Confidence & Motivation

Why Reading, Spelling And Writing Is Difficult?

Lesson Content:

• Reasons why people find reading, writing and spelling difficult.
• Brain processing differences.
• Separating brain processing from intelligence.
• Identifying six areas of the brain to understand:
  1. Seeing
  2. Hearing
  3. Speech
  4. Organizing
  5. Memory

Speed

Lucas – 13 Year Old Secondary School Student

Learning Difficulties:

• Lucas does not read or write at all.

Support Received:

• Lucas has a ‘scribe’ to assist him with written work at school.

Achievements:

• Good at Acting, Art, Literacy and Story Writing.
• Lucas has already started an acting career.
• Lucas has already made and sold his own film and been nominated for film awards.

Advice To Other Students:

• Ask for help from friends at school.
• Ask for help from teachers for special selection of subjects.
• Follow your own interests when you can.
• See dyslexia as a tool and not a disability.

Strengths And Successful People

Lesson Content:

• Discovering how nerve pathways in the brain, work.
• Introducing successful people who struggled at school.

Andrew – Australia’s Leading Internet Entrepreneur – Part One

Learning Difficulties:

• Andrew struggled with Reading, Writing and Mathematics at school.
• Andrew questioned his own learning ability in Grade 3 but no diagnosis was made.
• Andrew attended 13 different schools.

Support Received:

• Andrew completed year 10 at secondary school.
• Andrew’s parents acknowledged learning difficulties, but knew he was intelligent.
• Andrew had the assistance of tutors but wasn’t self-motivated and resented doing extra work.
• Andrew met his wife and she mentored his studies at University…. (to be continued)

Are There Other People Like Me?

Lesson Content:

• Understanding that everybody has strengths and weaknesses.
• Accepting that nobody is perfect.
• Using the statistics on people who struggle with formal schooling.
• Discovering that struggling at school does not mean you will struggle in life.

Andrew – Australia’s Leading Internet Entrepreneur – Part Two

Achievements:

• Andrew joined the Australian Army and became a Para-Trooper.
• Completed a Law Degree as a mature age student at University.
• Andrew finished in the top 5% of graduates.
• Completed a Self Development course.
• Andrew is now a successful Entrepreneur and Business Manager in On-Line Marketing.

Advice To Other Students:

• Andrew believes the secret to studying is – “learning the skill of how to learn.”
• Andrew uses mind power to change his feelings and attitude to learning.
• Take your own path and don’t be afraid to change direction when you want to.
• How you see the future is often how the future turns out.

Gillian Lynne Story

Lesson Content:

• Inspirational reading and discussion of an excerpt from the book, ‘The Element’ by Ken Robinson.
• The story is based in the 1930’s and prior to ADHD being diagnosed.
• Introducing a little girl, who struggled in class, caused disruption to other students and was always in trouble.
• A psychologist discovered the creative nature of the little girl and advised the parents to take her to Dance School.
• Gillian became a famous dancer and choreographer.

Darren Obah – Professional Australian Boxer And Olympian – Part One

Learning Difficulties:

• Darren moved between country Far North Queensland and country Victoria during school years.
• Darren was slow to learn at school and could not understand teachers, unless instructions were repeated several times.
• Physical punishment was handed out often.
• Could read to survive, but struggled with larger words.

Support Received:

• Darren had no extra support provided at school apart from some of his fellow students.
• Darren tried many sports and found his passion was boxing…. (to be continued)

Two Ways To Learn To Read Faster

Lesson Content:

• Separating letter sounds.
• Using whole words – visualising.
• Ways to help you read faster:
  1. Learning all the names of the alphabet letters.
  2. Learning the sounds letters make.
  3. Reading books with words that are easy to sound out.
  4. Building your memory.
  5. Building your word attack skills.

Speed

Darren Obah – Professional Australian Boxer And Olympian – Part Two

Achievements:

• Boxing taught Darren to train hard and not give up.
• Having parents at boxing fights lifted his spirits and made Darren more determined to win.
• Darren has represented Australia in the Commonwealth and Olympic games.
• Darren is now a professional boxer and has competed all around the world.

Advice To Other Students:

Why I Flip Words And Letters?

Lesson Content:

• Looking at words from different angles.
• Most people flip words and letters up to the age of seven or eight.
• Benefits of being able to think this way.
1. Designers
2. Inventors
3. Architects
4. Artists
5. Photographers
6. Builders
7. Tradespeople
8. High-level thinkers.
9. Business people

Kris – Head Of Department – Queensland University Australia

Learning Difficulties:

• Kris knew she was different at school, but was not diagnosed with dyslexia or hyperactivity until she became a mother.
• People treated her as dumb because she could not read well.
• Kris tried numerous times to get into university.

Support Received:

• No support at school and left school after completing Year 10.

Achievements:

• Good at Art, Gymnastics, & Mathematics
• Typing helped her with spelling.
• Kris has learnt a second language – Spanish
• Kris got into university based on the results of an intelligence test.
• Kris went on to University and passed subjects with the top marks in the State.
• Gained sailing license and pilots license.

Achievements:

• Find other ways to learn and find something you are good at and enjoy.
• Surround yourself with supportive people; whether they are family, friends or teachers.

Ways To Stop The Flip

Lesson Content:

• Looking at ways to stop the flip:
  1. Using hand signals to remind you of correct letter direction.
  2. Using a tracking device.
  3. Trying tinted paper.
  4. Using larger text size or bolder font.
  5. Increasing the spaces between lines.

Phoebe – University Student

Learning Difficulties:

• Phoebe found it hard to remember things and it took her a lot longer to do things.
• Her parents who noticed her tiredness and problems with glare, identified dyslexia.

