Handedness: I need some advice please

[Tinkers]

Ok, I've just chatted with a friend of mine, who I thought had gone through this herself, but wasn't sure.

She is left handed but at school was made to use her right for writing. As a result she felt her writing was not great.
Later in adult life she was fed up of writing with what she felt was the wrong hand. She made a conscious effort to start writing with her left hand. To be fair she is stubborn and persistent. It was slow going to start with but she did get to the point where her writing with her left was as good as her right but to her felt more comfortable. She can't remember how long it took or how much practise she did, as it is some years ago. She now writes with either hand, but wishes she had switched earlier.

Of course she doesn't have any other issues which affect her writing.

[Belinda]

I'm incensed at some of the experiences my DD had to endure at secondary school.

She had to listen to complex themes and make notes at the same time - and thus understand it all. Impossible!
She could neither read her own notes, or concentrate fully on what was being said; all her energy and focus was on her hand-writing.

She was told continuously to 'neaten up', try harder, concentrate more, pay attention, make better notes, learn key vocab every week, write more (type less) of her work to improve - WT... It was endless.

Finally, towards the end of her secondary schooling her IEP did say she would be given 'the notes' BEFORE LESSONS, by the teacher so she could just focus on listening in class - yeah right... that happened about 2% of the time and she had to chase teachers all over the school for 'the notes' and may, if she was lucky, have got them - weeks later!

I don't know what your DS's school is like Amber, maybe they are brilliant? If not, stand up for DS Amber, don't let him suffer like DD did.

DD's school was incompetent - and too darn lazy to pull their finger out and address her needs adequately and appropriately. As far as they were concerned she was the problem (medical) - not them (social)!

[Tinkers]

I'm incensed at some of the experiences my DD had to endure at secondary school.

She had to listen to complex themes and make notes at the same time - and thus understand it all. Impossible!
She could neither read her own notes, or concentrate fully on what was being said; all her energy and focus was on her hand-writing.

She was told continuously to 'neaten up', try harder, concentrate more, pay attention, make better notes, learn key vocab every week, write more (type less) of her work to improve - WT... It was endless.

Finally, towards the end of her secondary schooling her IEP did say she would be given 'the notes' BEFORE LESSONS, by the teacher so she could just focus on listening in class - yeah right... that happened about 2% of the time and she had to chase teachers all over the school for 'the notes' and may, if she was lucky, have got them - weeks later!

I don't know what your DS's school is like Amber, maybe they are brilliant? If not, stand up for DS Amber, don't let him suffer like DD did.

DD's school was incompetent - and too darn lazy to pull their finger out and address her needs adequately and appropriately. As far as they were concerned she was the problem (medical) - not them (social)!

I struggled with this at school too. At secondary school, the teachers did not know I was dyslexic, mainly because I didn't want them told, too many issues at previous school had put me off and I didn't get any extra help anyway, so I saw no point. (I'd like to think things have improved.)
There's no excuse for teachers not to do this. It should be in their interest as the student will do better so their results will be better. They know what she needs.

In fact I still struggle with taking notes and listening at the same time, to the point I have to refuse to do minutes of meetings at work. Most people I've worked with have been very understanding thankfully. (The odd one that insisted basically got a rubbish set of minutes and they didn't ask again, they were warned) I offer to type up their notes afterwards, but no one has taken me up on the offer so far. It is something she may have to deal with in the future.

[wonderwoman]

This has reminded me of a child I taught years ago - he showed no preference for right or left hand at the age of 7 and his writing and drawing was very immature. His parents were not worried and I wasn't too concerned, because he was very articulate and read unusually well and SATs had only just started and the average child was expected to get a mixture of level 1s and 2s.
We did get him seen by an educational psychologist who advised us to actively encourage (make) him to be right handed, because it would make things easier for him. His writing did then improve noticeably, once we all started encouraging that, so practice did help him.

Belinda - your DD's experience is shocking, but sadly I suspect not isolated. Comments from DS teachers have included: "He's lazy", "His TA does all the work of course", "I've no idea of his ability, because his written work is too poor". I could go on! His IEP said he'd be given notes and homework tasks, instead of having to copy from the board (impossible), but he hardly ever got them and more than one teacher said it was unfair to the others.
This year - AS exams - he should have had 25% extra time, but his maths teacher didn't think he needed it - he didn't finish the papers. In one chemistry exam he was told to stop and they had to fetch the SENCo before he was allowed to continue with the extra time.
I think such children were often written off in the past and some teachers are still willing to do that now.

[Belinda]

I'm sorry to hear about your DS's experiences Wonderwoman; Understanding and support improves at university. Unfortunately for many students though, they have (understandably) given up the fight long before then and have disengaged. It's very sad and vast improvements are needed in schools. The help, support and understanding given at university is great - where on earth is it in schools?

[Belinda]

In fact I still struggle with taking notes and listening at the same time, to the point I have to refuse to do minutes of meetings at work. Most people I've worked with have been very understanding thankfully. (The odd one that insisted basically got a rubbish set of minutes and they didn't ask again, they were warned) I offer to type up their notes afterwards, but no one has taken me up on the offer so far. It is something she may have to deal with in the future.

I'm glad you have understanding colleagues.

There is still a lot of ignorance unfortunately and I am concerned about the discrimination DD may experience in the workplace.

Sorry to have gone OT Amber.

[Guest55]

Sorry, I must defend schools and teachers!

My DC had fantastic support for his difficulties at school and all the schools I've worked in have taken special needs very seriously.

It's in everyones interest for additional time to be sought if it would help the student; all gain from this! The student gets the result they deserve and teachers can see their work makes a difference.

Belinda you should have made a formal complaint and so should anyone in this situation.

[KS10]

I returned to teaching briefly not too long ago and my last lesson there was an observation. It was with Year 8 set 4 (out of 4) with about 8 of the 13 students on the SEN register, including a deaf girl who had never heard certain sounds. At the end of the lesson I was told that it was good, but that I should've begun with sentences instead of beginning with individual items of vocabulary. Having worked in an SEN dept for 5 years, it was demoralising to see that some teachers still don't 'get' the learning needs of certain students. She noted that this class had made good progress but ironically failed to see that this was because we were working at a pace that worked for them .

Amber, I hope something can be sorted out for your DS. It is a pity that the content of his work is overshadowed by poor presentation.

[Belinda]

Yes of course, Guest 55, there are very many good examples of SEN support and I don't mean to make an attack on the teaching profession, no more than I would nurses, police or other professions that come under attack from time to time.

I did have many meetings with the school, and no doubt their version will differ from mine.

I do feel though, that whilst mine were going through primary and secondary (one is still at school), there was an emphasis of 'cure the child' of this problem. Whether it was just the accepted norm at the time or whether it was lack of understanding, money, time, staff, knowledge...

Hopefully things are slowly improving everywhere, but perhaps noticeably more in some forward thinking local authorities than in others where they are still chasing their tails.

[Belinda]

I am very sorry about going OT Amber.
I'll stop venting about DD's experiences now. Sorry everyone.

I hope that your DS gets the help and support he may need, whichever hand he decides to progress with.