“Dyslexia is a Myth” or “Spelling ‘ANGER!’”

I’m angry, and I can spell it.  Labour backbench MP Graham Stringer has claimed in his column in the Manchester Confidential paper (“Dyslexia is a Myth“) that dyslexia does not exist as a condition, and that it is used to blame for poor teaching practices.  He also claims that children should instead be taught to read and write by using a system called synthetic phonics.

Hello Mr Stringer.  I was taught to read and write using a system called ITA English back in the late 70s and early 80s.  ITA was another poorly thought out Labour change to education which, since I’d been reading “proper” English prior to schooling, left me showing symptoms of dyslexia and word blindness that linger to this day.  I know that my confusion was caused by teaching, but I also know that the students I shared a classroom with in several “Remedial” or “English for Dyslexics” classes suffered a true and debilitating condition.

Mr Stringer’s reasoning that dyslexia is an educational excuse used to cover up poor literacy figures is highly insulting.  Dyslexia and illiteracy are two separate problems, much as illiteracy and criminal behaviour are two separate issues, however both these statements seem to have escaped Mr Stringer’s notice.  His continued quotes of;

There can be no rational reason why this ‘brain disorder’ is of epidemic proportions in Britain but does not appear in South Korea or Nicaragua

are as ridiculous as me stating the fact that;

North Korea and Cuba do not suffer from the debilitating condition of idiotic backbench Labour MPs making fatuous comments in the media.

but we’ll leave the mud slinging for a rainy day and get back to the rant.  I agree with Mr Stringer’s expectation that doctors should be literate, and that a lawsuit for discrimination from a second year medical student against the General Medical Councilis a waste of time and an insult to common sense.  However, don’t leap to far with your ire.  Improving literacy may reduce crime, but as any first year psychology student can tell you “correlation does not prove causation”. Stalin, Hitler, Harold Shipman, Nick Leeson, in fact a very long list of criminals and monsters were all literate.  Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, General George Patton, Andy Warhol, Dr Fred Epstein (ground breaking neurosurgeon), and Winston Churchill all suffered from dyslexia (Famous people with the gift of Dyslexia) and none of them were known for their criminal tendancies!  Improving society cannot be easily achieved by a single step, and although improving literacy is a noble cause, it won’t cure dyslexia.

Back to my starting point though.  To say that Dyslexia does not exist, that it is an excuse for bad school figures and criminal behaviour shows a dire lack of research, understanding, or compassion.  When Prince Harry can be lambasted in the tabloids for a single racist comment can we expect a similar lambasting for Mr Stringer for discriminating against the approximately 6 million dyslexia sufferers in the UK?

BBC News – MP brands Dyslexia a “fiction”

Telegraph Online – Why dyslexia is not a ‘cruel fiction’

Telegraph Online – Dyslexia is a wicked myth created by by bad teachers, MP says

The British Dyslexia Association

Dyslexia Action

Be afraid, be very afraid

The BBC News website is running a magazine piece asking “Who are the British creationists?“

Before we delve much further I better state that for the record I’m an agnostic as far as religion is concerned.  My interest in history has taught me that organised religion has caused many of the wars that litter mankinds past, during the crusades both sides charged into battle shouting that they fought for the glory of god.

So why am I afraid that a percentage of folks on the extremist fringes of various organised religions are now gaining political platforms and the right to force their creationist doctrine onto children in schools?  I’m worried because their argument is dangerously one-sided and in these terribly politically correct times nobody in office dares to tell them otherwise.  Looking at the situation abstractly it comes down to a simple choice:

• Evolution – A scientific theory (and that doesn’t mean it is just an idea) that includes examples that can be studied demonstrating these changes within documented human history, backed up by a catalogue of scientific evidence.
• Creationism – An idea (not enough evidence to call it a scientific theory) that everything just was, and don’t ask difficult questions about life outside of spaceship earth because the stars are just twinkling lights in the sky!

I’d like to live in an age of science please, where the education taught in schools embraces the diversity of all religions and the many different creationist visions are explained in the right place in the Religious Studies class and not the Science Laboratory.  Believe what you like, but don’t teach it as fact!

If you’re undecided, consider this:

Evolution can be supported via DNA analysis and carbon dating, two scientific practices that can have their results proved and verified via data in the public domain.  If you still aren’t certain take a look at how viruses evolve beneath a microscope, and ask why a supreme beign would create avian flu! Also take a look at Charles Darwin’s notes, unlike god he made his available!

Creationism is supported in many religions, many of which disagree about who the creator is, and all of which agree that the believers of other religions are following a pack of evil lies.

As Douglas Adams once wrote:

“I refuse to prove that I exist” said God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing!”

Me, I’m certain I’m a collection of particles evolved from slime via chimps.  I share 50% of my DNA with bananas, and I’m sitting on a small lump of spinning rock floating through an expanding cloud drifting through an infinite void.

Driving by GPS

For a while now I’ve noticed a new driving style in northern Virginia.  People who adhere to this style drive all shapes and sizes of vehicles and all of them frequently have a large piece of glowing technology blocking the view from their windshield.  Yes, I’m talking about the new style of “driving by GPS”.  Proponents of this driving style are easy to spot as they lurch through turns, or speed down the fast lane and suddenly slew through the slow lane to get to an exit when they’ve just been told “Turn left now!”

It appears this dependence on navigational technology isn’t just dangerous to those who find their narrow sidestreets being used as major throughfares due to poor mapping software, it is also dangerous to every single other road user as these people become more and more obsessed with following the electronic voice rather than using their eyes and ears to check the safety of their manouvere.  Do they not realise that the GPS does not see or know or care where it is sending you?  It is a dumb device running software that is frequently not up to date and is suggesting a route not telling you!

The GPS is just for directions

YOU have to drive the car yourself!

And nobody mentioned gun control (comparison)

There are many websites here in the US, and many more people reading them, who strongly believe that being able to own a gun is a basic right. They claim it isn’t easy access to guns and ammunition that leads to people being shot, and that crime can be actively reduced by allowing gun ownership ( Guncite.com, the NRA ). These people hold sway over a large number of politicians and votes ( Wikipedia – Gun politics in the United States).

However, I find myself comparing the events which lead to my earlier posting “And nobody mentioned gun control” with this story from today’s BBC News website ” Three held after school shooting”. Just read the story now, and note the following points:

• The ‘gunman’ was a thirteen year old
• The weapon used was an air-rifle
• Nobody in the busy playground was harmed
• Police arrested those involved

Contrast this with the events in the schools of the United States. It is a point where statistics don’t really work. To say, as has been quoted in some “pro-gun” articles, that schools are safe with gun laws as they are because so few children are shot each year misses a vital point;

• No child should be shot, regardless of whether they are in school or not.

Oh no not again!!!

Over a quarter of a century ago the English skills of a generation were permanently affected by the Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA). This brilliantly insane idea can be surmised as

“Learning to read and the correct spelling of words can be hard, so lets teach children a made up, simplified, version first then hope they catch on that what they learnt was wrong, and that what they should do is use a version of English that wasn’t the one we just taught them”

Well, according to various sources, including the BBC News Website and Guardian Unlimited, Tony and the government’s wonderful plan is to do it all again, but this time with phonetics!!!
Read this blog, check my spelling and punctuation, and tell me, do we really need to cripple the language skills of another generation? Aren’t the reality shows and TXT MSGNG doing enough of that already???