Apologies for thread drift folks...normal Seth Service will be resumed as soon as possible :0)

>>>Mrs. Route, once again you seem to be talking about something of which you know little.<<<

OK...SHORT ANSWER: ;0)

Father, brother, son, daughter...and me to a lesser degree, but on the same circle....

Sorry about that Dave...but I know first hand, second hand, third hand and fourth hand about dyslexia.


LONG ANSWER...DON'T READ IF IT'S GOING TO DRIVE YOU BATS! ;0)


I know how it feels, I know how the brain works, I know how people are belittled and the terrible anger and hurt that it causes too. I can tell you so many signs of the dyslexic child...I can spot them these days...The wriggling, the lack of attention, the chattering, the often excited, sunny nature (although this gets lost along the way if no-one understands them) the inquisitive mind, the quick wit and intellect...the way they watch with their eyes, learning through their vision, their ears, their hands...touching, absorbing everything so very much in that respect.

My son was already being belittled by his teacher at age 7. He went to a 'dyslexic' class where he was sat in front of a computer and typed out the same words over and over and over. The theory being that evenutally it would er..'sink in'...it doesn't. My brother has to this day, never lost his anger at being called stupid by teachers who were convinced he was lazy...but in fairness to those teachers, they weren't aware so much of dyslexia in those days. But they could have been understanding and more sympathetic. He has his own business now, but every school report he ever had, said how lazy he was. Nope...he wasn't.

He can tell you what any piece of furniture is made of at a glance, he can restore anything you give him, he can build his own house, but purely because he cannot write or read, society forced him out...as they did for many of his friends too. His good friend who ran the rubbish dump in Somerset, Ted, signed everything with an X...Ted had grotty jobs all his life, yet he designed and built his own house, on the Somerset Levels too...No mean feat I can assure you.

Diane, if you truly have a friend who is severely dyslexic then I am staggered at the way you belittled and verbally abused so very many people on the BBC, calling them ignorant and stupid for their grammatical errors or spelling mistakes for so very long. You should have known better and been far more sensitive. Surely?

Dyslexia cannot be cured by science. Or papers...or theories. Ronald Davis HAS designed a way to re-train certain parts of the brain..but this takes a lot of practice and committment, eventually however, some students are able to make letters stay on the page. But not all people suffer from 'moving letters'...Some simply miss whole words or read them round the wrong way, or get physically immensely tired by reading. They also cannot read masses of words without short paragraphs being there...Masses of words are confusing and overwhelming.

It can also be helped by being deeply understood by others, being recognised and being seen merely as another way of learning, which is all it is. We ALL learn differently, our brains work differently. Nature makes us all different for a purpose, that purpose being for the continuation of the species....Hence there is the doctor, the nurse, the undertaker, the chef, the musician, the teacher, the scientist, the explorer..etc...etc..etc....We all have different paths to go down in our lives, different roles to fill, for a reason. What is happening now, with the National Curriculum is that so many different brain patterns are being forced to conform to The Pattern Of One..and that is driving many children out of their minds.   

As a child I never sat still, I had to touch everything, because that's how I learnt, looking wasn't enough. Writing was so hard, holding the pen and then having to make those movements, especially being left-handed so therefore they were all back to front..I couldn't concentrate, my mind would flit everywhere, it still does, even when I talk, I'm off down different paths at the drop of a hat.

I used to talk with my hands, but this annoyed some folk, and at school they tried to stop me. I then developed a stutter, because my hands were part of my speech and with not being able to use them freely I had trouble making my words come out. (Yes..I can hear the jokes..."Quick tie her hands behind her back! ;0) ) I stopped doing that and used my hands again, because I HAD to and was thus able to talk normally once more......I have pictures for words...my vocabulary is limited and I use the same words over and over..It goes with the brain pattern..I can't remember things or put them in the right chronological order...History is a Mystery in that I have no Timeline, unless it is in front of me...I forget words when I speak....I do find them eventually if the person opposite has the patience to wait, so often they don't though.

So Dave...I DO know about dyslexia because I am right inside it. That is why I fought Diane so hard on the BBC board about it. Many creative people just have brains like that, that's all...it's no big deal to be honest, until you get surrounded by folk who tell you that there is only one way to spell a word, only one way to learn, only one way to write, and that...is...THEIR way. THAT'S when the trouble starts...and it's all around us in our education system today.

Dyslexia IS a gift. But for so many, the gift is torn apart and trodden on. It is thrown in their face and they learn to despise it and to despise those around them. They become confused, angry and withdrawn..their self-esteem plummets and they really start to believe that they are stupid...they are NOT!

That shouldn't happen to ANY child, but sadly it still does. Often the dyslexic person does not get the help they should ALWAYS have had, until they are grown up. Then...they are treated with kindess, understanding and respect. But that is the way they should ALWAYS have been treated, right from the start! It is far more common than many think. It is a huge problem and it needs to be recognised and not brushed under the carpet as 'not existing'

Folk music, particularly English Folk Music, seems to draw people in who are fastidious about facts, words, dates, notes, memories etc..etc..almost to the point of obsession....and there's nowt wrong with that...for without those brain patterns, things would not be researched in detail and written down for all. But some of those people just need to remember that not all brains are like theirs. I can type out 3,000 words in minutes...but I couldn't tell you, even to this day, which tracks are on which Show of Hands CDs or even Seth's...who has far fewer....my brain just won't do it.


Of course, ALL of the above could merely be my usual complete twaddle...I could just be related to a goldfish.... ;0)



And now..back to that Sizzling, Fizzling, Fire-Work Of A Folkie...

Seth Lakeman!


:0)