Support Received:

• Phoebe developed learning strategies using songs and music.
• Wears blue colored glasses and uses blue colored paper for her studies .

Achievements:

• Good at dancing and good social skills.
• Phoebe would like to become a teacher for kids with special needs.

Advice To Other Students:

• Some teachers did not understand her difficulty, despite being told, but the secret is not to get angry with them.
• Phoebe suggests you make sure you eat regularly and work on building your self-confidence.

Gillian Lynne Story

Lesson Content:

• Empowering yourself when dealing with people who don’t understand when you struggle with formal learning.
• Dealing with teachers, parents and other children.
• 4 suggestions for ways to communicate difficulties with literacy.

Bronwyn – Virgin Airline Pilot

Learning Difficulties:

• Bronwyn struggled with reading from Grade 2 and mixed up b’s and d’s and m’s and w’s.
• Bronwyn also had issues with slow speed to process information.

Support Received:

• Bronwyn received extra help with reading and focused on Art and Physical Education.

Achievements:

• Bronwyn went on to study at Art College.
• Bronwyn had the opportunity to learn to fly with the support of her father and went on to become a Boeing 737-800 Captain for Virgin Australia.

Advice To Other Students:

• Bronwyn says chip away at where you want to go because when she looked behind she could see how far she had come.
• Bronwyn was able to re-enforce her theory with practical learning and recommends using checklists.

Understanding Bullying

Lesson Content:

• People of all ages can give other people a hard time and be bullies.
• Often bullies lack confidence or have their own personal problems.
• The difference between ‘bully boys’ and ‘bully girls’.
• Five useful strategies to deal with bullies.

Speed

Tim – National Disability Coordination Officer Australia

Achievements:

Learning Difficulties:

• Kris knew she was different at school, but was not diagnosed with dyslexia or hyperactivity until she became a mother.
• People treated her as dumb because she could not read well.
• Kris tried numerous times to get into university.

Support Received:

• Dyslexia was not diagnosed until he was thirty years old.

Achievements:

• Timothy went back to school as a mature age student to finish year 11 and 12.
• Timothy went on to University and completed a PHD in Philosophy.
• Timothy now assists other people with learning difficulties through the National Disability Coordination Officer Program.

Advice To Other Students:

Visual Processing Difficulties

Lesson Content:

• Eight common reasons why people have trouble reading.
• Eight strategies to try that might assist with reading.

Victoria – Award Winning Interior Designer

Learning Difficulties:

• Victoria had difficulty focusing and concentrating at school.
• Victoria loved being outdoors, playing sports but struggled to sit still in class.

Support Received:

• Victoria identified creativity through story writing as a strong point early on in school.
• Her mum encouraged her to learn to read and write.

Achievements:

• Victoria loved cooking and started out in the hospitality industry.
• Victoria started a Kebab franchise in WA.
• Now an award winning Interior Designer and successful writer.

Advice To Other Students:

• Find something you love and just go for it.
• Use your creativity and find ways to teach yourself everything.

Helpful Hints To Pass A Math Test

Lesson Content:

• Eleven helpful things to ask your teacher to do to assist you in Math Class.
• Examples shown to explain each hint.

Kasenya – Secondary School Student

Learning Difficulties:

• Kasenya was diagnosed with Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome in Year 2.
• She regularly saw things in mirror image and images, objects or writing wavered and shook constantly even though her eyes worked perfectly.

Support Received:

• Kasenya wears tinted glasses all the time.
• She gets tested yearly for the correct color of her glasses.

Achievements:

• Wrote a published book at 10 years of age titled- “I Don’t See What You See”.
• Kasenya is continuing to complete her Secondary Schooling.

Advice To Other Students:

• Don’t be afraid to call a meeting with one or all of your school teachers to explain why you need special learning accommodations, such as, colored paper during classes.

Auditory Processing Difficulties

Lesson Content:

• An explanation of Auditory Processing Difficulties.
• Identifying why people don’t understand or can’t remember information or what they have been instructed to do.
• Introducing the concept of learning to focus and listen to the important information in certain situations.

Chelsea – Primary School Student

Learning Difficulties:

• Chelsea was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age.
• Chelsea doesn’t enjoy reading as she finds it difficult.

Support Received:

• Wears blue glasses for writing and yellow glasses for reading to make the letters more stable.
• Magnification glasses and boards to make the writing larger.
• Uses an e-book reader with audio to help with reading.

Achievements:

• Good at Art and Sport, but finds Literacy and French difficult.

Advice To Other Students:

• Chelsea only shares her difficulties with really close friends, but always helps others.

Tips To Overcome Auditory Processing Difficulties

Lesson Content:

• Avoid environments such as those with excessive noise.
• Gain the direct attention of an instructor.
• Ask for clearly spoken instructions.
• Ask for the use of clear and direct language.
• Use diagrams to assist with instructions.
• Focus on instructions without being distracted.
• Ask for clarification to fully understand.
• Curb judgmental facial expressions.
• Reduce teacher and peer pressure during class.
• Ask for technical support.

April – Hairdressing Apprentice

Achievements:

Learning Difficulties:

• April had an anxious time at school and missed many days.
• April did not enjoy Math, English or Geography, but loved Woodwork, Metalwork and all practical hands-on subjects.
• April left school at age 16.

Support Received:

• April had an opportunity to do work experience, which led to a hairdressing apprenticeship at a salon.
• Small classes and individual tuition at TAFE, assisted with her learning difficulties.

Achievements:

• April has taken up her passion of hairdressing and is doing well.

