'I cried with relief to hear I was dyslexic'.
Being diagnosed as dyslexic can free sufferers - after years of believing they're inadequate, they can begin a new life full of confidence and success
FIVE years ago, Derry Ann Morgan was diagnosed with dyslexia. She was assessed and found to have all the signs - she had problems absorbing words when she read, problems with spelling and particular problems with maths. Derry Ann was 48.
"I'd always thought I was stupid," she says. "I failed my Leaving Certificate because I couldn't pass Irish. I had to watch all my friends setting off for college. But when my daughter was taking her Leaving Certificate I thought it was strange that she was getting high results without putting in anything like the amount of work that I used to."
Life was always tough for Derry Ann. Educated in Dublin,she learned to read and write but always found it a struggle.
"I couldn't concentrate, and I had terrible trouble learning my spellings and tables," she says. "I was a nervous child. I took everything seriously, and I was desperate to succeed. But the harder I tried, the less well I seemed to do.
"Failing the Leaving Certificate was like a huge nightmare -- the most awful time in my life. I remember working in a summer camp in Tipperary with all these people who had done honours papers and were going on to do amazing things.
"I felt I had no options. I took a commercial course and learned how to type but it would be full of spelling mistakes and tipp-ex. It was horrible. So I went to the manager and said 'I don't know what I came into this world to do, but I know it isn't this.' I was transferred to accounts."
A string of unsatisfactory jobs followed. "I've been bullied in work, my health has been bad and I've had alopecia. It is terrible, like living with a secret. And all the time you are convinced you are stupid."
For a while Derry Ann worked as a Flight Attendant for Aer Lingus - a happy time. But when her marriage broke up, she took a ground job to be more available for her two small children.
Over the years, Derry Ann has found her own way of learning. During a course in massage therapy, she couldn't keep up with the therapy lectures. But Derry Ann taught herself by recording the course material onto tapes and by practising every drawing. "I came out with the highest mark," she says.
But it was a sweet moment when she was finally diagnosed and given a name for her problems. "I cried when I was told, but they were tears of relief," she says.
Derry Ann now travels the country fund-raising for hospital charity schemes. "I write for a local newspaper too," she says. "I told them I have dyslexia, and it is a challenge, but I love it."
When Derry Ann was at school, teachers barely accepted that dyslexia existed. Now, though, the Government has declared it a high-incidence disorder. Does that mean that children starting school this year will get all the help they so badly need?
Not necessarily. According to Anne Hughes, director of the Dyslexia Association of Ireland, the Government is unwilling to fund one-to-one resource hours for children who have dyslexia.
"They say that these children are best served with a learning support teacher," she says, "but there is no research to suggest this."
Where once children with learning problems were allocated a teacher, now a school's resource hours are allocated according to the number of pupils in the school.
"Resource teaching is no longer tailored to the needs of the individual child," says Anne. "So the schools have to make priorities. They have to, obviously, prioritise those children whose need is greatest.
"In some schools there may be a high number of children who do not have English as their first language, and obviously, they will need a great deal of language support. So children with dyslexia can miss out."
Children who fall behind are not, necessarily, assessed. As Hughes says. "If a child is still not progressing in class -- even when they have learning support -- you need to know why. You need to know their strengths and weaknesses so that you can put them on to the right programme.
"And you need an assessment to get an exemption from studying Irish, or a place in a reading school or unit, and it's becoming difficult to get assessments.
"The situation has got worse, in that parents are more aware of dyslexia. Therefore there is more demand, and we don't have the facilities to meet that demand."
The Williams family (below)
When Gary Williams (13) from Leixlip was in third class his mum, Edel, caught sight of his spelling book. She noticed that, where months before he had been gaining 18/20 -- he was now getting just 2/20.
"I said, 'what is going on?' and Gary got upset. He said 'I can't remember my spellings, and I can't read; I must be stupid.' Gary was already having extra help with his reading, but I thought everything else was fine," says Edel.
"Six weeks later Gary had some educational psychological tests. His IQ was fine. It was average, but he had severe dyslexia."
Gary continued with his one-to-one resource care at school, and he had a private tutor from the Dyslexia Association.
That helped, but the youngster had a lot of catching up to do. So Edel gave up work to help him.
Then she noticed that Gary's younger sister, Emma, was having trouble. Her written work and spelling were poor, and eventually, she was tested and diagnosed as a mild dyslexic.
When Niall, now nine, started memorising his reader, Edel realised that he had a problem too. He proved, also, to have severe dyslexia. But because he has been diagnosed earlier than Gary, he is finding it a little easier.
It costs the couple €135 a week to send the children to a tutor and a workshop in Coolock. But it's worth it.
"When we enrolled Gary in the workshop, he became a different child," says Edel. "He realised that he was not alone or stupid."
He's moving on to Castleknock College now, where the classes will be relatively small. Gary will need a scribe and reader to help him with his exams, but Edel feels there's no reason why her children can't all go on to college.
"The children are brilliant in their way. They see the world differently, but the disability creates ability in other ways. Gary has phenomenal spatial skills. He's brilliant at making things, as is Niall. And Emma is a wonderful artist.
"So many geniuses were dyslexic. WB Yeats and Leonardo de Vinci were. I tell my children they are in a select club of people. They can do as well as anyone -- but they must work harder to get there."
September 10, 2007
Original Article in the commended Independent.ie.
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