SPOTLIGHT ON SEND


Here come the girls In a newregular column for Education Today,


London Grid for Learn ing’s JODILWORT hearing frommany of the voices in the SEND community


close to home,with a look at her daughter’s autism, howit presents and howshe i support


rted. When sh daughter was


completely obsessed with gymnastics so for her birthday, we


bought her the low beam she had been talking about for months. I’d had to


work and arrived home to find that she had barely eaten all day,


instead single-mindedly focusing on achieving a perfect cartwheel on the beam. She had


tried thousands of times, was tired and hungry, but could not stop until she felt that she secured that skill. It took a fair amount of support, from people who (usually!) understand what strategies can help her in situations like these, to enable her to leave that activity behind, incomplete and imperfect.


From the outside, a girl with autism who loves gymnastics or horses or similar is indistinguishable from her peers. Look closer though and you might notice that she tells people about her interest too much and too often, not recognising the signs that they are uninterested, and that she watches the same videos about her interest again and again. Look even closer than that, and you might see that her nails are chewed and that what you mistook for a smile when she is in her class, could actually be a rictus grin, a mask through which glimpses of uncertainty, worry and fear can be seen only if you are watching really intently. It is this unrecognised need to look beyond what is


immediately obvious, that is part of the reason why girls and women with autism are often diagnosed much later than their male peers. From an early age, girls with autism can become really good at masking their differences; they tend to observe what their peers are doing, and gradually copy their behaviours to fit in, often succeeding in doing so, but not always getting it quite right.


Parents and carers in my Girls and Autism local NAS support group recognise this and talk of their daughters struggling with friendships in their school, but still usually being a ble to keep up this role and manage academically and in terms of behaviour until KS2. However, holding it together at school all day can come at a cost and subsequent meltdowns and emotional reactiveness can be common occurrence for girls with autism, and a key reason why staff and parents/carers seem like they are often talking about a different child.


At home, the gymnastic beam has long been relegated to the shed and my daughter has now taken to coding as well as make up. Because of her love for tech, I recently took her to a Girls and STEMevent, and she was inspired by the number of women and those with neurological differences working in technology. I asked her about her thoughts on girls, autism and education and she said, “It doesn't matter who you are or what disabilities you have, we all are allowed a good education.” Something that every child deserves.


If you'd likemore information on LGfL's SEND resources, contact Jo at send@lgfl.net


Marc h 02 1 8 2018 ty – in thismonth’s column, she starts


RTHwill be rt


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SPOTLIGHT ON SEN D


Where are the teachers w ith dyslexia?


Thismonth, the second of our newEducation Today SEND columnists KA


KAT ATE SARGINSON,


Assistant Head Teacher and former SENCO, wonderswhy there aren’tmore teachers with dyslexia.


What skills must a good teacher have? Job adverts mention the likes of having strong subject knowledge, being an effective role model, the ability to build positive relationships with


clearly. childre


n, a passion for teaching and the ability to communicate So much about the role is about personal characteristics; teachers need to have energy and drive, and provide an engaging presence in the classroom that enthuses children, and shows them daily that they care about them as an individual, and are committed to their learning.


There is also the requirement that teache completed training and demonstrated stron


g academic ability.Within rs have successfully


this, is an expectation of a high level of competence in literacy, firstly during training through the completion of written assignments, detailed lesson plans and reflections, and then in post with tasks such as report writing, marking of work and writing to parents and colleagues. Such emphasis on these literacy abilities presents a significant barrier to people who could potentially become incredible teachers; people with dyslexia.


The Equality Act (2010) recognises dyslexia as a disability. Dyslexia affects the ability to read, write and spell, and also impacts on memory and processing speed. The British Dyslexia Association (BDA ) state that 10%of the population are dyslexic. Yet you rarely hear of dyslexic teachers. Is this because there simply aren’t any? According to the Department for Education, less than 1%of teachers have a disability. However, this figure may not be a true reflection as dyslexia is often described as a ‘hidden disability’ and dyslexic teachers, alongside teachers with other conditions, may intentionally chose not to disclose their diagnosis.


Despite the fact that dyslexia has been proven not to have any link to intelligence (many dyslexic people have above average cognitive functioning, and possess a number of highly developed skills such as ity and verbal communication) perceptions continue to prevail, utside and within education, that difficulties with literac y


both o creativ


equate to stupidity and laziness. It is these mistaken beliefs that have to be challenged, and who better to support this than teachers with dyslexia.


The teaching profession should reflect the population it serves, and Britain’s classrooms have pupils with dyslexia in them. Teachers with dyslexia will hold valuable insights into the types of challenges pupils face with literacy and learning. Children are likely to be more confident in the classroom if they feel their needs are understood. Yet many of these pupils lose out on having a role model that they can relate to, or not be able to fuel their aspirati r themselves in the absence of a succ done.


can be teache


ess story to prove that it ons of becoming a


The matter of dyslexic teachers also demands an answer to the wider question of whether literacy skills should continue to be the cornerstone of how we measure ability. How many thousands of able candidates have discounted teaching as a career option because of the emphasis on literacy? Arguably people with dyslexia could be better teachers because of their difficulties,


wwweducation-toda y.co.uk www.


.co.uk 91 not in spite of them.


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