Advice To Other Students:

• April loved trade school, as she was interested in the subjects being taught.

How To Cope With Feeling Different

Lesson Content:

• Understanding that everyone is different.
• Being different is not being better or worse than anyone else.
• Building confidence to instruct teachers how you like to learn.
• Self-empowerment to improve learning outcomes.

Matt – Graphic Designer

Learning Difficulties:

• Matt struggled with reading out loud, Math, English, Geography and History.
• Matt found it hard to remember times tables and had difficulty reading books.
• Matt avoided sitting exams and completed many tertiary courses at TAFE.

Support Received:

• Matt always had to write things down to remember them.

Achievements:

• Very creative and good at Art and Music.
• Matt left school early and became a sign writer
• With time and increasing confidence, Matt was able to complete a University degree and is now a highly valued Graphic Designer with a very successful business.

Advice To Other Students:

• Don’t allow the fear of failure to take over when exams became critical from year 10 onwards.

Individual Learning Strengths

Lesson Content:

• Exploring learning strengths and preferences
• Discussing multi-sensory tools to assist the learning process.
• Visual tools.
• Auditory tools.
• Sensory touch.
• Physical activities
• Capitalising on emotions

Rob – Website Designer and Student Mentor

Learning Difficulties:

• Rob had undiagnosed ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), which caused his disruptive behavior at school.
• Rob was impulsive and not good at filtering information. He describes himself as a “bull at a gate”.

Support Received:

• When Rob was finally diagnosed with ADHD, he was prescribed medication.
• Rob finally decided he could better control his ADHD using strategies and no longer takes medication.

Achievements:

• Rob is now doing public speaking, creative website design and works with children and adults who have ADHD.

Advice To Other Students:

• Sleep is very important.

World Famous and Successful People Who Struggled At School

Lesson Content:

• Discussions and quotes from famous people.
• Sir Richard Branson – Entrepreneur, founder of the Virgin Group.
• Sir Jackie Stewart – Formula One racing car driver
• Tom Lewis – Professional golfer.
• Albert Einstein – Famous physicist
• Agatha Christie – Famous author.
• Tomas Edison – American inventor.
• Tom Cruise – Famous actor and director.
• Charles Schwab – Financial advisor.
• Keira Knightley – Famous actor.
• Cher – Famous singer and actor.

Ruth – Dancer and Personal Trainer

Learning Difficulties:

• Home schooled until the age of 12 in Scotland.
• Had difficulty with handwriting and was embarrassed in front of the class.
• Did not like reading and used excuses to get out of doing it.

Support Received:

• Had to write lessons out many times to aid memory retention
• No diagnosis of dyslexia while at school but had an understanding English teacher who assisted her in year 12.

Achievements:

• Ruth became a professional dancer.
• Ruth also studied personal fitness training and remedial massage and now owns and runs a successful personal training business in an elite gym in Melbourne Australia.

Advice To Other Students:

• If you find something you are good at, at school such as creative writing, art, dance or sport, then enjoy it.

Strategies To Help You Remember

Lesson Content:

• Using numerical and colored patterns.
• Using associations.
• Formalising alphabetical order.
• Dividing into categories or groups.
• Using chunking.

Libby – Creative Craftsperson

Achievements:

Learning Difficulties:

• Libby was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Difficulties.
• At secondary school she had difficulty understanding, remembering and relaying instructions.
• Libby suffered from anxiety and did not enjoy school.

Achievements:

• Enjoys creative, hands on hobbies and runs a business doing this
• Works as a medical receptionist.

Advice To Other Students:

• Rewrite your own instructions in a way you can understand.
• Develop personalised coping strategies.

More Strategies To Help You Remember

Lesson Content:

• Using imagery.
• Visualising locations.
• Creating stories.
• Utilising mnenomics.
• Engaging multi-sensory techniques.

Andrew – Businessman and Entrepreneur

Learning Difficulties:

• Andrew found school difficult and struggled in English and Math up until Year 7.
• Found later in life, he struggled to comprehend what he was reading.

Support Received:

• Started extra assistance classes in Year 3.
• Andrew received extra tutoring in secondary school.
• Andrew enjoyed many outdoor and indoor sporting activities.

Achievements:

• Finished secondary school and went on to University and achieved a double degree.
• Andrew is a successful businessman running his own companies.

Advice To Other Students:

• Work hard and follow your dreams. Find something you enjoy and make a career out of it.

Strategies People Use To Avoid Being Seen As A Struggling Learner

Lesson Content:

• Exploring types of psychological and physical behaviour to disguise formal learning difficulties.

Stuart – Secondary School Student

Learning Difficulties:

• Stuart has visual and auditory dyslexia, which was noticed at around 7 years of age.
• Stuart repeated Grade Prep and has an excellent spoken vocabulary, but finds reading difficult.
• Suffered bullying from some students.

Support Received:

• Receives a lot of support from parents and close friends at school.

Achievements:

• Stuart has great verbal communication skills.
• Stuart enjoys Performing Arts and Dancing
• Stuart speaks in public about Learning Difficulties

Advice To Other Students:

• Surround yourself with supportive friends at school.
• Find a teacher who is right for you to assist in your learning.
• Realise that there is a fine line between someone holding your hand to do your schoolwork and engaging in learning yourself.

Strategies To Deal With School Stress

Lesson Content:

• Understanding that life is full of ups and downs.
• Dealing with stress comes from within.
• Identifying stressful situations.
• Preparation for stressful situations.
• Using others for support.
• Keeping stressful in perspective and learning to let it go.

