(no subject)

[nilchance]

MP says dyslexia is a "cruel fiction" invented to cover up bad teaching. Yeah? How about you get a ladder and jump up my ass, sir.

Can I get some recommendations for good tai chi or yoga DVDs/videos? I'll trade suggestions for epic cat cuteness.




Samwise, our gray tabby who came to the door and claimed us.


Gracie the new addition, being cute. Mauling imminent in 3, 2, 1...


Weejo, my parents' cat, with her ill gotten straw still in her mouth. "O HAI, why you takes mah picture?"


Gratuitous cat snuggling! They clean each other, too.

Comments

[poisontaster]

These are my absolute favorite yoga videos.

[alysonwonderlan.livejournal.com]

I am in agreeance with poisontaster the yoga zone vids rock. My ultimate fav is the strength & flexibility one.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Cool. I have to see whether I can get them via Netflix to try out.

[rivers-bend.livejournal.com]

KITTIES!!!!

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

NEE, KITTY IN YOUR ICON!

[laurel-less.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the cat cuteness it cured me of my dyslexic rage. Dyslexia problems are not due to the inadequacy of teachers, but because we have unique brains and the English language is a mess.
http://www.dyslexia-teacher.com/t107.html

I just bought this Yoga DVD, but I don't know if it is any good yet.
Yoga for Stress Relief (With The Dalai Lama)

[lomer.livejournal.com]

Dyslexia problems are not due to the inadequacy of teachers, but because we have unique brains and the English language is a mess.

Hell yes. I mean honestly, phonetics suck! The letter C? It makes one noise in "cackle" and a completely different one in "cellophane".

And don't even get me started on math. I had so many teachers mark my tests as wrong because I didn't show the work, but how could I show the work when I did the work in my head and it changed every time? Plus - and + and / all look very similar. Lame.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Right? I'm big on the social model of disability. Dyslexia wouldn't BECOME disabling if teachers taught to them rather than to the test.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

As someone who STILL can't tell you the order of the months, and who wants to CRY when she's asked to multiply things without a calculator, I'd like to say fuck-you-very-much to Mr. Graham Stringer. And he obviously didn't do his fucking homework since dyslexia doesn't effect just reading. I had to go to a special afterschool program to address my dyslexia issues and in the 80s they only really worked on reading. They hadn't made the connections yet to math and sequences and handwriting and spacial awareness. I've worked my ass off to develop spacial awareness and hand eye coordination.

Oh and our mythical ailment isn't always a bad thing either. We're able to see problems in 3D instead of 2D which makes us wonderful people to have on a problem solving team. We'll come up with solutions you don't think about. Learning French is difficult but American Sign Language? While you're struggling to remember the different grammarical sequences we'll be busy making deaf friends because we GET IT.

And dyslexic people? We tend to be smart. Because we felt like morons in school, a lot of us come up with solutions to hide our "stupidity". Personally I memorized the SHAPES of words and I'd guess the word based on the context. I've known other people who would memorize passages in books to prove that they could read too. Despite feeling like an absolute idiot (even today) because someone says "I'll meet you at quarter to 3" and having no idea what that means. Or having to really concentrate to read an analoge watch, or having to ask the embarassing question "what month comes after March?" We're NOT idiots and we weren't taught wrong. Our brains just work differently.

So to Mr. Stringer who complains about the "dyslexia industry" (like there's a lot of money to be made teaching kids how to read using little colored blocks), fuck you, fuck you, fuck you very much.

[laurel-less.livejournal.com]

My favorite example to share is when in High School I spelled bird, bid, and knew something was missing but could not figure out what. At the same time I was in the advanced English class because I learned to read for meaning so I could skip words I did not recognize, so when it came time to discus them in class I could visualize the whole book like a movie in my head.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

As someone IN the so-called "dyslexia industry", rock the fuck on. Yes.

[hederahelix.livejournal.com]

RE: dyslexia.

Wow. That's--just, well Made of Fail.

I mean, it's not like I can totally spot the work of students with dyslexia some of the time because there's like a consistent pattern of specific kinds of mistakes that are, oh, I don't know, clearly different from the patterns of mistakes I see among, say, second language learners, or students who just half-assed the assignment.

