Here is an important letter written today by Mark Le Messurier. I have not included SACEs letter as I dont want one individual to be be the scapegoat....it is the whole department that needs urgent review. What have your experiences been?Sandra Urgent update - SACE SPECIAL PROVISIONS fails another dyslexic student Please forward this email through any of your networks. A year 12 student, with a significant dyslexic disability, has had his second appeal for EXTRA TIME denied in his exams by SACE. To protect his identity, let?s call him Tom. Tom has been formally identified as a classically dyslexic student. His disability is genuine and significant. His long-term, dyslexic impairment has been comprehensively documented throughout his time at school and existed long, long before he began his SACE studies. It affects everything he does. What you must keep in mind is that all Tom is requesting is 10 minutes of extra time for each one hour in an exam. That?s all ? got to keep this in perspective. What you gain from SACEs reply (see below) is that SACE have a series of eloquently pre-worked responses for every contingency. This response may be empathic or reassuring in parts, but the decision is final and Tom?s exams are now just hours away. Denying Tom?s request for extra time is offensive. SACE has got it wrong, and has persisted at getting it wrong for years when it comes to recognizing and accepting learning disability. Basically, SACE does not and will not recognise dyslexia. No one seems to be able to move them on this. I believe their criteria for assessing specific learning difficulties is non-existent, or at best misguided. In fact, their attitude towards Specific Learning Difficulties tends to mirror our Education Department?s rejection of dyslexia over the years, and its inability to regard it as a legitimate disability worthy of legitimate support. What SACEs letter does, quite effectively, is to make Tom and those supporting him feel as though we are trying to cheat. And, what about Tom teachers at school? What about their amazing silence and indifference. This is frightening! They know Tom?s struggle. They?ve witnessed it every day. They should be in there fighting for their student. They too have let Tom down and must share responsibility. Here?s Tom?s ?real problem?. Tom should have tried much, much harder to completely fail SACE?s Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading (PAT-R) and their 3 handwritten tests offered to him at the beginning of year 12. Tom was a fool (I say this tongue in cheek as he?s such a dear soul, with such a positive attitude) to try at all in these tests. And, there?s another aspect to Tom?s ?real problem? (this is said tongue in cheek too) ? it is his amazing work ethic. You see, Tom has put in 5x the amount of worry, time, effort work and effort each day at school, and each night at home over homework for years, compared to a keen, switched-on non-dyslexic counterpart. This is the reason he passed SACE?s inadequate and ill-founded tests. Might Tom have been better off feeling defeated, indolent, angry, reacting against learning, reacting against teachers, missing days of school and not caring too much for school. And, here?s the light bulb moment or the simple reality! These are the students who SACE seem to be advocating for - who?ve suffered all kinds of disadvantage. It is vital to advocate for these students too, but not at the expense of students with high level learning difficulties. SACE are not advocating for students with a significant dyslexic learning disability accompanied by great attitude and great work ethic. These students, likely to be our contributors and leaders in the future, do not register on SACE?s radar. Shame on you SACE! Why have you got this so wrong, and why are you prepared to let this continue when it has been brought to your attention year in and year out for years? What?s your real agenda? Until SACE makes some fundamental changes, and recognizes dyslexia, we must all make a pact. We must actively train all dyslexic students who come our way to very cleverly fail SACE?s Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading (PAT-R) and their 3 handwritten tests offered to him at the beginning of year 12. This is something within our control. Who would like to join with me to alert families to this injustice, and offer genuinely dyslexic year 10 and 11 students in this state an opportunity to gain SPECIAL PROVISIONS? Mark Le Messurier
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 06:09:47 +0000
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