Tommy International Singer & Songwriter – Part One

Learning Difficulties:

• Tommy struggled at school and found reading difficult.
• Reading music seemed easy compared to reading words.

Support Received:

• Tommy has always loved music and was good at performing from an early age.
• Tommy was able to earn respect at school with his musical skills.
• Tommy found a mentor to help with his work. John Reid – Former rock band manager to Elton John and the rock band, Queen. (To be continued…)

Getting Over A Bad Day

Lesson Content:

• Keeping things in perspective.
• Using music, physical activities and breathing.
• Putting plans into action when calm.
• Storing bad experiences.
• Finding a mentor.
• Working to your strengths.
• Eating, drinking and sleeping well.
• Positive affirmations.

Tommy – International Singer & Songwriter – Part Two

Achievements:

• Tommy completed VCE in music and went on to do further Tertiary courses.
• Tommy won a scholarship to learn guitar in USA.
• As well as writing, performing and producing music, Tommy has also writes music for others; including the TV series – Neighbours.

Advice To Other Students:

• Despite feeling anxious when performing, he overcomes it using self-belief techniques, practising and working hard.
• It is still important to keep trying to work at the things you are not good at.

What Is Brain Training?

Lesson Content:

• Brain neurons firing and wiring together.
• Functioning Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
• Repetitive learning for physical skills.
• Repetitive learning for mental skills.
• Motivational skills.
• Daily practice routines.

Deborah – Successful Business Owner

Learning Difficulties:

• Deborah had a difficult time at school, but was never diagnosed with learning difficulties at school.
• Deborah was easily distracted and unable to organise or structure her workload so was labeled as ‘lazy’.
• Developed a tactic to become invisible to avoid the pressures of classroom participation.

Support Received:

• As Deborah was never diagnosed with learning difficulties, the expectations from people around her dropped due to her poor formal exam results.

Achievements:

• Deborah got a job with a great boss who saw something special in her where others didn’t.
• Her boss spent 6 years as her mentor and Deborah became a highly successful Account Manager in Advertising.
• Deborah now runs her own successful business for people with Learning Disabilities.

Advice To Other Students:

• Don’t be afraid to seek help from others.
• Let others help you and don’t accept labels from people who do not understand you.

Barbara Arrowsmith Young and Brain Training

Lesson Content:

• Using Barbara Arrowsmith Young as an example of how brain training works.
• Providing key strategies to overcome physical and learning difficulties and disabilities.

Chris – Primary School Teacher

Learning Difficulties:

• Chris could not spell his own name at school.
• Chris could not read out loud and struggled with creative writing.
• A child psychologist diagnosed Chris as intelligent but ‘lazy’.
• Chris suffered anxiety as a result.

Support Received:

• A librarian gave him a special book and provided Chris with the encouragement he needed.
• The librarian became his mentor and Chris then attended the library and read and assisted her at every opportunity.

Achievements:

• Chris went back to University as a mature age student and has become a very successful student and teacher.

Advice To Other Students:

• Find someone to help you. It only takes one person to give you a helping hand.
• Anxiety can become a major block to learning.
• Try to find ways to control negative emotions.

Create Your Own Learning Profile

Lesson Content:

• Consider strengths and weaknesses.
• Identify how you like to learn.
• Identify how you like to remember.
• Look for good mentors.
• Document your personal learning profile.

Frankie – Secondary School Student – Year 12

Learning Difficulties:

• Frankie was not diagnosed as dyslexic until Year 8, but she felt something was not right earlier.
• Frankie’s main difficulty is reading.

Support Received:

• By being formally diagnosed, Frankie now receives accommodations for her exams.

Achievements:

• Frankie enjoys: English, CreativeWriting and Poetry.
• She is also a keen swimmer and enjoys camping.
• Frankie has a number of part-time jobs.
• Frankie has joined a mentoring program supporting handicapped students. She hopes this will lead to career supporting children with disabilities.

Advice To Other Students:

• If you feel or think something is not right, seek advice.

Why You Can’t Give Up…Ever

Lesson Content:

• Recognising that school is a place of formal learning.
• Understanding that technology is advancing and many changes are being driven by younger generations.
• Never being afraid to ask for help.
• Understanding that trying and failing is better than no attempt at all.

Cam – Apprentice Plumber

Learning Difficulty:

• Cam struggled with formal learning at school
• Cam knew early on that something was not quite right.
• Cam preferred learning with his hands.
• Cam found some of the other students gave him a hard time.

Support Received:

• Cam received learning support during primary school and secondary school.

Achievements:

• Cam left school during Year 9 and started a plumbing apprenticeship and has not looked back.
• Cam has excellent visual spatial skills.
• Cam is hardworking and excels at TAFE and in the workplace.

Advice To Other Students:

• If you have your heart set on something go for it
• Learning continues outside of school. Your reading and writing and spelling will continue to get better with time.

Asking Your Teachers For Help

Lesson Content:

• Understanding how you like to learn.
• Using colour coded timetables.
• Clear instructions with written and visual examples.
• Recording instructions for replay at home.
• Utilising technology.
• Multi-sensory learning with key word lists.

MP Anna Burke – Federal Government – Speaker Of The House Of Representatives

Learning Difficulties:

• At school Anna had difficulty with spelling, reading out loud and was unable to structure her writing.
• She could however read to herself and was good at comprehending what she read.

Support Received:

• Anna was tested and diagnosed as highly intelligent and had the support of a private tutor from Grade 5.

Achievements:

• Achieved double University degrees with Honours.
• Anna Burke is now an M.P. in the Federal Parliament of Australia.
• Anna is the first ever female promoted to the position of Speaker of the House.

