[SENco-forum] the COP beats the computer (was 50 years topten)and names?

I was in the bottom class for the 10 yrs I was at school -- hence my

> I was in the bottom class for the 10 yrs I was at school -- hence my
> interest in SEN -- Brendan

I had a roughly equivalent experience in my school as a child, though
in my case I was always in the rock bottom position of the 'A'
(academic) stream'. The only reason they never moved me down into the
'G' (general) stream for former the 'Secondary Modern' students was
because of irreconcilable timetable clashes. Indeed on one occasion at
a parent-teacher meeting my form tutor suggested I might perhaps get a
job labouring on a building site after I left school.

Another time I did extremely well (for me) in most of my end-of-year
exams ...too well in fact as I got accused of cheating because my exam
scores were so utterly inconsistent with my class-work. This was
eventually put right a full year later when I won the 'progress prize'
for the whole of my year group.

...not that I was ever any good at 'English Language'. Indeed it took
me a full five attempts to achieve a pass mark at 'O' level in this
particular subject. I still recall the grades I was awarded for those
numerous exam attempts:

  'F' (for fail),
  'F'  again,
  'H' (for horrendous),
  'F', ...and then finally
  'E'  Yipee, I'd finally scraped pass grade at long, long last!!!

For the benefit of younger members of this list an 'E' grade at London
Exam Board 'O' level was equivalent to today's 'C' pass grade at GCSE.

When I tell people I'm still somewhat dyslexic, many simply don't
believe me. For in more recent years I've gained a reputation,
especially on education lists such as this, for being both a lucid and
prolific writer. Well I can tell you I most certainly didn't learn to
write this well while I was at school. In fact until twenty years ago
I could perhaps be best described as 'semi-literate' only. Yes it's
true I've always been an avid reader. However to quote one of my
frustrated college lecturers here is an observation he wrote at the
bottom of one of my always late essays;

  "You have a high 'individualistic' approach to the English language:
  Your writing is barely legible and your spelling is truly horrible!"

So what turned things around for me? Well in my early thirties I
bought myself a word processor and little by little completely
re-taught myself to write as well as I do today.

So am I really still 'Somewhat Dyslexic'? Or through sheer persistence
have I managed to cure myself of this usually life-long affliction?
Well I'd say yes I'm still afflicted with a moderately severe SpLD.
How come? Because although I'm able to write reasonably well, still I
could never describe myself as a 'natural writer'. Indeed the process
of getting my thought down on paper still takes me ages and ages, with
much of this time spent on constant re-editing until what I've typed
finally 'feels right'.

The way I look at it I'm still have to contend with a brain that left
to it's own devices would have remained simply not wired up for
writing. But what I have been able to do over the past 20 years or so
is utilise my brain's plasticity to work around this disability. Only
problem is my neural pathways are now wired up in such a manner these
are less than optimal. In practice I've managed to train these to take
the 'long route', a bit like those long-winding 'Diversions' one is
sometimes forced to take when the straight road ahead is blocked. The
end result means I now have to devote inordinate amounts of mental
energy to writing. This could perhaps be equated to driving a big, old
and formerly luxurious executive 'banger' of a car. Yes I'm mobile but
I'm now stuck having to fork out huge amount of mental 'cash' in just
keep this highly inefficient 'gas guzzler' of my writing ability on
the road. Plus like those temperamental sports cars of yester year I'm
also having to spend a fortune on constant engine re-tuning, servicing
and general maintenance to keep my damn writing ability road-worthy.

Anyhow, by relating my story perhaps this will serve to give hope to
some struggling students somewhere who are now in a similar position
to where I was at when I was still at school. The only things I'd like
to add to my story is that since I finally learned to write reasonably
well I've articles articles I've written featured in magazines (and
been paid for this), plus I'm a successful author (non-fiction), and
in past years I've also worked as a professional editor and book
publisher. Let me sum up my experience by quoting a very old friend of
mine; "Never give up!".

David Bowles
Education Support