there is something wrong with him...

[lucyellensmum]

something wrong with him because he has speech delay? by who's standard? my little girl cant speak, she is nearly two and i used to feel there was something wrong with her, there is nothing wrong with her, she is my perfect little girl and no statistic is ever going to take that away from me. Just enjoy your wee man for the person he is, do what you can to help him along in life, just like any parent would do - and be proud of him im sad that you have been made to feel this way.