The Glass Box for Tuesday
The Glass Box is the place where you can comment on what you heard on PM, interact with other listeners and get responses from the people who make the programme. This is proving to be a useful tool for us, and we hope, for you.
Just click on the "comment" link.
The Glass Box is named after the booth outside the PM studio where we all discuss the programme at 18.00 every weeknight. We try to be honest and constructive. Sometimes there is criticism, and the criticised get a chance to explain themselves.
The people who make PM will read the comments posted, and will sometimes respond. Unless it's Roger Sawyer editing. He's completely hopeless. Jeremy and Sarah are in charge tonight. Please feel free to post your thoughts. There is a link to previous Glass Boxes on the right.
Also on the right, you'll find lots of other links you might like. The Furrowed Brow for example is the venue where you can start talking about anything serious: The Beach is a fun place, and there are links to Blog entries with photos, audio and links. And if you want to see us drone on about awards, you can do that too.
RSS feed
Email us
Listen to PM
Thoughts of a live kidney donor!!
Two years ago I gave my Brother one of my kidneys if I hadn't he would be dead by now.
I therefore find I am consumed with anger regarding the Dutch TV Game show with a kidney as first prize. My family and I were all tested for compatibilty, and who got to donate was decided on the grounds of who was most compatible - not who wanted to give a kidney.
The situation was made even more moving because I had allready had one brother die of liver failure before a suitable donor could be found. So to have another die from lack of a suitable kidney was terrifying.
I have campaigned on ´óÏó´«Ã½ radio for more people to carry donor cards - I see this silly sort of public spectacle TV as undermining my efforts, snd cheapening my ideals.
I am incandescant with anger over this TV program.
My further views on this can be seen on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ website at:-
/northyorkshire/lifestyle/health/organ_donor/index.shtml
Chris Rose
Kidney Donor
here we go again
Another kinapping
Really!!
Am I surprised NO. Not a bit
Why go to Iraq? Why do these morons go & work there. They must so thick it beggars belief
Why NOT do a Madeleine type of obnoxious publicity, brow beat (torturing) MPs to wear yellow ribbons, meet Brown, go and may be see the Pope, put posters behind buses in Baghdad, do a tour of Iraqi cities, have a web site and raise loadsa money, get Branson, Stellios, uncle tom & cobly to raise 5 million quid reward
So who were the kidnappers Shia Militia or Al Qaeda? Nice choice. Which is better???????????????
Anil
PS who was the British Client? I am bit confused here
Hello here we go again
Another kinapping
Really. Am I surprised NO. Not a bit
Why go to Iraq? Why do these morons go & work there. They must so thick it beggars belief
Why NOT do a Madeleine type of obnoxious publicity, brow beat (torturing) MPs to wear yellow ribbons, meet Brown, go and may be see the Pope, put posters behind buses in Baghdad, do a tour of Iraqi cities, have a web site and raise loadsa money, get Branson, Stellios, uncle tom & cobly to raise 5 million quid reward
So who were the kidnappers Shia Militia or Al Qaeda? Nice choice. Which is better???????????????
Anil
PS who was the British Client? I am bit confused here
"Average age... is getting younger"?
"..is getting lower" surely?
Your report on dyslexia is another chapter in the neverending debate over special educational needs and how they are diagnosed. It is vital to discuss this important matter in a sensitive manner as the issue of whether a parent "pursues" a diagnosis can demonise what is essentially the impulse that all parent have to provide the best for their children.
I have just listened to the piece on Dyslexia, my son is severely dyslexic in other words he has trouble learning to read and spell - he is not stupid, he is very bright has has a great thirst for knowledge which he has to gather by other means than reading. He is fully statemented and thankfully is in an Independant which specialises in this form of learning problems. Very insulting to call these children stupid and any parent using dyslexia as an excuse is unexcusable!!
To say to a person who needs a kidney transplant - "Don't look at me" is about as empathetic as a nuclear weapon. Don't kid us with your fake concern Mr Mair - you have none.
Dyslexia.
I broadly agree with both you speakers. I've been diagnosed dyslexic but have met other people who have the same diagnosis but have very different problems. Therefore I do believe the term is used to widely for a massive range of problems.
However, suggesting that middle class parents use it as a way to cover up their children being stupid does not help anyone. I don't think I can be called stupid with a degree from Durham. These are genuine problems. What is more interesting is that it is the middle class that can afford to get their kids diagnosed, maybe it is that issue we should look at.
