Automated Transcript Episode 9
Dyslexia uncovered through the personal lens of a mother, daughter and dyslexic assessor
Guest speaker Victoria Lutjen
Please excuse any errors as this transcript has been automatically generated
Dr Olivia Kessel:
Welcome to the SEND Parenting Podcast, focused on supporting, inspiring, and empowering parents and their Neurodiverse children. I'm your Neurodiverse host, Dr. Olivia Kessel. We'll be speaking weekly with experts in the world of neurodiversity. No topic is too big or too small for us to discuss. We will include things like, how do you navigate education? How can you understand what your child's legal rights are to an education? Practical advice on neurodiversity, and most importantly, hearing the voices of other parents just like you. Looking forward to having you join us weekly as part of the SEND Parenting Tribe. In this episode, we welcome Victoria, a dyslexic mother of twins. She shares with us her journey of discovery and realizing that one of her daughters struggles mirrored her own life's challenges. In this open and warm episode, Victoria brings her personal experience alongside her knowledge as a dyslexic assessor. Well, welcome Victoria to the Send Parenting Podcast. It is so wonderful to have you with us today.
Victoria:
Oh, thank you very much for having me.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
I'm so excited to share your story and hear your story about your journey with dyslexia, both personally and with your daughter, and to hear what that was like. Can you kick us off kind of with telling us a little bit about your story?
Victoria:
Yeah, so, I am, I'm dyslexic and I was lucky enough, I guess, to be diagnosed sort of probably around 12, 13 maybe. So before I hit obviously all my major exams and things. I think as I've said before, I don't really remember struggling too much. But I do remember having to work really hard and finding things very hard and very tiring. But you just sort of get on with it because that is what you do. Roll on several years, <laugh> <laugh>. I now have my beautiful children. My daughter is neurodiverse, I think is the easiest way to say. It's sort of a mixture of things at the moment. It was a bit of a mirror to sort of say, wow, the things that she was struggling with actually they're things that I have probably struggled with and probably still struggle with. And seeing that, helping them with homework when you think, actually, I don't know how to spell that. Looking to the other daughter to help me. So it's really interesting how obviously there's that genetic piece. So for parents who are neurodiverse, there is a 50 to 60% chance that that will be passed down to their child. And of course it is not a guarantee it wil be passed down, but there is a 50 to 60% chance.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
I know I, I'm in that club as well with my father and myself , and my daughter andshe's looking forward to having her neurodiverse children.
Victoria:
<laugh>. <laugh>. They bring such special gifts with them, don't they? Yeah. So yeah, so looking at her, I was, I guess I saw some earlier signs of, of wondering was she a little bit different too, she has a twin sister. Okay. So was she a bit different to her twin sister? I guess knowing my background I was sort of watching it quite carefully, and making sure that we got her the help that she needed when she needed it and as quickly as we possibly could. When
Dr Olivia Kessel:
Did you first, you know, begin to suspect? Was it from the school or was it your own kind of, um, helping her with her homework?
Victoria:
It was actually really early on, so as a, I would say as a baby. My mom noticed that a few things and I would notice now we had I guess the joy the twins. So we had a direct comparison and a lot of people would say, well, you're a first time mom. It's just development. Everyone develops at different rates and not to worry and it'll all be fine. And quite often that is the case, but there are also the times when that isn't the case. So over the years my daughter would sort of get slightly further behind her twin sister. She would get there and she would have these very large leaps. So you think nothing's happening, nothing's happening, and then suddenly she's there. Whereas the other daughter had a gradual progression that kind of really for me was a red flag of why is this a little bit harder for her. It was aligned with, she had a milk intolerance, so it was very much rejecting food for quite a long time because she was in a lot of pain. And again, that was picked up by accident by a pediatrician one day took the milk away and she stopped screaming and she was a much happier baby.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
Wow That must have been huge for you as well.
