Join us for a live webchat with Professor Dorothy Bishop, Tuesday 16 December 1-2pm

[KateHMumsnet]

We've had a few requests for a webchat with Professor Dorothy Bishop on academic research into language disorders, dyslexia and literacy issues - so we're delighted to announce that she will be joining us for a webchat on Tuesday 16 December at 1pm.

Dorothy is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Developmental Neuropsychology at the University of Oxford, where she heads a programme of research into children’s communication impairments. She is also a supernumerary fellow of St John’s College Oxford, as well as a Fellow of the British Academy, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society. As well as publishing in conventional academic outlets, she writes a popular blog and tweets as @deevybee.

Please join us in welcoming Professor Bishop on Tuesday 16 December from 1-2pm, or post your questions in advance on this thread.

Mosthighly - you've hit the nail on the head with the problem of using phonics to teach english. Many phonemes (I think that's the right word?)in english have more then one pronunciation.

In flemish, for the vast majority of phonemes, there is only one way of pronouncing them.

The signs we have devised are mainly based on cued articulation - physical actions to encourage the correct pronunciation of the sound. For example, a 'k' in flemish is always a hard sound from the back of the throat and the sign we use for that is miming using a hammer. The sound for 't' is similar but comes from the front of the mouth and is softer so instead of miming a hammer, the sign is tapping with one finger.

The sign for 'l' is pointing to behind the top incisors, to encourage correct tongue placement. For 's', it's miming a snake with your finger. And so on.

The vowel sounds were harder to make signs for. Eg 'u' is making a u-shape with your hand. For 'uu', a sound which doesn't exist in english, the sign is the u-shape moving. The signs are mostly intuitive, to help remember them.

We have been using some of these signs for nearly two years and they have helped ds with pronunciation. We have nearly 40 now that he is learning to read and needs to show he recognises the difference between p and b etc even when he cannot pronounce them.

In Belgium the education system is not very inclusive and the clinic expected us to send ds to a SN school 20 miles away. We refused not just because of the distance but because we believe in inclusion and diversity and want to give ds a chance in mainstream schooling. Fortunately we have good therapists and teachers who are committed to helping ds.

Ndcs website (sorry, links aren't working) has a very good guide for teachers giving phonics lessons to deaf children. Put "phonics" in the search box on their site and you'll find it. It's got quite a lot of detail on teaching phonics where auditory discrimination and memory aren't well developed.

And a section on cued articulation!

You have to become a member to access it- but membership is free, and open to anyone interested.

And so much to Dorothy Bishop for coming on. I missed the live chat but caught up later- lots to think about.

Anyone who twitters, if you follow @deevybee you can then pick up loads of her links to many of the cutting-edge speech therapy/ language/ psychology / neurology / education researchers.

Knowing you're keeping an eye on all the latest research, relevant advances and various Professor-level discussions does wonders for your confidence when getting patronised by LA caring carrots who had two lectures on SEN 15 years ago. (Works for me, anyway)

Thank you for such detailed and thoughtful answers.

totoro - no need at all to be envious of the system here - the professionals we have are brilliant but they are expensive - we are paying thousands over the years for his therapy.

'totoro - no need at all to be envious of the system here - the professionals we have are brilliant but they are expensive - we are paying thousands over the years for his therapy.'

Over here the provision is so diluted and secretive and colliding that by the time you find out that your only solution is to pay thousands, you have lost so much time. Add to that the fact that the pretence and collusion about the diluted provision being adequate prevents state-paid professionals and educators from working with or accepting advice from independent professionals.

In fairness, there is a tiny bit of good provision here- but it's just so random.

We had a brill parenting course (with paid-for babysitting, sessions were for parents of dc with additional needs only- a suitably modified evidence-based programme jointly run by trained professionals and expert parents)

School pretty dire. Local authority worse. No SLT, no OT (apparently dc doesn't need it- despite very clear evidence). Turned down by CAMHS (as above). But paediatrician is excellent, so is GP, & we were lucky with HV too.

Yy to the collusion & dilution.
We were fortunate to have "awkward squad" GP, HV & paediatrician. All close to retirement & no longer cared who didn't like their opinions.

Virgin, I believe?

Just like mainstream school Education SEN then!

Often linked though.

Either way. Tis shite.

Agree - health and education are strongly linked.

If we really thought the UK SN system was better then here, we would move back to the UK. But having read loads on MN, I am under no illusion that the system is any better.