(I did have to use my spell check to write this comment!).
Re: Soil Association & Organic Food
The problem with the Soil Association's proposal is that heated greenhouses (used in the UK and the Netherlands to grow 'organic' food) use more energy than a flight from Kenya or Chile.
So, is this really an attempt to go green, or is this just another nasty piece of protectionism that will harm the third world?
If the Soil Association bans the use of heated greenhouses, then the move may actually be an attempt to go green. If they don't then it is merely more spiteful protectionism by EU farmers.
Looking at the Soil Associations's Website, we find the interesting concept of "consultation" without any way for the public to offer an opinion. We further find that *none* of the Soil Association's options even mention the energy consumed by heating greenhouses. So it appears safe to conlcude that this is merely a nasty piece of protectionism at the cost of thirld world farmers. Shame!
I should declare my interest my career has been in hte food industry.
This evenings debate about whether air freighted food is organic or not is typical of many of the arguments that arise relating to food, i.e. it confuses a number of issues.
In this case the two issues are those of quality and the transport of food.
Surely it is possible to air freight food that until recently has been totally acceptable as 'organic'.
There is no doublt that the arguments about environmental warming and carbon footprints of everything will grow but please help to keep the arguments separate.
Another issue that should be introduced into the debate is, if by limiting the markets for produce of East Africa etc., what is forseen as the solution to the impact on these relatively poor economies?
Fred Jacobsberg
It is hypocritical to say the least for us to penalise pineapple growers in developing countries for the high carbon footprint of selling their goods in the UK - we're asking them to pay for the mess we have made of the environment. Let's continue to buy fair trade products from abroad to help sustainable growers, and by all means let's do carbon offsetting, but above all let's cut our own carbon emissions before beating up the little guy.
Dyslexia??
Well I was diagnosed with dyslexia and it certainly helped explain some things like why I can't read telephone numbers correctly. The debate over whether what I have should be called Dyslexia is certainly worthwhile as I am well aware that it can be used as a 'catch all' term for various perceptual and information processing problems that many people have.
In my case I find it fascinating that I can look at a number like a telephone number and see all the characters but can't quite establish what order they are in. What on earth is going on with my perceptual system when my eye for detail is actually quite good (I work with microelectronics)
There is a comon mistake that many people make in judging peoples intelligence based on their ability to perform certain tasks. In reading and writing the speed with which people can scan text and the number of words that they can spell correctly are often equated to intelligence, as is peoples ability to perform mathematical operations. Interestingly these are all things that we can get our computers to do easily - they can scan and recognise text at great speed and perform billions of calculations per second - far outperforming humans - yet most people would agree that computers lack any real intelligence at the moment.
I think you missed a trick with the Dyslexia item.
The object is to have a child diagnosed as dyslelxic.In so doing the parents can have extra tution paid for by the Tax payer (in fact the Council Tax payer).
The child is given "additional time" at Exams, and even allowed to have subsidised PC`s at University, which is in fact where most dsylexic children end up.
As usual it is the sharp elbows of the chattering classes that have won the day.
Eddie:
That programme was truly mesmerising...
...as a result, I now believe that I am Franz Anton Mesmer, discoverer of "animal magnetism".
Mmmrreeoow!
Hi,
I just heard the end of the Dyslexia item - who were the contributors? I am a psychologist working in Education and I was interested to hear the first person (Professor...?) voice my thoughts on the difficulty of definition. Anyone know of any book/articles dealing with problems of identification/definition etc?
Organic Food.
Organic food should just descibe how it was grown. ie without inorganic feeds and in reality without using tractors or mechanical devices or artificial energy devices eg external heaters. However it is apparent that even this definition does not apply to all producers who manufacture "locally" The carbon footprint should be a different argument and a set of different calculations as in a lot of instances products grown abroad in a hot climate have a smaller carbon footprint than a locally grown product despite the fact that it might have flown some distance. Also it has been proved that some organic food is less nutricious than inorganic food. This can be due to the amount of time that it takes to get to the consumer. Sometimes a UK organically grown product from a small supplier can take longer to get to the consumer than a vegetable grown abroad and flown in. The imported product is hence fresher and more nutricious.
The suggestion that the label 'organic' should be removed from pineapples which are imported is ridiculous when we cannot grow them here. The term organic should be about how the product is grown not on how many miles it flies.