Victoria:
Yeah, <laugh>, yeah, a lot more sleep, basically <laugh>. So I think it is just sort of seeing some of the flags and I think, you know a lot of people just focus on the big ones, you know, are they walking, crawling, talking and all of that is very important. But it is also to say that if they're not doing some of those on age targets, that doesn't mean there is a problem either. So I just really watched her all the way through and then when she started school I said, please, can you keep an eye on her from your professional opinion? I feel there's going to be something not, you know, I think she's going to be a little bit further behind some of the others and whether she needs extra support. And I think the school have been amazing and they worked with me and I think that's the key thing. You have to work with the parents. You can't expect the school to do it and you can't expect the parents to do it
Dr Olivia Kessel:
Has to be a collaboration, otherwise it doesn't work
Victoria:
Yeah, yeah. And an honest one, you know, being open to what you're going to hear and taking that on board and you may not like it sometimes. And other times it's a bit of a relief to hear it from somebody else, that it's not just you seeing something and it's not just in your head. So working in collaboration and with the school, they have supported her and, and we work together. We get the homework sent home so we can look at it before she goes into lessons and you know, we, it is all about helping stop stopping that gap from getting bigger. So keeping her in touch with her cohort and her peer group to ensure that she can achieve what she can, you know, she really can achieve it, but it is going be harder. And sometimes you just have to be taught in a slightly different way than what is set up in most normal mainstream schooling.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
And how did you, did you go through some formal diagnosis or was this just you and the school talking and kind of, this is indicative of maybe my dyslexia or other learning challenges or did you go down a more formalized assessment route?
Victoria:
So, a bit of both really. And I say that loosely so yes, school and I and the family were sort of watching it and we, you know, sit in the normal assessments and see how she's doing. But very quickly the school said, yes, actually we do agree with you. We do think that something a little bit different. And at that point we went and got her assessed and we've done a couple of different assessments. And unfortunately it's like everything, one can only look at one particular area and they often, these things come with variety linked together. It's like a jigsaw and you may have different traits of different areas, but it's how they inter interplay and how that connects. So we would sort of start it with a general view with a community pediatrician to essentially rule in or rule out anything major.
Victoria:
So having gone through that one, we understood where she sat with certain things. And then the next step was to then have a specific assessment. So she had a speech and language assessment and she had a dyslexia assessment. And all of those together give you the big profile. They help you understand her jigsaw, the picture for her, and you start to be able to focus in on what are the specific things to help her that's gonna make the bigger difference. So if you just look at it for an umbrella term, whether that be dyslexia or ADHD or anything else, like on on those lines, you know, the big picture is an umbrella. You may not have all of those ticks. And often, you know, I probably have, I'm guilty of this and I know I hear the parents say, well, my child can sit and concentrate so they can't have ADHD. But that's not really what ADHD is. There's a lot of what in the world what we think some of these neurodiverse people, children should behave and look like. And actually it's, we are very ill informed with what truly is behind it
Dr Olivia Kessel:
And the symptoms differ based on sex, based on ethnicity, based on masking. So yeah, it's not your classic child running around the, the classroom, you know, behaving badly.
Victoria:
Exactly. And you know, and I think that is the, even if you said this profile is the same as another child, so child A has one profile, child B has another, it will still manifest itself in a different way because there are other variables coming into play there. So it's what is right for that child and what is specific that's gonna help them the most achieve what it is they want to be doing. And that, you know, that's where that journey will continue. We're still working through what, what is the right thing to do for her. It's,
Dr Olivia Kessel:
It's very personalized I think. And having those assessments put you puts put you puts your child's personalized journey onto a map that then changes with time. Yes.
Victoria:
Yes. And I think that's the thing is it's not fixed. Okay, these things we can work on. If you got injured and you went for physio, you'd keep doing your physio to improve. It's the same thing with a lot of these things. Yes, some of it is never going to be fully 100% functioning in the way we might like it to, but we can improve things and we can find strategies that help us work with that. And I think this is where girls particularly are very good at hiding these things at primary school age because they've learned to mask, they've just learned to cope. It's their way. There is, you know, it's not, they've deliberately put something in the way to hide it. They just have learned to cope with it in that way. And I think the masking starts to fall off, particularly coming into secondary school for boys and girls because there's so much more demand on them.
Victoria:
You know, just timetables, timetables A and B, which week is it? What classroom is it? You know, who's the teacher? Can I write my homework down? I haven't written my homework down, right? So therefore I haven't done my homework. I'm now frustrated and I'm now, you know, feeling the pressure of it all. So whilst at primary school there's a lot more structure and they can mask it. I think when you find the demands of secondary school get greater, that pressure becomes harder and people then say, well, they were fine in primary school. Why are they suddenly not okay now? Well, they probably weren't okay in primary school, but they got through.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
It's interesting because you know, if there's any indication with kids, if they have a hearing issue or if they have a sight issue that school, primary schools are the first ones to say, you know, go check this out, go get it sorted. But there doesn't seem to be, unless there's a parent like you who was, you know, kind of cognizant of it already and was on the lookout and could as you said, two, one that was neurotypical and one that's neurodiverse, that that gave you a good, indication as a first time mom that there was something different. But a lot of parents don't and we don't really assess children to find out who's masking like we would for eyes or ears. Yeah it would be such a benefit to children, I think to make it just normal practice.
