Mother leads drive for more help to unscramble words

KEY POINTS:

As a child struggling to read and write, Lorna Timms assumed she was just plain stupid.

"I could read the words on the page, but it didn't stay in my head. I couldn't spell the words. I knew the information, but I couldn't get it down on the paper."

"I believed I wasn't trying hard enough. Because that's what everybody kept telling me."

It was not until much later in life that the Christchurch mother, now 44, found out she had dyslexia - something she shares with about 400,000 New Zealanders.

It is a perception problem affecting the ability to read, write and spell.

The Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand was officially launched yesterday at Cashmere School in Christchurch, and as a trustee and mother of a dyslexic child, Mrs Timms is leading the drive to get dyslexia officially recognised in New Zealand.

Disability Issues Minister Ruth Dyson did the foundation launch yesterday, but said the Government was not keen on using "labels" such as dyslexia.

"Dyslexia certainly does exist. The Ministry of Education's perspective has been that rather than looking at labels on children, we should be look at individual children's learning needs. And I don't think there is a difference in that at all," Ms Dyson said.

"You shouldn't get stuck on a debate about a label."

There was no direct Government funding for any identified illness or impairment such as dyslexia, but the education system had resources to help children with difficulties.

This could mean individual tutoring or assistance for children.

Mrs Timms overcame her dyslexia and gained a degree, but after seeing her son's struggle to be recognised as dyslexic at school, she believes the Government should change its stance.

"It seems that dyslexia is a word not to be talked about. It's 'don't mention it, don't tell them they have dyslexia, because if you do that they are just going to give up on life'.

"People are still leaving school feeling inadequate, feeling as failures, because they haven't had the correct learning, they haven't been acknowledged."

There has been international debate about the validity of dyslexia, but it is recognised in the United Kingdom.

New Zealand's Chief Youth Court Judge, Andrew Becroft, has referred to British studies showing up to half of young criminal offenders are dyslexic.

FAMOUS DYSLEXICS

The Mad Butcher, Peter Leitch

Weta Workshop founder: Richard Taylor

Motorcycle designer John Britten

Actor Tom Cruise

Sir Richard Branson

Albert Einstein

Thomas Edison

Alexander Graham Bell

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