Surely the problem lies with foodstuffs like green beans which we can and do grow in the UK being brought in from countries thousands of miles away.
There will never be many European bananas, so locally grown is out of the question, except for Iceland where a few grow geo-thermally. Therefore they will always be an imported luxury and we must decide if we want them shipped in by air, by sea, or not at all. It is a nonsense to confuse and mix up the method of growing, and fairness to growers, with means of transport. We just need clear and simple food labeling that gives air miles and food miles. Fair Trade already exists as a separate concept. The Soil Association have always had confused double standards, what about factory beef that just eats organic food for a few months and then can be included, or products that say 'free from additives' but are stuffed with chemicals which just happen not to be on the official list of defined additives. So sharpen up the banana story and stop confusing transport method with production means. The SA needs to sporn a fellow association to accredit a reliable food mile label, and stop being silly, by trying to roll this up into definitions of organic production.
Mmmnnn...plenty to chew over this evening and if I'm honest perhaps too much. It would have helped to have given more time to some of the debates and chucked out some of the thinner ones. That said no complaints about some of the guests - Mr.Brady on his resignation, a shocked Police fed spokesperson on speeding officers etc and someone who had earlier emailed in on the kidney story and found himself on the programme a few hours later. You have been warned.
Lesson from tonight? Do less? For the rest of the week a grown up will be in charge.
I think the debate over air miles is a very valid one but it is a lot more complicated than flying bad/ shipping good.
I just hope the soil association has enough reasources to fully investigate every case on it's own merits and does not further feed the oversimplified "flown food is bad" argument.
Comparing shipping to flying is all well and good but compared to shipping the proportion of goods flown from Africa is very small.
Look at the carbon footprint of Africa compared to the carbon footprint of the UK. Should we be penalising a developing country and denying them essential trade when we are driving through london in our gas guzzling 4X4's and flying off to Dublin for a cheap weekend away?
Why should we punish producers in developing countries for a carbon footprint we have created and continue to perpetuate.
Having worked with supporting dyslexic learners for a number of years, the dyslexic conversation left me spitting.
One of the characteristics of dyslexia (as Jack Dee rather nicely pointed out recently) is that it's not about stupidity - it's a mismatch between intelligence and the ability to handle reading and writing tasks. If you actually delve a little deeper, you can find specific brain lesions that cause it.
Like a whole range of other neurological conditions it has a variety of specific symptoms, and different people get a number of these. It's what is correctly called a syndrome - same cause, but different presentations in people. in AIDS (which is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome remember) we're not surprised that different people have a different range of symptoms. We're not surprised to hear that people who suffer strokes have a different range of symtoms. Is it purely ignorance and wishful thinking that makes people think dyslexia is different?
Anyone with experience stands a reasonable chance of spotting a dyslexic learner (they might not be 100%, but pretty high - my success rate is about 90%) and sorry you sad parents who try to excuse your children's stupidity, spotting a faker is easy too - dyslexia isn't "bad spelling and handwriting, and benig stupid in class" actually one of the strongest initial signs is when a student shines in class and their written work is (relatively) very poor - that mismatch between IQ and writing skills remember.
You might fake out your friends, but you won't con your school, nor the educational psychologists.
Dyslexia
Professor Julian Elliott concentrated too much on reading ability. For instance, my husband is mildly dyslexic which means that he can read very well, very fast, with complete comprehension and remember all details. In fact, he is extremely intelligent, thinks deeply about issues and often comes up with better arguments superior to those of our top politicians.
However, he cannot spell - not to save his life. So, although scraping through to grammar school on the recommendation of his junior school headmistress, he eventually gave up trying as everything he did was marked down due to his poor spelling.
When he was 12, he spent 6 weeks in France with his aunt and got a lot of practice speaking French to the locals. On returning to school he was fired up with enthusiasm but the French he had learnt did not fit with the syllabus, so once again, he was discouraged and an opportunity for the whole class was lost. Now we live in France, but he doesn't have the confidence to even try to learn the language.
He left school at 16 with virtually no qualifications but has managed to make his way in life, due to his lack of resentment, logical mind, intelligence and hard work.
It's too easy to pigeon-hole people and give them labels but everyone has different abilities and difficulties. The education system and the world at large would be better if it recognized individuality.
Sue
My daughter has been diagnosed with dyslexia. This diagnosis has not come as a relief to us.