Advice To Other Students:

• Anna now reads documents beforehand and summarises the content in her mind before she speaks.

Can’t Write – Hate Spelling

Lesson Content:

• Dysgraphia – What is it?
• Auditory processing difficulty and visual memory.
• Ongoing spelling modifications to words.
• 4 tips on how to become a better writer and speller.

Silas – Primary School Student

Learning Difficulties:

• Silas struggles to read, write and spell.
• He was bullied at school because he could not read well.

Support Received:

• Silas has been diagnosed with dyslexia and now has the support of a private tutor.
• Silas wears blue glasses and uses yellow paper.
• Meeting other people with dyslexia has helped build his self-confidence.

Achievements:

• Silas has a fantastic memory and is a great verbal communicator.
• Silas is very creative, loves video games, acting and dancing.

Advice To Other Students:

• Silas recommends that you follow your passion.

Understanding Stress and Anxiety

Lesson Content:

• Why we need some stress.
• Not having enough stress.
• What happens when we feel too stressed and anxious?
• The long term affects of being too stressed.

Sharon – Stroke Survivor

Learning Difficulties:

• After giving birth to a baby in a rural hospital, Sharon temporarily lost her speech and suffered paralysis after suffering a stroke. Hospital staff did not believe her and thought she didn’t want to take care of her new baby.

Support Received:

• Sharon’s husband supported her view that she had, had a stroke and insisted a specialist be brought in and tests be done. Eventually a visiting Neurologist diagnosed she’d had a stroke in the back of her neck and she could finally now get the treatment she so desperately needed.

Achievements:

• Despite suffering a stroke, and feeling weak and powerless, Sharon was able to get the correct diagnosis and the treatment she needed.
• She is now fully recovered and is a successful businesswoman and a caring and loving mother.

Advice To Other Students:

• Trust in your own feelings and your heart if you feel that something is not right.

What Is Anxiety? – Part One

Lesson Content:

• Interview with Paul Blackburn – Life Coach.
• Introducing mentor programs.
• Identifying who might need help.
• How anxiety can manifest itself negatively: Anger, Sadness and Fear.
• Dealing with stressful events.

Michael – Landscape & Design Architect

Learning Difficulty:

• Michael found writing and spelling difficult at primary school and was often described as ‘slap dash’.
• Michael struggled with tests and exams.
• Michael left secondary school to complete his secondary school education at TAFE
• Michael wanted to work for National Parks and decided to study Horticulture.
• He had to apply 2-3 times before he was accepted as a mature-age student into his Architecture course.

Support Received:

• Completed a Tertiary Orientation Program at TAFE in order to gain acceptance to a Horticultural Course.
• Applied to University as a mature age students with industry experience.
• Now receives support for his ideas from within the university from people who excel with Literacy.

Achievements:

• Completed Horticultural Degree.
• Has a Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture and Design
• Head of Department for Landscape Architecture & Design at a University.

Advice To Other Students:

• Look at other ways to gain the experience you may need as well as education.
• Surround yourself with people who can support your creative talent.

Overcoming Anxiety – Part Two

Lesson Content:

• Interview with Paul Blackburn – Life Coach.
• Ten tips on how to deal with stress and anxiety.
• How to deal with a panic attack.
• Learning about controlled breathing.
• Don’t starve your brain of oxygen.
• Establishing what works for you.

Rhyl – Primary School Teacher

Learning Difficulties:

• Rhyl had difficulty very early on and was very confused when she started school.
• All subjects were challenging and Rhyl did not start reading until Grade 6.
• She mainly read lots of pictorial books, such as comics.

Support Received:

• One English teacher identified and encouraged her skills in creative writing.

Achievements:

• Completed her degree and is now teaching in a primary school.
• Write stories and hope to become a published author.

Advice To Other Students:

• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes – just keep trying.
• Use your other interests to help you understand other subjects.

Overcoming Anxiety – Part Three

Lesson Content:

• Interview with Paul Blackburn – Life Coach.
• Why we have a fear of failure?
• Not wanting to get hurt.
• Why successful people want to fail fast.
• Most important thing to remember is that life skills take more than one attempt to learn.

George – Project Manager, Building Industry – Part One

Learning Difficulties:

• George realised he had learning difficulty during the transition from primary school to secondary school.
• Was good at sports and relationships, but resorted to some troubled behaviour as a way to hide his learning difficulties.
• Was labeled as ‘silly’ and ‘stupid’ by some of his teachers and began to believe them.
• Other siblings, including a twin sister did not have learning difficulties.

Support Received:

• Desperate for one-on-one help, but his school did not provide it.
• George has received lifelong support from one of his very close friends.
• When George reached his early 30’s, he decided to really concentrate on learning ‘how’ to read. Now he has private tutoring. (To be continued…)

How To Be A Good Friend

Lesson Content:

• Introducing a good friend – Cindy.
• Learning to make good choices.
• Eight strategies for being a good friend to others.

George – Project Manager, Building Industry – Part Two

Achievements:

• Extremely skilled with hands and loves problem solving.
• George started work in a factory at 17 years of age.
• Going to church helped George to gain some confidence to look for a way to learn to read.
• George continues to attend tutoring to learn to read and is improving all the time.
• George is now working in the construction industry and is successfully reading plans as a site foreman.

Advice To Other Students:

• Never give up on learning.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
• Keep the belief in yourself strong and work to your strengths.
• Read children’s books or anything you can if adult books seem too difficult.

Can you Control Your Behaviour

Lesson Content:

• The Stamford Marshmallow Experiment.
• Instant gratification VS delayed gratification.
• Can you control your own behaviour?
• Can you determine your future?
• What does it mean long-term?