Victoria:
Yeah. And I think that it comes with some sort of pros and, um, disadvantages I guess. So I know there is a discussion going on around whether we screen early in schools for dyslexia, now you can screen some screeners are better than others, but they're not going to tell you if they are dyslexic or not. It's giving you the likelihood that they might be, which for some might be enough. I think it then has to be who's reading that and who's giving those messages to parents because you know, having a top line screener, that's not a specific test, it's not been standardized, it's not had a professional understanding those results and comparing those results, it, it could be quite a dangerous tool in a way. But at the same time, if it does flag up for some of those that may not have otherwise been flagged up, then is that not a good thing? So I think they, they screeners would be great as long as they're used in the right way, and understood in the right way like anything else.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
And it's interesting because it's the same with autism, it's the same with adhd. They have screeners, they're not definitive diagnosis, but parents are kind of between a rock and a hard place with assessments when you're looking at three, three and a half years wait, which is far too long for children
Victoria:
Yeah. And I think, as you and I both know, the sooner you can get in and start working with that child, the better the chance you have with helping them. And so it's, I sometimes really find it hard when you're sort of saying, well we can't diagnose or we can't assess someone for dyslexia until they're sort of seven and a half eight and you're feeling, well hang on, by the time that's sort of year three coming into year four, they've already done all their phonics, which is often, you know, where the issues lie.
Victoria:
Where the issues lie <laugh>. I guess, you know, I find that quite hard, but I also, as someone who's trained in dyslexia assessment, understand why that is in there.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
I would love to know why <laugh> <laugh>
Victoria:
Really <laugh>. Yeah. So I think why they don't, why we wouldn't assess them till a bit later is they haven't had the full exposure to the breadth of the academic areas that we'd need to be looking at and their brain won't have fully developed to get there. So if we can assess earlier, but we wouldn't be saying it's a formal diagnosis. We'd be saying these are the areas we are seeing some strengths and weaknesses in at the moment. So they may be the areas you want to focus on and support in. But we wouldn't be saying definitively yes or no until a bit later when we have got through and they also have had some intervention, you know, appropriate intervention. So actually they may be behind in a particular area, did they have a lot of earache, glue ear, other things that may have had an impact. And actually when you then put the intervention in place, that difficulty has removed or has got less. So it you really do need to understand why the difficulty is there and therefore the best way to progress going forward.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
And playing devil's advocate a bit, even if you know, let's say even 50, 60% of them don't actually test positive, let's say for dyslexia when they hit seven or eight. I bet putting those interventions in place when you have noticed that there isan issue would benefit any child. So I hear what you are saying in that you can't make a definitive diagnosis but actually picking up that a child is struggling regardless if it's because of dyslexia, glue ear, whatever with phonics and that they maybe need to have extra tutorials or a different way of looking at phonics like toe by toe. I know my daughter's done it, I don't know how many times, um, <laugh>
Victoria:
Must be fun
Dr Olivia Kessel:
She's still doing it. Yeah. But it's helping, you know, it is helping. So you know, having that earlier indication that a child is struggling, then maybe when you hit that point where you're actually testing for it, those children might be on the more higher functioning level of dyslexia or not have it because they have grommets or whatever cause has been sorted out. But it would benefit children. So I think being early with an intervention, like in medicine, I think with school early intervention would benefit the child more than waiting for, as you say year three, year four, when then all of a sudden you're starting to look at secondary schools stuff is picking up pace. Kids are preparing for exams sometimes to go into those secondary schools and then it becomes overwhelming.
