TVNZ has a piece about dyslexia that’s both good and bad. The good: It calls attention to the fact that Learning Disabilities are not officially recognized in New Zealand. The bad: It repeats the common mistake of equating dyslexia with reversals and pegs incidence at 10%. There’s a 10-minute video that has other misinformation (e.g., individuals with dyslexia have attention problems; some, but not all, do).
Dyslexia affects at least one in 10 kiwi children but the Ministry of Education does not recognise it as an official learning disability.
It is a disability that, at a basic level, may be recognisable through problems such as seeing words or numbers back to front or putting them in the wrong places. It is not associated with a lower IQ, and in fact, many dyslexics have been known to have above average intelligence.
However, the learning needs of dyslexic children are unique. But under the current system, those with dyslexia do not receive the extra time and attention they need.
Link to the print lead I’ve quote here; from it, you can also find a link to the video (Flash required).
The discussion between newscaster and Steve Maharey (Minister of Education) is worth watching. Is it that the newscaster champions using the term “dyslexia” while the Minister says New Zealand uses “Learning Disabilities?” I don’t know exactly how New Zealand structures its special education services, so I need help here.
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