HBO documentary, “Journey into Dyslexia"

Hi group members,

A new HBO documentary film entitled  “Journey into Dyslexia,” presents profiles of dyslexic students and adults who share their experiences of struggling in school and then succeeding in life.  The strength of the video is because of the many adult professionals who speak to viewers about how they once struggled to learn in school, but now consider their dyslexia a unique gift and the defining reason behind their success.

You can watch a short, one-minute video about the documentary at  http://www.videoverite.tv/pages/film-JID-about.html >

I think it would be a great vehicle for staff development, for parents, and even for adult education students.

Has anyone seen this documentary as yet?

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

 

 

 

Comments

I just finished watching this. It' a bit long at 72 minutes. But it has a lot of thought-provoking interviews with young people and adults who talk about what it is like to exist in a world in which people constantly highlight the things you can't do while ignoring the things you're good at. One teacher in a school for students who learn differently stressed that there is no one solution because no two students are the same. As a teacher, he visualizes himself sitting at a sound board and continually adjusting each of the knobs up or down as he discovers more about how each student learns best.One man with dyslexia, now head of his own company, likened the "fix-you" approach used by many educators to someone saying to a person with no legs, "You just have to strengthen your arms so you can drag yourself up the stairs faster" rather than providing a wheelchair and building a ramp.  He said that he never learned to read well and has only read two books in his life. He then shared some of the technology he uses when he needs to get information from print such as a camera that takes a picture of a page and then reads it aloud to you. I think this is a great film for everyone to see--instructors as well as all those people who "learn differently." If we want learners to be involved in making decisions about their own learning, we have to start giving them the information they need to talk about what works and what doesn't. Home copies of the video are $19.99 and nonprofit organization copies $89.99. You can also watch it free if you have a subscription to HBO GO.