Kathy – Emergency Medical Doctor – Part One

Learning Difficulty:

• Kathy had difficulty spelling and had to break down words into smaller parts first.
• Kathy learns by auditory cues and uses music and movement as a strategy.
• Kathy learns music by ear rather than reading sheet music.

Support Received:

• Kathy’s mum taught Math and assisted Kathy with her studies.
• At university, Kathy got a lot of support and encouragement from her lecturers, but felt that teaching music wasn’t the right path for her.
• Kathy felt trapped into a career in music. By chance, Kathy spoke to an independent careers advisor and discovered she really wanted to be a doctor. (To be continued…)

Discussing Anger – Part One

Lesson Content:

• What is anger?
• Is it all right to be angry?
• Degrees of anger.
• Controlling anger.
• Self-analysis.
• Ten questions to answer True/False.

Kathy – Emergency Medical Doctor – Part Two

Achievements:

• Kathy did not have all the pre-requisite subjects to study medicine, so rather than give up; she went back to night school and studied Year 12 Chemistry.
• Kathy applied her learnt skills from studying Music and focused only on what she needed to know for her subjects.
• Kathy worked as a medical secretary at the end of every university year to gain industry experience.
• Kathy now works in the Emergency Department of a large city hospital.

Advice To Other Students:

• Don’t be afraid to change your mind on what you want to do.
• Try to focus only on what you need to learn for each subject you study.
• Focus on learning how to spell the words for your chosen subject area as a priority.
• Find other ways to get experience other than just a formal education.

Discussing Anger – Part Two

Lesson Content:

• Interview with Paul Blackburn – Life Coach.
• Why we have a fear of failure?
• Not wanting to get hurt.
• Why successful people want to fail fast.
• Most important thing to remember is that life skills take more than one attempt to learn.

Robert – Primary School Teacher – Part One

Learning Difficulties:

• Robert did not know he had learning difficulties at school other than he didn’t like reading out loud.
• Robert disliked Math especially Algebra because it used letters as well as numbers.
• Robert suffered from physical bullying at school.
• Robert worked hard through fear of punishment and learnt by rote.
• Robert wanted to get into the police force and selected very difficult school subjects which proved too hard for him at that time.

Support Received:

• Robert dropped out of school in Year 11 and waited until the next year to repeat Year 11 changing to Drama and Media studies. (To be continued…)

Conquering Exam Stress.

Lesson Content:

• Understanding that everybody experiences exam stress.
• Discussing stress in tests and exams.
• Learning strategies to reduce the exam stress.
• Seven tips on how to prepare for a test or exam.

George – Project Manager, Building Industry – Part Two

Achievements:

• Robert has performed in more than 30 theatre productions.
• From his work experience Robert was accepted as a mature age student into university and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree.
• Robert is now a successful teacher who dedicates himself to assisting students with learning difficulties

Advice To Other Students:

• Robert loved to learn by watching documentaries and researching history.
• Sometimes, it takes trying lots of different things before you work out what it is you want to do.

Playing The School Game – Reading Comprehension

Lesson Content:

• Understanding comprehension.
• How to get meaning out of your reading.
• Initial reading using tracking of the story ‘Crocodiles and Alligators’ – Can you tell them apart?
• Looking for the relevant details.
• Interactive highlighting.
• Multiple-choice questions to practice comprehension.

Nicola – International Retail Sales Consultant

Learning Difficulty:

• Early education in the United Kingdom and discovered learning difficulties at 6 years old.
• Still struggles to verbalise numbers and reading out loud.

Support Received:

• Had a lot of teacher and parental support and encouragement through the state school system in Australia.
• Loved Art and Drama
• Good at learning through auditory cues and memory.

Achievements:

• Completed year 12 without Math. Did other electives such as Visual Communication.
• Traveled interstate and completed tertiary study in Costume Design.
• Now working in fashion and travels overseas with current job.
• Still determining a career path and staying positive about the future.

Advice To Other Students:

• Don’t be afraid to try lots of career paths and stay positive.
• Find like-minded supportive friends.
• Don’t be afraid to follow your dreams.

Reading out Loud In Public

Lesson Content:

• Learning to read in public
• Strategies to help you read out loud.
• Preparation.
• Break the words into syllables.
• Increase the font size.
• Highlight key words using colour.
• Highlight key vowel and consonant combinations using colour.
• Use your own codes for phonics.
• Practice in front of a mirror.
• Breathe, read slowly and look up occasionally to engage the audience.

Josie – Mother and Grandmother

Learning Difficulty:

• Josie found Math very difficult.
• She did not have the same opportunities at school that are available to students today.
• Enjoyed primary school and went to a girl’s technical school, which also taught Dressmaking, Cooking or Shorthand and Typing.
• Expectations for girls were to leave school after Year 10, get a job and find a husband.

Support Received:

• Josie parents had no expectations about her school achievements.
• She always had family support.

Achievements:

• Worked in an office and was trained “on the job” as a dental nurse.
• Josie has raised four children, and used her learnt skills of dressmaking and cooking together with gardening.
• When Josie worked at a women’s refuge, she saw the struggles others had in life.
• Completed VCE English and Australian History as a mature age student just for the joy of learning and to prove that she could.

Advice To Other Students:

• Sometimes being happy and successful is indicated by having a warm bed at night, a roof over your head and a full tummy.
• Appreciate life and all it has to offer and never stop learning no matter what the subject is, that interests you.

