Neurodiversity

The Talking Library

15/10/2012 by brain-e

The day started with a phone call to Fiona Hutchinson, to unfortunately explain that I was stereotypically running late, and a bit disorientated as to where I was supposed to be. After a small amount of anxiety about finding a new place; an approximate ten minute walk from Borough station is where I found the home of a charity called Listen Books.

Why am I looking for a book with ears? I was invited by RASP publishing to record the two poems I have published in their audiobook version of the poetry anthology Forgotten Letters. With a large amount of their subscribers being dyslexic, having a visual impairment and other physical disabilities, it was a great opportunity to reach an empathetic audience.

With a bit of help from Jenny as my SatNav on the phone (as my iPhone was on the blink, so I couldn’t use maps). I eventually made it to their door, and was greeted by Fiona Hutcheson the Copyright and Communications Manager, signed in and met the friendly bunch upstairs. I was then swiftly whisked off down stairs to meet Will Parker (using the visual mnemonic “Shakespeare dressed as Spiderman” so I could remember his name). Did a couple of takes and hopefully has a few expletives I made as I stumbled over my words a few times, edited out. The poems recorded were “Where Ya Comin’ From” and “The sWord”.

A great charity that allows people to access the written word where they may have not ever been able to. With Stephen Fry as a patron and The Baroness Warnock DBE as president, I didn’t feel in the slightest a intimidated (yeah right!).

Will Parker Audio Producer (not to be confused with Shakespeare or Spiderman)

What is the point of reading? Why do we read?

08/09/2012 by brain-e

What is the point of reading…?

…not the place as that is a heteronym, making sure not to offend any residents. Why do we read?

Learning the mechanics of reading

I wasn’t assessed as dyslexic until I was in the second year of my BA Hon’s. I didn’t really read much till then; I would read the odd graphic novel, but become more interested in copying the pictures of Tank Girl and Joe Pineapples (graphic novel fans will know these characters), eventually stop reading the story and start drawing the characters.

With hindsight being taught to read at school never involved being asked questions to find out how much comprehension I obtained from what I read. Whether we read a novel, article, signpost, invoice or receipt, we do it for understanding. For many including myself, learning to read as a child was about reading out loud. This was really to enable teachers to make sure that sounding out words and pausing in the correct places, is done correctly. This was done for the sake of their understanding, with the intention of assessing my mastery of the mechanics of reading.

Analogically, the reading process I was using after being taught in the above way could be compared to a Piano Roll (allowing a piano to mechanically play music through perforations on paper). With this in mind, the interpretation of music from a Piano Roll, e.g. a Bach sonata, would lack the cerebral and emotional interpretation that a classical pianist would give: due to a greater familiarity and understanding of the notation, the composer and human expression.

Essentially, what I believe I was doing, was just “sounding out”. This is the equivalent of what a Piano Roll would be doing with the perforated notation: producing sounds that relate to the symbols in front of me. For a teacher this would be the act of reading out loud; however, with my dyslexic mind, this was done successfully without making a real connection to what the collective meaning of the sounds were. Nonetheless, it would give my teachers the satisfaction that I understood the basic mechanics of the notation; what symbols related to what sound, for the purpose of being assessed for that particular literacy level.

Not Reading the signs

I became good at using using the Piano Roll process, to the extent that I was always chosen to do long verbal performances for primary school parent and teacher events. This involved a lot of practice, so I could have whatever text’s sound oral shape chiseled into my long-term memory. I remember performing the pieces and an audience laughing at jokes that were in the text; but I would be surprised at the laughter, as I had no comprehension that what I was reciting was a joke. I knew they weren’t laughing at my performance as I had perfected it in rehearsals, with teachers’ approval; retrospectively, I just didn’t understand what I was reading. Alternatively one could argue that the jokes were for an older audien

ce and that they were just go over my head, but this was the case for every time I was performing some kind of text, that I was elected to do. In a way I was a bit like a performing monkey, turning the handle but not knowing why and what for, I think I’m owed some bananas or peanuts at least. However, this monkey used this Piano Roll technique to bluff my way through school.

Reading, My Mind!

So why did I never get the meaning from what I was reading. Well this relates to the title of this post: “What is the point of Reading?” Being dyslexic as well as ADHD, one of the definitions that dyslexia and ADHD have in common is a working memory deficit. Due to this working memory deficit, sequential tasks can prove to be a bit difficult. Essentially, reading is a sequential task that relies on other skills related to the working memory: having a good visual processing and phonological processing skills. Cognition of what I or anyone else reads relies heavily a good working memory. However, this maybe due to the way that we are all taught to read.