However, it has certainly explained her consistent strange reading errors which first alerted me to the possiblility of there being a problem. She is not a lazy child. She is very happy, inquisitive and full of fun. She wants to do well and has been described as bright by friends and relatives.
Her diagnosis was made during the first term of year 3 at her new school - an independent school. We had to move her as we felt she had been brushed under the carpet at her old (state) school.
I had voiced concerns in year 1 and 2 with both the teachers and headmistress. These resulted in a rudimentary computer assessment in which she performed well and literacy support in year 1 which seemed to help a little. However, by year 2 her self esteem had crumbled and her personality seemed to have changed. She was consistently on the bottom table for maths and literacy. She was aware of this aided by the teacher having a heirarchy of photos of the children on the wall which apparently was reversed occasionally to avoid children discovering their positions!
One day my daughter told me that she flet sad that she was always on the bottom table whilst her friends were on higher tables. I asked her teacher if it was true that she was at the bottom of the class and received the reply that "someone has to be at the bottom". It seems that my expectations were far greater than the schools.
She is now in a class of 15 and has progressed beyond belief. She has a learning support teacher whom she sees one to one, and extra maths support. Naturally, she is much happier at her new school.
Coping with, and fighting for a child that has learning difficulties is a hard and sometimes lonely struggle. Until diagnosis one constantly questions oneself. Am I being too pushy? Are my expectations too high? However, after diagnosis you are left with the reality of a real problem which requires a great deal of support, if you're lucky enough to get it, or can afford it.
Organic Pineapples from Ghana,
Why not ship,pineapples have quite a good shelf life and I suspect could be refrigerated. Cheaper with a lower carbon footprint. If containers were used old computers could be shipped back - for example-
help in education.
Truely Organic, with scope for diversification of crops.
Allan Hubbard
I thought you didn't spend long enough on the 'win a kidney' contest. I was longing to know what form the competition was going to take; also since the terminally ill person was donating why could they not have two; one now and one later as it were.
More seriously I think this does bring up all sorts of issues wihich were skated over or simply not raised, but perhaps it is too big a topic. Take it over to the Moral Maze for a real debate.
Other than that Rupert, not a bad job.
SSC - well spotted, and well commented! Now perhaps can we turn our attention to that horrible phrase 'a large amount of people' since, as any fule kno (sic) it should be 'a large number of people'.
re police speeding offences.
I am 61, have covered 20,000 miles per year for the past 40 years . I drive quickly where appropriate and have a clean licence; so no axe to grind against the police. Indeed, I was brought to believe in supporting the force as a matter of principle, and the individuals are mainly decent, committed professionals.
However, I am saddened to see that our police force now needs policing and have been noting the numbers of police vehicles blatantly exceeding motorway speed limits without showing blue lights. (up tp 100 mph between High Wycombe and Oxford!)
This invariably brings forth a telephone apology from a senior officer saying the offending driver will be repremanded.
On one occassion on the west bound section of the A40 where it passes under the north circular, I was overtaking in the outside lane, but within the speed limit, to see two pairs of police bikes in my mirror no more than 5 feet from my back bumper.
I pulled over as soon as I had overtaken; no blue lights!
Then three Range Rovers driving dangerously close to the bikes; all doing 10-15 mph over the 40 mph speed limit.(They slowed for the peed camera near the Hoover buiding)
I followed...
Their technique was to drive provocatively close to get drivers to move over.
It was obviously the ministerial convoy; BUT NO MINISTER'S CAR! They must have been late for their tea back at base!
They did stop at the next red light so I pulled the tail ender over and drew his attention to the sloppiness of his team.
He seemed genuinely surprised but would not repent. So we pulled over and got out for a discussion.By this time the convoy was in dissaray and he was embarrassed by passing
"white van" drivers cheering. He then threatened to call the traffic police who he would instruct to prosecute ME for driving too close!
So there are bad apples in there. I could go on about this; but suffice to say that I hope he was not representative the average intelligence of the people protecting our ministers.
I have all the details; location/ date/time and his description if needed.
BASICALLY, THE PROBLEM IS DISCIPLINE. or lack of it. It's just considered uncool these days to abide by the rules.
So don't blame the police drivers; blame the senior officers' culture of poliyically correct,liberal management style.
Re: "Dyslexia".
How refreshing to hear some commonsense and reasonable scepticism on PM today (Tuesday 29th). "Dyslexia" is clearly a blanket term for a probably quite large number of very different "syndromes", as Prof Elliott says. It cannot, logically, be a single innate neurological deficit specific to written language, that's for sure. Strange difficulty with literacy is, it seems to me, often caused by negative affect (anxiety, for example).