Tips To Get Homework Done On Time

Lesson Content:

• Talking about and understanding the task.
• How long should it take to complete?
• Create a plan with timeframes.
• Add references and equipment required.
• Organise when and where you will work.
• Removal of distractions.
• Eat and drink while you work to aid thinking.
• Check on progress.
• Use time clocks to schedule breaks.
• Seek assistance if you find a block.
• If disaster strikes, advise teachers as soon as possible.

Dominic – Café Owner

Learning Difficulties:

• Dominic did not speak until about 5-6 years of age and used mime to communicate.
• He struggled with handwriting and his schoolwork and felt socially isolated during primary school.
• Dominic suffers from anxiety and uses many strategies to overcome symptoms and control them.

Support Received:

• Dominic had great support from his parents.
• Completed year 10 with adjusted learning outcomes and attempted a Tertiary Adult Learning course.
• Dominic tried twice to get an apprenticeship, did well with the practical tasks, but struggled with the course work and multitasking.

Achievements:

• Dominic is now a successful café owner and has a team of staff working with and assisting him.
• Dominic works very hard and uses good leadership strategies to train his staff.
• He is in the process of creating a mentor program for young people with learning difficulties and speaks in public.

Advice To Other Students:

• Seek out people who will support you and help you in both learning and confidence building.
• If you fail at something, don’t be afraid to have another go and find another way.
• There are many resources and techniques available to help you get to where you want to go and be who you want to be.

Playing the school game – Times tables

Lesson Content:

• Using a times tables grid.
• Most problematic 6’s, 7’s and 8’s.
• Using visualization and the army academy chant concept.
• Lots of examples

Liz – Teacher and Business Owner

Learning Difficulty:

• Liz learnt by visual aids such as videos.
• Liz was able to read, but didn’t enjoy it.
• Her comprehension of schoolwork took longer as she had to rewrite texts and notes to make sense of them.

Support Received:

• A private tutor assisted Liz in years 10, 11, 12.

Achievements:

• Completed University and became a Physical Education teacher.
• Liz along with her husband has successfully set up a business running physical education camps for children and runs many After School Care programs – Camp Australia.

Advice To Other Students:

• Sometimes real life experiences can assist with learning better than just reading a text book.

British Vs American Spelling.

Lesson Content:

• The ripple effect of spelling differences in the British and American Language.
• Variations in the spelling of words and influences that may affect it.
• Introduction to Noah Webster and the various dictionaries.
• Trying to remove the silent letters from words.
• Attempting to spell words exactly as they sound.
• Word library of common British and American spelling differences.

Max – Psychologist

Learning Difficulty:

• As a child Max was very nervous reading in front of a class.
• Spelling was very challenging.
• Max was a very curious student.

Support Received:

• No formal support received at school, but parents were very caring and supportive at home.
• Had some private tutoring from some of his teachers.

Achievements:

• Left school at the end of year 10 and worked on computers.
• Became a drummer in a successful band, toured, and felt like he fitted in for the first time.
• Completed a 4 year University Degree in Psychology at night school as well as a Masters Degree in Couple & Family therapy.

Advice To Other Students:

• Try to read things that you are interested in rather than what you have to read.
• Surround yourself with like-minded people who will nurture you.
• Motivation and drive can overcome anxiety.

Why Libraries Are The Place To Be

Lesson Content:

• Interview with a librarian.
• Services offered by libraries such as; computers, graphic novels, e-books, audio books, CD’s and DVD’s and homework assistance.
• Meeting friends to discuss your homework and do research.
• Listening to story telling.
• Books and Newspapers are available in many different languages.
• Some textbooks are also available in e-book formats.
• Libraries will also have a collection of large print books.
• Libraries are free to local community members. It is easy to become a member and then borrow resources for weeks at a time.

Kalina – Secondary School Student

Learning Difficulty:

• Kalina was diagnosed with dyslexia in Year 7 when her homework came back with a lot of spelling errors.

Support Received:

• In primary school, Kalina had some extra tutoring.
• Kalina focuses on Art and Sport because she is good at those things.

Achievements:

• Kalina won an award for a story she wrote on a real life event and was invited to write another story.
• Has won Academic, Art, Citizenship and Community awards.
• Kalina is now doing Global Learning instead of standard Year 9 subjects.

Advice To Other Students:

• Find teachers that encourage you to do better.
• Find activities or subjects that you enjoy and often you will find you are good at them.

Accessing TAFE – Technical And Further Education

Lesson Content:

• Interview with a Disability Liaison Officer
• Disability Liaison Officers and learning mentors.
• Alternative assessment arrangements for tests and exams.
• Adaptive Technology and specialised equipment.
• Alternative Course format materials.
• Pathways to get into university.
• TAFE’s provide many support services for learning.

Leon – English As A Second Language

Learning Difficulties:

• Leon is Chinese learning English as a second language.
• School days were much longer in China.
• 4-5 full days a week were spent learning the Chinese language.
• Even though he also learnt English for 5 years in China, he spoke very poorly on arrival.

Support Received:

• Overpopulation, pollution and work prospects were reasons to move from China.
• Leon had an uncle living in Australia and he suggested a move.
• Leon studied English at school and at home, listening to radio and television.
• The Australian Government provided English teachers.

Achievements:

• Leon worked as an accountant in a large bank in China working 12 hours per day.
• In Australian he is now supplying photo frames for retail businesses.

Advice To Other Students:

• Australia has so many opportunities I am fortunate to be living here.
• When life gets a bit hard, find something you like doing. Whether it is running, walking, shouting or relaxing.

