LD Blog

In “Action needed for dyslexics,” Rebecca Gardiner of the Howick and Pakuranga (NZ) Times reported about requests that the New Zealand Ministry of Education honor a committment to provide services for students with dyslexia and Learning Disabilities. In an article dated 19 May 2008, Ms. Gardiner has multiple quotations from a teacher on the topic.

A year after the Ministry of Education officially recognised the condition, Cockle Bay Primary teacher Jayne de Groot says “Nothing has changed whatsoever.

“There’s been no ministry funding for anything as yet, even though it’s been out of the closet for a year,” says Mrs de Groot, who is dean of the middle school.

“There’s been no training, even though we were promised that as teachers.”

Although I applaud the call for action, I do not agree with all the ideas expressed by Ms. de Groot. For example, Ms. de Groot said, “Most schools will have children with dyslexia so there needs to be some sort of general training,” and “Anything would be better than nothing.”

I can think of some things that would potentially be worse. In fact, I’m fearful that some of those things are lurking in the wings right now for New Zealand. From the Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand I learned, for example, that there plans afoot in New Zealand for workshops on “Book Launch - Right Brained Reading Programe” and multiple intelligences, “Rewiring the Brain for Academic Gain,” and “Dysphonetic and Dyseidetic Dyslexia.”

I hope New Zealand parents and teachers can avoid the bologna that has too often passed for dyslexia remediation in the US. I’m encouraged that major advocacy organizations in the US (see CLD, DLD, IDA, and LDA under organizations in the sidebar) have adopted positions in support of evidence-based interventions.

Link to Ms. Gardiner’s article. Previous coverage on LD Blog of dyslexia and Learning Disabilities in New Zealand: New Zealand dyslexia and NZ gets started. Also, check the Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand (you can find a button to turn off the song by scrolling to the bottom right) where one can find a listing of activities.