Published on 12, July, 2020
Wen I left school I had no qualifications whatsoever, I had not been able to learn a thing in the classrooms even though I am not totally stupid. I only seem to be able to retain fragments of information which very rarely connect with others.
This has come up again for me because my lifelong love of science has decided me to study the subject and try for a qualification of some sort, my initiall efforts take me right back to school days, I can absorb just so much them everything else gets scrambled and nothing sticks any more
Does anyone else have similar experience of learning? Did you find a way of overcoming any difficulties you may have had?
I would be glad to hear from anybody about this.
This is well-timed because I filled out my student support plan today as a postgrad and it went really well. I didn't have a diagnosis when I went to university the first time and it was a completely different experience, so I understand your hesitation.
Colleges and universities will make arrangements to accommodate students with disabilities, this includes working with your learning style and making reasonable adjustments to the environment. For me, there is no point going to an audio lecture because I don't retain information that I can't see, but if I have something I can read then it avoids the frustration. This means I am given handouts in advance and I can sit by the door so I can leave if I am overwhelmed. I'm applying for Disabled Students Allowance (everyone can do this as it isn't means tested) which funds equipment like a digital recorder with software to play it back and a specialist mentor to help manage stress and the transition back to student life. It means if the 'scrambling' happens, then I don't need to stress that I have missed anything because I can have another look at it later, when I am on my own, and talk it through with somebody who understands AS.
My experience of student support has been great, there is a lot of help out there and it would be worth contacting your prospective institution so you know what to expect in advance.
there might also be the availability of a note taker, depending on your severity.
find out if your prospective institution does testing for dyslexia, if not then you need to do it via your GP
You might have initial screening which will be a few questions and some tests eg you are told a set of numbers and you have to repeat them backwards, you will be asked spelling and things. It is ok, they are just seeing if you are dyslexic and then you are sent for the proper test which is similar but there is more of it. You can ask for breaks, they go at your pace as that is part of it as well and they are assessing your severity. Ask for the report in written and electronic formats. Keep the printed one safe. You might also be tested for Irlen Eye Syndrome and be given coloured plastic overlays for your books/computer screen to help calm down the white page for you.
When you start your studies, tell them you are dyslexic, ask for the dyslexic support, speak with them and email your report to them. They should help you by getting you to do a form for DSA disabled students allowance. The DSA will have a chat with you about your study needs and come up with the recommended help for you, your dyslexic support should help by discussing it with you beforehand. Or if you are applying for student loans you might have an option on there to declare dyslexia but you will still need to do some form filling and have the official stamp and signature that you are studying there - the learning support will help you.
There are Access Courses if you are able to do one which will help you back into studying or maybe foundation year? If not the first year is about settling in and getting used to university study and getting to grips with the subjects as much as anything else. For many they are away from home and trying to stand on their own two feet etc. So the first year marks don't count towards the degree.
Contact the institution(s) ask to visit and for a chat - ask about the courses, subjects, workload and about support and if they have any quiet study areas, how many hours lectures and how many laboratory sessions. You might only have 2 days lectures but being full time, the other 3 days are for studying, your self learning research, reading and actions etc from those lectures.
I don't believe that I am Dyslexic-my faulty keyboard may have given you that impression, it does not alwways register keystrokes on certain letters and ignores the space bar.
I don't have difficulties with spelling or comprehension of word meanings, i get confused by poor grammar and ambiguous meanings of some word combinations.
My problem seems to lie with the storage and organisation of information, a lot of the time stuff does go in and I have at least the illusion of comprehension but this is short-lived and it then gets scrambled.
Hi there I have dyslexia, although not formerly diagnosed, it mainly effects my memory ability or lack of it. My daughter was diagnosed at college and again in university she had a lot of help with special equipment, coloured overlays, digital recorders etc, even written papers were on different coloured paper for her,
it isn’t always about letters being back to front or dancing around on the page as some may be led to believe.
It can be about storage availability and where the information is put when it arrives,
imagine a lorry backing up to a loading bay, you open the back .
it is full to bursting, only some of the important parcels are to be kept, but to get to them the whole lorry has to be unloaded first, so as the parcels begin to be unloaded the loading area gets to be full up. No more space is available, so to create more space any important parcels already found and some of the other parcels are taken to the back of the warehouse , eventually all the parcels are unloaded, right now to find the important ones, the ones you need instantly to give the answer required right now,
well some are easy to find as they were the last few and are on the loading bay, but the others are way back in the warehouse mixed with other non important parcels, so off you go eventually you find them, it then takes time sorting through them to pick out the important ones, now to head back to the loading bay, you now have all the important ones you need, just need to arrange them in some sort of order and you have the answer you were looking for.
This anology is very long, but so is the retrieval process of some with dyslexia, the area ( loading bay)we need to hold important information is smaller than ordinary peoples. Therefore we place the over load of important information at the back of our brain,(back of warehouse),
we then struggle to retrieve the information and the longer it takes the more anxiety levels will rise, quite often the answers needed will be to late.
I will see if I can find the information I found talking about memory area and post itbup.
Not saying you have dyslexia but your words
“ My problem seems to lie with the storage and organisation of information,a lot of the time stuff does goes in and I have at least have the illusion of comprehension but this is short- lived and then it gets scrambled.”
sounds justblike me.
I wish you well with everything you do. ()
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