Flops & mucks I do apologise, after spending some time chasing children it took me so long to get my 2nd post up yesturday that I never saw your responses. I guess I'm so used to no-one being around when I'm on that I never thought to scroll back. You must've thought me very rude, I'm sorry.
I appreciate very much both of your comments. Sometimes it is very hard not to get frustrated & all encouragement & help is always appreciated. Thank you both
I checked out both of those keyboard sites, it looks a good idea although no one seems to be shipping down this way yet. I have only skimmed the first site so far but have registereds & will go back later & check out those downloads, see if any of them are mac compatible. It is very hard to find support or resources for dyslexia down here as so far the govt has refused to officialy recognise that dyslexia exists. Mostly, I suspect, because they would then have to provide funding to schools etc to assist dyslexic children, not to mention to train teachers in how best to teach dyslexic children. Not to mention the money they would have to fork over to aid Adult dyslexics!
My Doctor used to work in Brittain & he tells me that there is all sorts of systems, support & funding etc set up over there, but here, there is nothing. He was quite angry about it.
When I phoned up the ministry of education about it they got all in a dither & insisted that they did provide all sorts of funding & resources to schools for the assistance of dyslexic children. So I phoned up a number of local principals and asked them. They just laughed & said that if the dept. was providing this then they had never seen it. One principal who had had a number of dyslexic children through her school over the years was able to give me the title of a few books on the subject but said that any 'resources' they had they had either had to make or to buy themselves. None of the other schools even admitted that they might've had dyslexic children through their system.
But then, my sister got so good at faking it that she was 10 years old before anyone discovered that she could not read.
With this Home Ed inspector comming through tomorrow to evaluate us & say wether I can keep my home schooling licence I am very afraid that he will take my licence away & Morgan will have to go to school. My daughter would handle it alright, she is well ahead of her age group in all subjects & although I think she will continue to learn quicker & develop better socially in the much more varied environment that she inhabits now, I do believe that she would adapt well enough to the school system & be able to function within it.
But Morgan? He would have to attend the local school where, at 8yo (as he will be next year) the teacher will expect him to be able to read & write & is unlikely to have any idea as to how to deal & educate someone who can't & who, even if s/he is sympathetic, simply will not have the time to teach him individually. & at worst he might end up with someone like John's youngest son had who would send him out of class periodically because he was "too stupid to be worth teaching".
The fact that he is severely hyperactive is unlikely to help. I suspect that any Doctor with half a brain would class him as ADHD but, since I can teach him on a one to one basis I am able to teach around that, learning how to catch & maintain his interest, & when to stop just before the boredom sets in & the 'activity' become a chore. But given that the only times I've known him to sit still for more than 5 minutes are when he's watching TV... & it better be an interesting program! (He remained glued to his seat for every episode of "Battlefleet: The Royal Navy at sea") or when he's playing a computer game.
I expect that any teacher would be insisting that he be assessed & medicated within a week.
I am really scared.
I've spent the whole of this last week running around like a mad thing trying to get everything tidy, sorted & organised for when this guy comes. But I'm supposed to be providing evidence that I am teaching my children... but they aren't going to be finding any exercise books full of sums or writing for Morgan. Almost all of his maths is done through number games & computergames. Atempts at writing were always done on bits of looseleaf refill (disguised as 'spontaeneous' games or 'writing leters' to his nana etc), not exercise books, & thrown out afterwards (our house is very small, there just isn't room for clutter.) Almost all of the rest of his education is done through activities, drawings/illustrations, reading/activity books & conversational learning. Just about the only evidence I have is the little bits of Typing he's been doing. Everything else is just hearsay.
I hope this guy has got enough common sense & flexibility to actually pay attention & listen.
Back to chewing my nails. I've been rabbiting on sorry. I had better go & get back to cleaning & sorting. Right now I am at that stage of tidying where everything looks messier than before you started. & this guy comes at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning.
Bye, & wish me luck.