[senco-forum] Developing listening skills in secondary pupils

When I worked with severely dyslexic children the dyslexic  resource base 
teacher informed the staff that these children were not to  take down dictation 
under any circumstances - it is a nightmare for them and a  futile exercise 
when pre-printed information sheets can so easily be provided  with very little 
extra effort by teachers.  

Taking down dictation involves a myriad of skills and stages, many of  which 
are extemely difficult for pupils with SpLD and for some impossible and  very 
distressing...not to mention unnecessary. The same applies to the awful  time 
consuming task of copying from textbooks in these days of scanners and  
printers.

Training  children who struggle to do so is a cruel waste of time and effort 
for all  involved. I also think exercises like this are an unnecessary waste 
of time  after a long and arduous day trying to cope at school and endure 
homework.  

Best wishes,
Aly

Chair Auditory  Processing Disorder in the UK/APDUK
www.lacewingmultimedia.com/APD.htm 
www.apduk.org