Victoria:
Yeah. And I think it is that real challenge between historically and it may still happen really we wait for them to fail before we pick them up. Exactly. And actually we should be picking them up before they're failing because one of the biggest things around dyslexia and I guess sort of for other neurodiverse difficulties with it is confidence and self-esteem, huge, you know, if you can keep them confident, they are already hardworking, they already, you know, are more resilient than the majority. So you have to keep that confidence in. But if they have noticed and they become a lot more cognizant of the difficulties they have, you know, hang on, Joe next to me can write, I still kind of have a squiggle on a page or they're reading chapter books and I'm still on, you know, the very early books then if you can just break that and make sure that, you know, you keep their confidence, they will be able to take on their challenges much more readily
Victoria:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and I think this is where it comes back to the looking through sort of have this, how are school set up to ensure that we are supporting everybody. So I know we, we often joke around the sort of actually what is normal and there are probably more neurodiverse children in that classroom than there are normal children, but yet it's set up typically for a normal for a non neurodiverse child.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
I like that. Non neurodiverse instead of neurotypical <laugh>.
Victoria:
Yeah,
Victoria:
That's me trying to find my words. Yeah, <laugh>. And so I, again, I am very lucky that the, the school my daughter is at, they teach in reception as if you are dyslexic. Oh really? So that those who have still learnt and they're fine. And those that maybe or are later on have been taught in a way of which they will not have fallen behind so much. So, you know, I think we are very, very lucky with that. That's brilliant. Yeah. And I think that's where we probably really need to look at and whether that is a, you know, do or don't do the screener, but let's set up the classroom and the teaching to support everybody and not just a particular a group that would thrive in that situation.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
Yeah, no, I agree. And um, that's the interesting thing about it is that the way we teach neurodiverse children actually probably would benefit neurotypical children too because it tends to be more immersive. It tends to be, um, more well-rounded. Yeah.
Victoria:
Multisensory word we like. So it covers all areas. So I think, you know, from where we have this, you know, wonder this sort of, I guess as a parent, the flow or the journey that I've gone on as you sit there looking at your child and of course this, these beautiful things arrive into your life and they are wonderful and you look and think is something not quite connecting is something a bit different. In my case, obviously I had a direct comparison the whole way through. And that question around, well how long do you leave that? And I think, I believe I heard your earlier podcast where they said, if in your gut you feel there's something not quite right or you feel you should be doing something, you are probably right. And over the sort of nine years now, I would say yes, obviously the professionals and the medics and they know their area.
Victoria:
But as a mom, I know my child and I know when something isn't quite right. But I also know where perhaps in the assessment she came out worse than she normally is. And I think that's the other important thing around assessments are just a point in time to give you an understanding of how your child is performing at that moment. If you did nothing, that's probably where they would be. Yeah. But the reason we get these assessments is to enable us to help them, to enable us to figure out exactly what it is we need to do to make it a bit easier for them and how we're going to support them. But also I think through that journey of what do you do, when do you do it? Do you go to your GP, do you go into your specialist? You know, is it, am I making too big a thing of this?
Victoria:
What will people think if I'm taking an assessment, the stigma that comes with a Neurodiverse diagnosis, which I do feel is getting better. It's got a long way to go, but it's definitely getting better. It's a minefield. It really is. You don't know as a parent, you know, there's no book on how to parent, there's no book on what a child should look like. There is no normal, there are guidelines. I think it can be quite an emotional journey because probably you are neurodiverse yourself, or one of the parents are and if not, then it's a really new, new area and you don't know what you're looking at or how it feels. And then the other bit is you think, well is that it, has my child got that because of me?
Victoria:
So you go through that sort of small grieving piece, you know, how hard is their life going to be? Will they manage, will they cope, what will they achieve? And then you go for the assessments, which in itself can evoke a lot of anxiety and worry. How do you explain that to the child? So the younger the child... You say that you are going to sit in front of this person and do all of these activities for a really long time. Buy why am I doing it and what does it mean? And I guess in some ways the younger they are, the more you can sort of be fluffy around that <laugh>. the older they are then obviously they probably want to get that support anyway. But it's scary for a parent and then you get this report, you know, it is in black and white, it's there. You can't run away from it. You can't say, oh well maybe they're just, you know different, it will develop into something else. I would suggest you have to really process that slowly.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
I know I cried. You know I had to because you want the best for your child. You want them to have, I didn't even want my kid to have glasses, do you know what I mean? You want them, you want to give them everything, that they possibly can and you know, you don't want them to have any hardships, which is ridiculous. Yes and then you get this assessment back, which as you say, paints the worst case scenario.