One of the first things learned on the SuperReading™ course is to relearn how to use your finger when reading. Now this may seem basic and simple, but for me reintroducing this was profound. Ron Cole gave an example of what comes natural to us as human beings: whilst in mid-lecture, he unexpectedly threw a piece of screwed up paper across the room, we all followed the paper’s trajectory with our eyes. He pointed this out, and I thought this was interesting; as we as a group all tracked the rolled up ball of paper, like an audience in a tennis match.

As human beings we are designed to hunt for things (apologies to the vegetarians I was once vegetarian too, till I learned about the Hunter Vs. Farmer theory¹), we have binocular vision, which the majority of predatory mammals have. This helps predators get better judgement of where their prey is, essentially keeping their eyes on the prize. We have peripheral vision that helps us to notice things that are either side of us, whether it is a predator or prey. According to recent research dyslexics have better peripheral vision², could this be a factor as to why it is difficult for a dyslexic mind to read and why words blur or move off the page. Pointing you’re your finger or a spear at prey would allow for better focus, if that meant you had to successfully hunt. Hunting is more of natural activity to humans than reading is. With the Australian aborigines in mind, a society that hunts (or hunted in some cases), there is less of a need to read and write to survive.

What is Natural

One morning whilst I was on the course I was having breakfast with my family. My son to at the time was around nine months old pointed at an apple that he wanted to eat. I recognised, that neither my wife nor I had ever taught him how to point at something; it was something that he did instinctively and innate. The act of pointing at something outside of ones self is an expression of cognition, inborn in the majority of all human beings. In the many cultures we are socialised out of pointing; we are told as children, that it is rude to point. Paradoxically, when learning to read with the intention of mastering this mechanical process, we are told to use our finger; but without good reason we are eventually told that there is “no need to point”. In doing this I feel, teachers are literally “Missing the Point”.

¹ Thom Hartmann and John J Ratey, ADD success stories : a guide to fulfillment for families with Attention Deficit Disorder : maps, guidebooks, and travelogues for hunters in this farmer’s world (Grass Valley, Calif.: Underwood Books, 1995).

² Annie Murphy Paul, ‘The Upside of Dyslexia’, The New York Times, 4 February 2012, section Opinion / Sunday Review <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/the-upside-of-dyslexia.html> [accessed 8 September 2012].

ADHD = Attention Deficit Hyperactivity and Disorder or Attention Difference Hyper Drive

23/08/2012 by brain-e

There are many people who have done exceedingly well due to having a diagnosis of ADHD or to have been presumed to be or have been ADHD. Prominent individuals who have “come out” as having an ADHD diagnosis include: Michael Phelps, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Jim Carrey and Rory Bremner to name a few. Those that have been presumed to have had traits that would fit symptom traits include Sigmund Freud, Richard Branson (who is dyslexic so far I have not read from a reliable source or heard him mention he has had a diagnosis of ADHD, please comment with a link if you have found one), Thomas Edison and Steve Jobbs etc etc etc.

It is said that many people with an ADHD diagnosis have many positive attributes including: copious amounts energy, creativity in many fields, a high IQ, divergent and quick thinking, a good sense of humour and the ability to hyper-focus. Having a diagnosis of ADHD myself, I can say from an observation of my skill set that this is true (yes I know it sounds smug). However in this world of two poles, for every positive there is probably a negative. One could ask, how strong is the negative pull, if there are any strategies to help pull in the opposite direction; this all depends on what life has served up for each individual with an ADHD diagnosis. To get a better perspective there is a study at the Institute of Psychiatry entitled “The Advantages of ADHD”.

ADHD is usually described as an impairing condition and most research has focused on understanding the causes of ADHD and the associated problems often seen in clinics. For this reason ADHD has come to be understood from mainly a negative perspective. However some evidence suggests that children and adults with ADHD may also have certain advantages (specific strengths, talents or resources) that occur because of their symptoms. Through a series of research interviews with adults with ADHD, the aim of the study is to determine whether some people consider their symptoms to be positive, as well as negative, and to better characterise any advantages associated with ADHD.

UNiFORMity: dyslexia and filling in forms

17/07/2012 by brain-e

The image above can resonate with some of us, how filling in forms can infuriate and take a lot of energy out us, leaving us tired and frustrated and sometimes not even wanting to bother. Well that’s how society can exclude many of us with neurological differences. A big sigh when we see them and a bigger sigh when they are complete when it comes to dyslexia and filling in forms.

Whether you are applying for a job, college, university, passport or bank account; we all have to complete forms of one kind or another.

Paper forms are unreliable for various reasons:

they get lost in the snail mail
lost by the person filling the form (if you have a working memory difficulty, thats probably something that happens often)
(the most annoying, especially when it takes you so long to complete with copious amounts of stress) the organisations that sent you the forms that require you to send them, lose the forms you eventually send (Phew!)

