1.3 The power of language

Shifting the language from negative to positive is a small step that makes a huge difference in empowering your Dyslexic Thinkers at school and at home.

3 ways to empower your language today:

• Reframe dyslexia as a positive.

• Be positive and empowering when talking about dyslexic challenges.

• Think about how you talk about dyslexia in school and at home.

5 positive ways to explain dyslexia:

• Dyslexic brains think differently.

• Dyslexics are extraordinarily good at certain things.

• The world needs Dyslexic Thinking.

• You may need to work harder, but your imagination is your superpower.

• Many of the world’s brilliant minds had dyslexia.

   The power of language

Timing: 8 minutes

In this video, Kate explains how the language you use to talk about dyslexia can reshape perceptions.

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Transcript

KATE GRIGGS

Words are so powerful and so empowering, yet the language we use around dyslexia in education is really negative. Learning disability. Learning difficulty. Reading disability. Executive function disorder. The list of negative terms given to it is endless.

So it's no wonder that dyslexics often have low self-esteem and try and hide our dyslexia. Shifting the language from negative to positive is a small step that makes a huge difference in empowering your dyslexic thinkers at school and at home.

Here are three things you can do to empower your language today. One, reframe dyslexia as a positive. See it as a valuable and different way of thinking because when we do, it makes the world of difference to how dyslexic kids feel. We begin to build confidence in our abilities and self-belief that we can succeed, and this builds resilience, which is vital when we're working hard to overcome our challenges. And the truth is, this is the way the workplace is already framing it. Schools just need to catch up.

British Intelligence Agency GCHQ's former Director, Jeremy Fleming, says "People who think differently, people with dyslexia, are integral to my teams. And when I see dyslexic people in my teams, they are team players. They can see through the noise to see the facts. They are really good at simplifying." So it's no wonder GCHQ recruits four times as many dyslexics to their apprenticeship scheme than other organisations.

Secondly, be positive and empowering when we're talking about dyslexic challenges. Research suggests that the ideal-praise-to-criticism ratio is 5 to 1, meaning for every negative comment you make, you need to share five positive comments as well. So if you want to empower the brilliant dyslexic thinkers in your classroom, please choose your criticism constructively.

For example, your dyslexic learners will have brilliant ideas, but they may struggle to organise their thoughts, which means they're slower to start a task and produce less in the time set. This can lead to our teachers or parents thinking we are not listening or trying hard enough. All too often we'll hear, "You must work faster," "You need to focus," "You need to concentrate." Sound familiar?

Yet with extra time, using technology, and a little understanding of how we think, we'll surprise you with our incredible dyslexic thinking skills of creativity, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, or just seeing things differently.

The third thing is how you talk about dyslexia in school and at home. This has a dramatic impact on how dyslexics view themselves and how their peers view them, too. If you openly place importance on dyslexic strengths while being supportive of challenges, you will transform the lives of your brilliant dyslexic thinkers.

Here are five positive ways to explain dyslexia. 1, dyslexic brains think differently, and that's a good thing. Dyslexia is a pattern of strengths and challenges, and once you understand your unique pattern and get the support you need, you can and will thrive.

2, dyslexics are extraordinarily good at certain things, like asking questions and solving problems, imagining new ideas, and inventing things no one has ever thought of. The most important thing is to find what you're brilliant at and do lots of it.

3, the world needs dyslexic thinking now and in the future. The types of jobs available in the future will need the skills dyslexics have so more people will need to think like you, like a dyslexic.

4, you may need to work harder on certain things like spelling or math facts, and it may take you longer to read or write things, but your imagination will take you to places others can only dream of, and technology is here to help you.

And 5, many of the world's most brilliant minds were dyslexic. They saw the world differently and invented things we use every day, like the light bulb, the car, the iPhone, and lots, lots more. And while they achieved amazing things, they struggled in school, too.

Now let's hear from Gavin Horgan, Headmaster of Millfield Schools. Millfield was the first school in the world to support dyslexic thinking.

GAVIN HORGAN:

Since our founding in 1935, Millfield has been based on the premise that all dyslexic learners can learn just as effectively as any other child – in fact, often more effectively. This doesn't cost anything. This is as much to do with attitude and approach and a discipline to the way in which teachers and parents and everyone around a child handles that child in their care.

Children are really canny, and they read their adults very effectively. All the work that was done on the hidden curriculum tells us that children learn as much from the values of their teachers, and the way in which those teachers teach them as they do the content that is taught to them. And if those teachers and parents show those children that they value dyslexic thinking, then those children recognise the importance of that dyslexic thinking.

So, what do we need to do? We need to understand that what's good for dyslexic learners is good for all learners. We need to praise much more than we criticise. And we need to make sure that we are valuing and endorsing dyslexic thinking skills because at the moment, too much is done which denigrates dyslexic thinking skills, and that's where those canny children read that they are not being valued.

And also, where those children are located for their extra support, and what we call that the nomenclature that we use around that is really important. So why on Earth do we call it special educational needs, and why don't we call it additional educational needs? Why don't we ask children to come to a learning development centre? Why do we use language which demonises or alienates those children?

Why do we put those departments often in the most humble building at the corner of the site where we create resentment from the children being seen to go there? Why don't we nestle it within our best buildings, nestle it within our English department so that children and everyone see the importance of these skills and the need to develop those skills?

So, at Millfield, and this could be the same in any school in the world, children are celebrated for their brilliance, and we support the weaknesses that they have, but we acknowledge that they will all have brilliance and that those dyslexic thinking skills are positive things, not negative things. So don't ever stigmatise it because if you do that, then not only do you alienate the children, but you also alienate the parents, and I think we've got quite a lot of work to do, haven't we, around that? Because probably, 60% of dyslexic children will have a parent who has dyslexia as well.

So organisations need to think about how we interact with parents. And, if we do that effectively, then we'll get them onside, and then we'll get that amplification of parents at home supporting the positive endorsement that we've got at school.

End transcript

 

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