A diagnosis is likely to induce learned helplessness so can be powerfully negative. To be told there is a fault in the wiring which we don't understand and cannot fix is, at the very least, unhelpful. Trouble is, a diagnosis is socially desirable and may also open doors and enable funding. Why can't we just provide the help necessary without having to give a very improbable and unhelpful diagnosis first?
I'd like to make a comment on the dyslexia item, but I'm posting it on the SEN thread, since it's more relevant there.
Ahahahahaha
Just left the comment - got put through to a charming man with a Northern Ireland accent.
He seemed surprised that I was mesmorised? possibly more surprised that I wasn't shouting at him about some other networked programme.
I told him I particulalry enjoyed the Police -speeding - item.
He siad my comment would be forwarded on to senior management.
Thanks for inviting me on to the programme today to talk about kidney donation. As a regular listener - and big fan - it was a real privilege. I have to admit I was expecting to be 'probed' a bit harder, especially about some of the more controversial issues that we talked about before the programme. For example, I think that there should be a national scheme instituted whereby living kidney donors receive standard compensation from the government, in recognition of the money that is saved by the NHS after a transplant. I would compare this to Maternity Pay, as something which could be recognised as in everyone's interest, and set at such a level that it works as compensation, rather than making kidney donation into something which is financially rewarding.
It also occured to me afterwards that I should have pointed out that for an NHS mired in stories about chaos and fiascos, increasing the number of transplants is an opportunity to do something very positive. What's lacking is the public awareness of what is possible.
Please don't worry on my account, 'Duke of Putney' - I didn't feel at all nuked by Eddie's comment.
If anyone would like to provide a bit of 'hard empathy' - I'm jumping off of Guy's Hospital Tower at the weekend attached by a bit of string, to raise some money for kidney research UK. Do come over to and have your credit card handy...
I listened with interest to the item on black youth,especially how they don't like to be disrespected.
i was physically and verbally threatened by a black youth because i suggested he desist from repeatedly punching his female companion in the face and head.
this was at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon outside the Symphony Hall in Birmingham City Centre.
Organic Food Debate
How refreshing to read Dr Fred Jacobsberg's comments. I thought perhaps it was me going quite mad. These are two different subjects - global warming and organic farming. I was glad to read Dr Jacobsberg, as a knowledgable person in this field stating what is (not to do him a disservice at all) the obvious.
One of the participants in the debate also added to that a third element during the debate - supporting local communities and economies.
Certainly there may be cause to dicsuss whether when combined they cancel each other out, but in principal they are three different topics.
Today there are so many factors that we could consider when buying our food - price, the farmer, the environment, the quality & the health impact. Its a juggling act - but it is made more difficult to cut through and make our own decision when the topics are confused and blured by the spokespeople in the debate.
I heard PM, but only now have a chance to write.
Rupert #19, When an editor comments, could they highlight the fact - "Rupert Allman, PM Editor" for example; regulars will know who you are, others may not.
Duke of Putney #7, I too heard that. I think that was a rare occasion when Eddie made a comment which was not as humourous as I believe it was meant to be. I agree it did come out rather insensitive.
Various on the organic fruit issue.
Bananas were grown commercially in Crete for some time, mostly under polytunnels or similar. I think it must have been a short term subsidy matter, as by the time I went there, they were clearly abandoned.
I assume that bananas are still shipped green and ripened in the UK, and therefore are shipped by boat in containers. Someone above said pineapples could similarly be done, I assume that's OK. However, is the artificial ripening process (using ethylene) organic? I know ethylene is given off by ripe fruit, but in this case is the gas used from an organic source?
I'm not sure how many other fruits, especially the tropical ones, can be shipped by boat successfully at present.
re Billy (12) - I confuse the order of numbers, too. eg phone numbers.
It's because I can't remember them by making a sound in my head.
Now if they're logical, eg 8123 234 345, I can remember that, but a random collection of digits is meaningless to me. They can comeout in an equally random order.
I believe this is called 'dispraxia', but would be glad of further comments.
But it's not dislexia. I'm almost pedantic in my eye for spelling and punctuation mistakes. Er, except those I make when posting in haste. To me, these shapes on a page or screen have logic and sense and meaning, while strings of numbers have not.