Victoria:
Yes. And actually in some ways that can be a good thing because that is the worst case in a way. And that means hopefully, depending on where you sit within that you get the support you need. Now I know that's another battle, which is often discussed, but it does take time to sort of realize that and this child that you think you had and then it's written something and they have got this or they haven't got this. And I just think I know and other parents that I am friends with whose children are going for assessment, I said, please just give yourself a week, read it, digest it. You are going to go through an emotional roller coaster with it. And actually I think the biggest thing is you don't know how you are going to react to it. So give yourself that space and then come back to it and say, okay, my child is still the same child that walked into that room before that report came out. They're still able to do all those amazing things that they were doing before. We just now know the areas they're finding hard and wow, isn't that amazing? Because now we can go and help them, them.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
So Liberating.
Victoria:
Yeah, it is. And you know, particularly parents who have actively gone and sought an assessment because you want to help them. So instead of, you know, trying to add in loads of extra things for them that actually may not be the priority for them, you can now really target and understand what is going on for them. So I know for me, I realized actually I could be so much more patient with my daughter now because one day it'll be fine and the next day it's really hard and before you'd think, why can't you do this? You could do it five minutes ago. And I think that's a learning, even though I am neurodiverse dyslexic myself. I know that if I'm tired, you know, I struggle to, to make comprehensive paragraphs, and all the rest of it. And days where I'm not tired and I'm feeling buoyant, you know, it's a lot easier.
Victoria:
But yet I still hadn't taken that and reflected that onto my child. And it is about sort of saying, okay, so for some of those days you just have to take a step back, take things a little bit slower, let them guide you, be supportive, don't get cross <laugh>. Which again, easier said than done some days. You know, help them through this because they have got to become independent. And so again, the other side is you want to go in and help them. You're trying to do everything. Well that's not helping them either. So I do remember, I laugh during lockdown. I was teaching doing my daughter's SEND teaching for her. And for the SENCO I would do all the beginning activities and then she would come online and do her session with her. And behind the scenes I was trying to cut out some words that I knew she was going to have to use to make it flow better in my mind. <laugh>,
Victoria:
You know, and all of a sudden I heard from the screen, well I think you could be cutting those out yourself, don't you? Which was a very polite way of saying, mommy back off <laugh>. But she was right. You know, I thought it would help her, but actually she needed to do the cutting skills and that's why it was there. It was a reason for it to being there and I know that, but I still wanted to help her. So it is about saying I'm there for those days where it's hard, but for the rest you've got to become independent because we can't be there the whole time either.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
And that, and that's kind of the job of a mum. I remember my daughter saying to me, I can't do the dishwasher. Mummy, I'm dyslexic. I'm like, <laugh>, nice try. Yeah,
Victoria:
Yeah, exactly.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
<laugh>. How is your daughter taking this all on board? I mean, you said she has a twin, so you know, that could be beneficial or also probably hard as well because your twin is able more able maybe to do some things. But I'm sure your daughter is also you know, they're both probably more able in different regards. But how she, how has she taken it and how have you explained to her dyslexia or what she's going through
Victoria:
Yeah, so, excuse me. It is an interesting question because I think anyone going through this journey, it's difficult when you have siblings who don't, and they sort of look at them and think, hang on, how can you be reading that already? Or how can you just do your homework that quickly? And here I am still hours later struggling over the first question. I think earlier on it wasn't really so much of a problem. And I think we've always celebrated effort rather than output necessarily. We have always just celebrated their differences. So I remember one day in the car, one of my daughters said, oh, I'm not very good at art. And the other one said, of course you are, your art is just different to my art, but they're still really good. And I thought, wow, for, you know, they were only think six or seven at this point for her to be able to support her sister like that, to say actually no, it is okay, it's different.
Victoria:
And that is the same for everything, you know, she, she is very good in the drama areas. So she is now sort of, I guess enjoying a lot more drama, um, and singing and she's brilliant at that. The other one, I say the other one, the other twin, twin sister, um, would run away from drama. You know, she is loves writing books. So she is, which is awkward when it's the, the non dyslexic is loving literacy. But she, you know, she will read for hours. She loves to prepare to write books. She is an amazing swimmer. Um, so they have their different strengths and weaknesses and I think they support each other by saying, yeah, but you are good at this. And, but I'm not so good at that. And, and they really talk to each other about that. And I think we try to show that at home.