I'd also like to know why so many politicians and laypeople are so damned ready to assume that they know more about my job than I do. I mean, clearly, I don't have, oh, I don't know, any specialized training in a particular field or professional experience or anything. Clearly, just anyone could do my job.

Just, you know, dropping by to validate your rage.

And comment on how cute the cats are. I have no yoga video recs, sadly.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

I'd also like to know why so many politicians and laypeople are so damned ready to assume that they know more about my job than I do. I mean, clearly, I don't have, oh, I don't know, any specialized training in a particular field or professional experience or anything. Clearly, just anyone could do my job.

Ugh, WORD. There's this sense that teaching is a dumping ground for those who can't do anything else, instead of a SKILL and an art. I can't imagine how frustrating that must be.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

Oh by the way I'm convinced in my own personal canon that John and Dean are dyslexic which is why we're given the impression that Dean didn't excell in school even though he's obviously very intelligent (he made an EMF out of a walkman!) The way John tapes his information all around his room and draws physical lines connecting info also reeks of 3D thinking and the need to physically see what's mentally there. They're both also VERY good at figuring out patterns. Dyslexia would also contribute to their outsider persona since a lot of kids with dyslexia end up feeling alienated at a young age and get very defensive. (Sure having your wife/mom burn on the ceiling and secretly hunting would also contribute to this outsider persona but *handwave* whatever.)

[manzanas-verdes.livejournal.com]

Just dropping by to say that such is also my personal cannon about John and Dean. I used some very similar methods (the wall with connecting lines) back in my school teacher days. It was really interesting because I always had to come up with ways to adjust myself to my kids, kept me on my toes, gotta say.

[spae.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I saw this on Reuters. It's come at the right time to insert into my Monday-due assignment on dyslexia and wonderfully proves the fuckwit mentality of the close-minded ignorant in a position of power. Not that I am allowed to say fuckwit in an academic essay.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Which is a shame, because you could go "this guy's a fuckwit, see my references." Put a footnote in about his uselessness.

[katzb101.livejournal.com]

Stunning kitties *nods*

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

(Also, I am so sorry for your loss. *hugs*)

[kjfri.livejournal.com]

My favorite yoga video - the one that hooked me - was Ali McGraw's Yoga Mind & Body - was just the right length, right difficulty to make me feel like I was getting a workout, and the narrative was refreshingly supportive. Have fun!

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'll have to look that up.

[lunardreamed.livejournal.com]

I love how he equates being illiterate with dyslexia. Because everyone knows dyslexics can't read, right?

Besides which, I'd like to know how a moron like him can talk trash about the education system. No country has a 100% literacy rate, they just report it because of deliberately skewed statistics. And he can't claim that they prove dyslexia doesn't exist until he finds out what their special education methods are. Sigh.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY. Like, hm, I suppose his sloppy research methodology is due to bad teaching too.

[bkm5191.livejournal.com]

cat snuggling will never not make me smile.

[spazzer-mctwich.livejournal.com]

ohh fuck you to British guy! i had sever dyslexia as a kid and have mostly over come it, there is no way bad teaching makes me read backwards!

and Gracie is adorable, even if she might maul someone.

[nemonie.livejournal.com]

Gaiam do both yoga and tai chi dvds. I've only got their yoga ones, but they are very good.

Cute kitties by the way

[linderhill.livejournal.com]

love the Kitties!

That is ridicules.

[futbol16-4.livejournal.com]

There is no "one way for all children to learn." That assumes that everyone is the same, so why not get rid of color, extended family units, and a conscience. (The Giver reference) And I know for a fact that not every child even gets to go to school in Nicaragua. I think it was on one of those "save the children" commercials once, I believe. And I can't find their curriculum online.

Britain however:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/usa-education-uk-system-k-12-education.htm
and
http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/

[eponin10.livejournal.com]

Hee! Gracie has such awesome coloring!

As for yoga, I absolutely LOVE Rodney Yee's Power Yoga for Flexibility (http://www.amazon.com/Power-Yoga-Flexibility-Rodney-Yee/dp/B00062DKO0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1232115967&sr=8-1).