However, I have to admit that, after long resistance, I've started to do sudoku (yes, I know) and numbers are beginning to make a bit more of a pattern in that limited way.
Any comments welcome; this is an odd thing to me. Why can I feel so at home with writing but at a loss with written numbers?
Re Andy Williamson:-
Great to hear from you - Where have you been?
If I'd time I'd be there with the camera at the weekend for the jump from guys!
You sounded great -
Did Eddie look ill and stressed? too many Any Questions maybe :-())
One of my good friends at LBC Radio (Chris Lowrie) has just donated his kidney to his sister -- so I know a little about the courage involved.
Anyway - best of luck with your jump
It's great to get the feedabck - for me anyway - but I'm sure the team appreciate it - let us jnow how things progress.
And Please - take a picture of the jump and let us know the outcome?
I demand to see the pic on the blog! - and details of how we can help.
Dyslexia
I feel it was a shame that this issue became a cheap jib at middle class under achieving school attenders and the issue which the Male guest was making he was intentianlally mis leading the conversation.
Can I please make a point of reference, when I was diagosed dylexic, this was when I was in my 20s and not when I was at school so and it is not something somebody can become better from. It is however better to diagnose youngsters when they are at school so they can be furnished in their armery also know as knowledge obtained at school strategies to overcome their weakness.
I felt your piece was almost too vaige to warrent being broadcasted when you consider Julie Burchill has already had cheap jibs at the whole 'is dyslexia actually just thick people looking for an excuss'. Mine, well there was an intleigence test which was done as well as I had an assessment. So maybe you need to look at the subject matter a bit deeper first which I expect of Radio 4 otherwise go and edit on Radio 5.
Andy Williamson -
Can live donors register anywhere as per the bone marrow register? Good luck with the fundraising!
Ps Glad you weren't 'nuked' by Eddies comment; with the amount of coffee he ingests I hate to think what his organs are like!
Re Robert - Who commented :-
So maybe you need to look at the subject matter a bit deeper first which I expect of Radio 4 otherwise go and edit on Radio 5.
- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Robert, Eddie used to be at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Five Live! Is it wise for him to return?
Number blindness
Billy (12) and Frances O (34): me too, me too! I'm 60, and went through my entire school life being told I was stupid because I have never been able to do maths (or sums, as they were in those days of slate and chalk). I think I over-compensate as a result by being a total pedant over the use of English: fewer vs less and the use of apostrophes being particular sources of annoyance. Numbers make no sense to me at all; I was once told that this was probably why I also find it impossible to read music with any degree of fluency. How nice not to be alone!
Dukey (7), the remark I made was against me. Andy had talked of the need for HEALTHY donors, which is why and when I said "Don't look at me".
But on the substantive point, you're right - I don't care.
The Dutch TV programme featuring potential kidney recipients competing for a donor may wish to take on board a possible penalty of winning 'the prize'. The donor we are told is dying of cancer.In the early days of organ transplantation several donors either had or were later discovered to have had cancer.A rather unfortunate but predictable consequence for some recipients was that they acquired, along with the organ graft, a blood borne cancer graft also.Some died as a consequence. Foreign malignant cells would normally be rejected but may eacape detection and elimination in recipients who have been profoundly immunosuppressed to faciltate graft take. It is unwise to use cancer patients as organ donors .
jonnie wrote: Robert, Eddie used to be at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Five Live! Is it wise for him to return?
................................................................
It depend on his aspirations.
The comment I was drawing on was that the standard of the journalism was in my view, sloppy to what Radio 4 can achieve. Dyslexia is a generic term and it does covers an lots of differering issues associated with one or more of the following: reading, writing, numbers and spelling.
I think it is a debate that should be revisited and moved away from the ground that was covered with the comment associated with Middle Classes, as you made is sound like something that only effected school children and their reading. I'm dyslexic and this was pointed out to me when I was in my 20s.
Aren't middle class parents allowed to have geninely dyslexic children then?
Our younger son suffers from a type of word blindness which means that he will happily spell a word three different ways on the same page. His primary school said he was lazy and sulky and it was left to my husband and me to work out strategies to get him past this and other related problems. At least when he needs to work he will have a spell checker!
They also forced him to write with his right hand even though I repeatedly told them that he was left handed - oh no Mrs A, that's not right, he's definitely right handed. I feel so guilty that I didn;t pursue this as I wonder if that was what caused some of the problems he had with writing later on.