Victoria:
You know, mommy and daddy are good at different things, but together we all work very well. And you know, those strengths will be used. And I think that is the other part of finding out profiles of your child is when you find their strengths, link their strengths and their interests, and you'll see them be able to progress much more quickly than if you are just constantly trying to sort out weaknesses. Because the weaknesses are generally going to always be there. We can improve them, we can find strategies to help you with them. But come on, let's celebrate the strengths. You know, let's focus in on that. And there are so many, these children are amazing. They have gifts, you know, that other people don't have. I know my daughter is exceptionally kind and she is a little ray of sunshine and she comes in and it melts my heart every time you get a school report and you see the social side that she is brilliant at and you think, I can see the jobs that you could go for like voice over, she's got the most beautiful story voice if she could read the book.
Victoria:
But she, you know, she just, there are gifts, there are things that if she was not neurodiverse, she probably wouldn't have. Um, so yeah
Dr Olivia Kessel:
That is really beautiful. And you know, it's often can be you compete in school for, oh my, my child did this or my child did that, and neurodiversity kind of blows that out of the water and it's actually a gift and it's beautiful to hear, you know, focus on your strengths, accept your weaknesses. Yeah but focus on your strengths and support each other and, and you know, it is a great way to live life really.
Victoria:
Yeah, yeah. And I think acknowledge also because they are working harder, they will get tired. Yeah, and they do get tired a lot more quickly. And I think there's a lot of people who describe it, their buckets will be full very early on. And I think you will learn through your child as a cycle. We always have a down before Christmas, it's the night, you know, it's got darker, it's a very long term. There's often plays, other pressures going on. I have now learned to relax. So for the first couple of years, school probably laughed. They could pull out probably on the date every year when I send an email saying she doesn't seem to be coping right now, how are we gonna look at this? What are we doing? You know, what are you doing? What am I doing? And it sort of took me three years to realize I'm probably doing the same thing at the same point every year. So what lesson can I learn from that is that's just a bit of a tricky time of year. So how do we help her through that? How do we back off a bit? How do we make sure she gets enough sleep? But also for me to just relax because I know, give it another term, she'll be okay again. So yeah, you have to learn how your child responds, and you need to then respond to that.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
They teach us a lot, you know what I mean? That is what I have found about being a parent is children teach us a lot. You know, to be calm, to be introspective. I think when you have to fight for your child, especially in school and stuff like that, you learn a lot. You learn a lot about your strength and about yourself in the process.
Victoria:
Yes, absolutely. And we've been very lucky. We haven't yet had to fight a school system or fight to get something. I have you know, I'm working with children where, you know, I know they need to get a diagnosis on something, but the lists are three, four years, you know, the costs are high and they may not all get that. And I do feel extremely privileged that my daughter has had a diagnosis and she does get the support and that, you know, I've sort of stayed off work so that I can help her and I've gone and trained in this to make sure I know what's going on.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
And now you can help other children as well, which is fantastic. So it's taking something that's been challenging and making it into something really positive for you as well.
Victoria:
Yes, yes, exactly. And I think, you know, I, you have conversations and people always say things like, my child is dyslexic. Oh, but they are still really clever. Or my child is dyspraxic, but they're really clever and I really sort of curl up inside with that, but why are we putting a but after that? Why does it have to be they have this, but you know, a neurotypical child may be good at one thing, but not another. We don't put a but in there. So I think we do need to change our thinking on that. You know, they just, it is just that they learn differently. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them. It doesn't mean they can't do things. It doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to achieve what they want to achieve. It just means they are going to have to work a lot harder and we have to teach them in a different way to perhaps others might need to be taught.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
And, you know, I think that is a great way to end our conversation because, no truer words have been spoken and also that neurotypical kids would benefit as well. So I think it's time to start just maybe rethinking a little bit about how we educate and your story today has been absolutely brilliant. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
I look forward to, you know, hearing more about your journey to becoming a dyslexic assessor and your pathway going forward. So thank you for being on the SEND Parenting Podcast.
Victoria:
Thank you very much and good luck to everybody.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
Thank you. Bye-bye.
Vicotria
Bye.
Dr Olivia Kessel:
Thank you for listening to the Send Parenting Podcast. If you're new to the show, please follow us as we'll be bringing you amazing people from around the world to support you on your journey with your child, one step at a time. One thing I'd love you to do is go to our website, www.sendparenting.com, and take a look at our new recommendation page of books and podcasts. Your comments and suggestions on books and podcasts that have resonated with you would be greatly welcomed. I'm going to upload a brilliant book by Kate Griggs: This is Dyslexia. It's definitely worth a read, although it doesn't have an audio book, it has lots of scanable QR codes that take you to videos. My daughter and I read it together and the videos made it super enjoyable for her. Wishing you and your family a happy week ahead.