Many dyslexic (non dyslexic) people get frustrated due to ongoing problems filling in a form. So we thought we would create a post about it.

Advice with form filling for dyslexics, dyspraxics and ADDers.

1. Before completing the form, contact the organisation and ask if they have a electronic copy of the form

For many PDF and Word document versions of a form are easier to compete. If this is the case for you there is no harm in asking.

2. Read instructions with a highlighter pen and highlight all requirements

This includes highlighting all the documents that have to be sent with the form.

This helps with remembering to include them and acts as a Todo list when completed, you will be able to see at a glance what is required.

3. Always write it all in pencil first

We advise that you should pester a is non-dyslexic/dyspraxic/ADDer friend/partner etc to read the form through.

4. Correct it while still in pencil, including double-checking all numbers, names etc.

Proofreading our own work is a (majority of the time) not a dyslexic, dyspraxic or ADDers strong point especially with their own work.

5. Get a friend to check it before you go over in pen

6. Use a black pen to write over the pencil

This is generally what is required for completing a form any way. Forms are dull and so is the colour black, with that in mind it could help you to remember that.

7. Only rub out the pencil once you are sure that it is correct and it has been completely filled out in pen

If you still make a mistake do not whiteout. Instead just cross out and then initial mistake.

8. Always make a copy the form before sending off

Use a photocopier, scanner or even your smartphone (if you have one). With a smartphone you can email it to yourself or you can upload it to Evernote. This is in case it gets lost or someone wants more info.

9. Go through all the instructions you highlighted before sending off the form

Frequently organisations that request you to complete a form, will also ask for other documents to be sent with the completed form.

Dyslexic Poetry

08/07/2012 by brain-e

Dr Naomi Folb has worked extremely hard to bring some of the most well known and obscure but brilliant poets together for an anthology. Published by RASP her publishing company, Forgotten letters is the first of it’s kind; a paradox that can be held in the palm of your hand.

There are some notable poets who have got involved included Benjamin Zephania and Philip Schultz. There are are also some lesser known poets who are notable campaigners for positive dyslexia awareness (less of the deficit please), including DYSPLA organiser Alennie Varvaridea and Dr Naomi Folb herself. Not forgetting of course, me with two poems entitled “Where Ya comin’ from” and “The sWord”.

Its available from Amazon too, so get a copy and support and help us boost our self-esteem, and appreciate these Magic Spellers. Oh! and one more thing, when you get a copy it’s not worth trying to read it backwards, back to front or upside-down as that won’t help you understand our holistic dyslexic abstract world, we’ve all “reasonably adjusted” it for the majority, so there’s no excuses.

Thou Art – A film about outsiders, creativity & mental health?

11/04/2012 by brain-e

Back in October I attended a showing of a film called Thou Art. The film was part of a project of the same name which was a collaboration between South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and University of the Arts London, funded by the Arts Council England and the South London and Maudsley Charitable Trust. Individuals who have a mental health history made the film itself and the art within it, this included the direction of the film, the music and the artists who are interviewed in the film.

The film explores how each artist makes their work and the barriers they encounter as individuals with mental health issues and as individuals who have this innate need to create. Through interview and being able to view their artwork as the film progresses, you obtain an idea of how important this urge to create art is to these individuals as artists, as human beings and as therapeutic practice and the need to survive through the creativity and its process, as well as the need to survive in the world we live today.

Thinking differently

Before the film screening the director, Jake Stratton explained the background of film and a bit about himself. He explained that he had had a Bi-polar diagnosis (his personal connection to the film’s subject), furthermore, he also saw himself as a creative person, working professionally as an editor in television following studies at London College of Communication, part of the University of the Arts London. He explained that he left school with no academic qualifications eventually finding work in a car maintenance garage.

Fatma

One artist we encounter in the film is named Fatma. She has a diagnosis of Schizophrenia and dyslexia (a co-morbidity from a medical perspective) and explains: “sometimes being dyslexic interferes with learning, being Schizophrenic also interferes with learning”. Another artist expresses how he makes art to express things that he finds difficult to put into word. I ask, ‘is it because what he is trying to express is too abstract for words or is it because he has always had a difficulty with words?’