University – Don’t rule it out

Lesson Content:

• Interview with a learning support officer at a university.
• Universities have an ‘Access to Learning Centre’. These centres provide equity for all students to access and complete courses.
• Learning support plans can be put in place with services documented to allow for the needs of people with learning difficulties, learning disabilities and other disabilities.
• Pre-university schemes and courses on offer.
• Access to assistive technology.
• University staff to be made aware of personal learning needs, (personal details can remain private).
• Access to support workers.
• Alternative assessment arrangements.
• Study material in accessible formats.
• Practicum and field work support.

John – Professional Australian Athlete, Author and Outcome Strategist

Learning Difficulty:

• John had problems spelling words at school and was punished every time he got a word wrong.
• John learnt really quickly when listening but reading was difficult.

Support Received:

• John did not think he had a learning difficulty until he was labeled. His label did not motivate him to learn.

Achievements:

• Completed Year 12
• John completed University as a mature age student and studied exercise physiology.

Advice To Other Students:

• Find out what your teachers are expecting you to achieve as an outcome from your learning.
• Set yourself small goals and achieve them.
• Don’t accept “you can’t do it”.
• Always look forward to where you are going.
• “Momentum goes where attention flows.”

Using Technology To Access Education

Lesson Content:

• Interview with the President of the Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association.
• Promotion of effective learning through the use of computers.
• Using social media as a learning tool.
• “Bring Your Own Device” Policy in schools.
• Introducing Audio, Video, Touch Typing learning.

Bret – Author, Speaker, Copywriter & Marketing Strategist

Learning Difficulty:

• Bret struggled to learn English and spelling at school and did not finish reading one book while at secondary school.
• Bret spent most of his school life socialising and partying.

Support Received:

• Bret did not begin to look at reading until he was an adult with children of his own and he wanted to support them.
• Attended a marketing seminar, which introduced him to copywriting as a career option.

Achievements:

• Started reading books by successful people and applied their strategies.
• Went from earning nothing to earning $125,000 in 5 months.

Advice To Other Students:

• You can do anything with your life regardless of your circumstances.
• It can take time, but surround yourself with the tools to bring the greatness inside you to life.
• Sometimes taking time to think, is better than constantly learning new things
• Helping people to solve their problems can lead to your success.

Technology Is Helping People to Read, Write And Spell

Lesson Content:

• Interview with a highly experienced Information and Communication Technology Consultant.
• Demonstrations of information technology in education for computerised electronic devices.
• Text to Speech.
• Text to Audio.
• Voice Recognition Technology.
• Powerful software available for students to assist with reading and writing.

Carole – Nurse

Learning Difficulty:

• Carole spoke French as a first language and had to develop strategies for learning.
• She struggled at school and was ostracised by the other students.
• Carole is left-handed and was forced to do cursive writing with her right hand.

Support Received:

• One teacher kept Carole back to study the rules of spelling, she is now a good speller as a result.

Achievements:

• Carole was the top student in mathematics in year 11 and 12 and won an academic scholarship to go to University.
• Completed a Bachelor of Science and has become a health care professional.

Advice To Other Students:

• Parents and teachers have to try and read the signs of students struggling.
• Carole did not realise she had dyslexia until she had her own children.
• Do not ignore bullying at an early age as the fear of bullies, has long-term effects.
• Carole recommends the visual and audio learning that is available today for students.

Cyber Safety

Lesson Content:

• Interview with the President of the Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association.
• Introducing the importance of Cyber Safety.
• Dealing with bullying on the Internet.
• Talking about bullying with others.
• Don’t believe everything you see or read on the Internet.
• Stranger Danger – The importance of not divulging your personal information.
• Being aware of false advertising and scammers.
• Hoax Websites – Identifying secure sites.
• Tips on how to stay safe.

Mick – Soldier and Teacher’s Aid

Learning Difficulties:

• Mick struggled with reading, spelling and used a dictionary as a tool to help memorise words.
• Branded as dumb at school and offered little support.
• Mick was good at History, Wood and Metal Work.
• Mick was raised in the UK on a dairy farm and was a competent farm hand.

Support Received:

• No support received at school, as he was never diagnosed with a learning difficulty.
• Joined the Army in England at the age of fifteen and during a training exercise, an army officer picked up that Mick had dyslexia.
• Special training provided by the Army assisted

Achievements:

• Worked in the British Army for 22 years and achieved a high level of training and leadership.
• Now a successful teacher’s aid.

Advice To Other Students:

• Mick advises you to listen, take your time and learn at your own level.
• Making mistakes and learning, is better than doing nothing.

What is Personal Success?

Lesson Content:

• Displaying the signs of true success.
• 21 tips for your own personal success.
• Identifying what you personally aspire to.

Lindsay Fox- International Trucking Magnate

Learning Difficulty:

• Lindsay did not enjoy schoolwork except for Sport, Mathematics and his friends.
• Lindsay spent much of his time trying to figure out how to get out of attending school.
• Lindsay repeated Year 8 and Year 9 of secondary school.
• Lindsay played a lot of sport at school.
• Lindsay left school during Year 9.

Support Received:

• No support provided.

Achievements:

• At sixteen years of age Lindsay purchased his first truck to cart coal and coke from the West Melbourne Gas Works.
• Made Top Ten Richest Men in Australia in 2009.
• Lindsay created his logo “You Are Passing Another Fox” when he bought his second truck.
• Now Linfox has 5000 trucks and employs 26,000 people worldwide.
• Benefactor for schools, hospitals and charities.
• Introduced a youth campaign for communities to focus on getting young unemployed people into the workforce.

Advice To Other Students:

• Lindsay has lived by 3 rules during his life and although school is important today, this is his advice:
  1. The harder you work – the luckier you become.
  2. If you think you can or you think you can’t – You are right.
  3. If better is possible – Good is not enough.