Deviating from the norm

“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible” Frank Zappa

1 in 3 students at the University of the Art’s London are dyslexic . Dyslexia is defined and characterised by a difficulty with working memory, sequential processing and gets its name from difficulties associated with the development of the ability to process language-based information in the way that is expected by conventional schooling and education. In the early years of education the official recognition of an individual as having these difficulties would probably be down to a number of varying factors including financial background and severity of difficulties. However, there are those with an unintentional mask; an underlying ability leading to the development of coping strategies. Recognised by teachers, this underlying ability masked by difficulties can be perceived as laziness, clumsiness, lack of interest or a number of other derogatory labels. This can lead to these individuals having low self-esteem, becoming withdrawn, becoming depressed or angry and frustration expressed through bad behaviour. These metaphors misread by teachers can lead to ridicule or punishment and rejection from their peers. Those who get recognised late in life as adults have probably just struggled to get by; with their underlying ability being ignored and can label themselves with the same derogatory labels they were told as a child; becoming adept at negative self-talk that only decreases their idea of self-worth, in turn affecting emotional aspects of how they understand themselves and how they associate to the world around them. There are similar sequential difficulties that are less obviously detected from poor spelling and poor reading; those who are dyspraxic, with dyscalculia, Aspergers, ADHD or ADD. Many people whose behaviours and difficulties fit the spectrum of difficulties can go undiagnosed until adulthood or their entire life. These adults, like the children above could have the low self-esteem, depression and anxiety which are in themselves considered mental health conditions, this sense of being excluded would obviously affect your mental health. There are of course also those that don’t get recognised at all.

Paul

The need to create

So why the need to create? It’s an esoteric question, repeated it seems in every essay within the book Art and Theory. The same applies to the question that mankind has always asked – Why are we here?

As far as history and anthropology shows us, creating stuff is an intrinsic part of being human. Whether through the need to solve a problem, or just trying to make sense of the human condition and existence, these combinations of neurological processes, emotions, senses and thought are innate. Furthermore, without any of these there is nothing to express: no expression = no creativity.

Creativity has been associated with divergent thinking by psychologists and academics. Sir Ken Robinson has published books and talks about this. A test of using this ability would be to ask someone what can be done with a paper clip and record how many things that person can come up with. It has been said that divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions, if you have a problem with sequencing its is possible that your ideas, conversations etc, can go off on tangents in a different direction. This can either get you lost or on an adventure where you find something new, or linking things that usually don’t get linked, or through calculation or chance create new idea or a new thing. This in essence is creativity. People with the above labels and other mental health conditions often have a difficulty with the their working memory. The working memory affects executive function in the brain allowing it to process information in a linear sequential way. If an individual has difficulties with working memory, processing information sequentially presents problems.

Outing the insiders

A person who creates art not having an art school education and indoctrination, may identify themselves as an artist,yet the art establishment is likely to have them labelled as an outsider artist. The term outsider artist has been used to pigeonhole art by the clinically insane. Ironically, there is are a majority of art school school students who have come from white upper or middle-class backgrounds (an elite majority of insiders) who strive to be the cliched art school student: to rebel, to be bohemian. However, the meaning of the word bohemian can be explained as ‘one who has informal and unconventional social habits’. If you look at the synonyms relating to the word bohemian, they can all be related to how society expects people not to be. Being an individual who is neurologically different with or without a diagnosis can make you feel like an outsider, especially as you are more likely to do, smell, taste, see, hear, think, process and feel things differently.

Defining and finding your own personal genius

With a diagnosis of ADHD and dyslexia is the person co-morbid because of who they are and how they are supposed to be, or is it because they are a particular way that doesn’t “fit-in” with what is considered to be the norm. They are in a minority that thinks differently, creatively, holistically, non-sequentially/disorganised, tangentially, divergently.

The above mental states can easily be related to, or attributed to mental health issues and in some respects are on a list of mental health symptoms. This could be a result of how the education system and society expects us to be. If you are predestined genetically to think differently, are you predestined to be an outsider? Relating to Cooper’s Bagatelle Model of Neurodiversity to mental health, the way one thinks will affect the way one feels. If you think like you do not belong, you will more than likely feel like you do not belong. These are thoughts of exclusion, negative thoughts that will have a negative affect on the way the person who is thinking them, chemically and biologically.

It seems that creativity and excellence in any field is admired by most as genius and madness seems to be a common occurrence and almost a cliche. Van Gogh presumed bi-polar is probably the most renowned. It seems that part of being human is mental health and its instability. The other ways of thinking and viewing the world are what lead to new horizons and new ideas. It is the general consensus in contemporary society the we accept people of different cultures and colour of skin, but these are easily noticed through sight and sound. There are hidden subtleties that still seem taboo that are stigmatised and still not accepted as part of the human condition.

I thought I would end this post with some quotes related to the topic…

“For me, insanity is super sanity. The normal is psychotic. Normal means lack of imagination, lack of creativity.” -Jean Dubuffet

“It seems to me madness to wake up in the morning and something other than paint, considering that one may not wake up the following morning” Frank Aurbach