SpLD HEAR Project 2014/15: profiles of the 6 students who are collaborating  'to help raise awareness of the unique range of SpLDs, and what students (and lecturers) can do to fulfil their potentials.'

Jack Pickard:

Hi my name is Jack, I am a second year History student. Through my time at primary school I seemed to struggle with spelling and grammar, this was tested on and around the age of 8 I was diagnosed as dyslexic. Due to the early detection of this my school provided me with extra support to help me deal with the problems that I faced. This learning support proved invaluable in gaining entrance to secondary school. However throughout my time at this new school I had to become more independent in my studies, but learning support helpers where available to help. This again proved immensely important when exams came around as learning support helped me structure revision according to my strengths and weakness in certain subjects. Also the additional extra time that I was entitled to enabled me to plan and structure coherently.

Throughout my time at university, I have learnt to expand and in some areas improve on how I learn. An example of this is how I enhance my notes during lectures which I achieve through changing colours to help me understand different arguments or key dates and events. At university I was offered to become part of a support group for other people who suffer from various learning difficulties. I found that communicating with other people who have similar learning difficulties hugely beneficial. Through these support groups I have learnt that I am part of a much wider group of people who deal with similar problems. Together we have openly discussed these problems and shared knowledge on how to deal with these challenges.

Overall I feel that my dyslexia had set me back in my education, but the support and guidance that I have been given has greatly improved how I deal with the problems of dyslexia.

 

Chris:

 I am a third year biology student who has been recognised with dyslexia since a young age. I was diagnosed early enough to attain tuition from my secondary school, which I found very helpful as people with specific learning disabilities often learn in different ways to other students.

Throughout my time at university, I have learnt to improve and adjust my learning mechanisms. I always had difficulty with keeping up in lectures and writing notes at the same time but having a dictaphone has been extremely useful.

I have found meeting other people who have specific learning disabilities and finding out how they are affected in different ways has been very helpful. Throughout my time in education, I have always thought the things I have struggled with are normal but since becoming part of the society, I have come to realise other people experience the same. We have created a community where people can talk openly, discuss the problems they face with university life and learning and share knowledge about ways they have been able to overcome these problems.

It has been really interesting to develop my understanding of learning difficulties and to become more aware of how they affect me and other people in education.

I think it is important to increase awareness and the accessibility students have to the resources available from the learning centre.

 

   

Phil:

Hi, I’m Phill. I'm a mature student studying a Masters in Philosophy. Previously, I had a senior career in investigative analysis in the chemical industry. Also, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in 2013.

Having lived the majority of my life without any inkling of ADD, throughout, I’ve found myself compensating / covering up a lot of difficulties. I struggled with reading, organising myself, thinking ideas through to completion, finishing projects, and had to work hard, especially in the workplace, ‘forcing’ myself to focus to get things done. I felt I couldn’t talk about these difficulties with anyone else, because they seemed so silly. I was a specialist in a team of 15, could provide answers to scientific problems, ideas of things to try, interpretations of complex spectra very quickly, and had no problem handling the pressure of multiple inquiries to tight deadlines. Yet, I struggled with procedural tasks, remembering the correct sequence of steps, I’d lose count of how many, which samples I’d completed, and reading and writing reports was a nightmare. I would have to fight to stay focused to read each word. I’d go home exhausted each day as a result.
Having been diagnosed, so much made sense. I realised why I got bored so quickly and why I was so restless. I could now explain why I’d been successful, yet still quit two career jobs to go do other things, and why I’d struggled with some of the ‘simple’ tasks that seemed so effortless for everyone else.

Now, with a new understanding, I’ve got a clearer idea of my strengths and weaknesses. I’m very creative, imaginative, am able to respond well in the moment, and come up with original, ‘out-of-the-box’ ideas to problems. Yet, the flip-side is that my thinking is quite disorganised; I struggle to collate and articulate my ideas, create a logical sequence of reasoning; things tended to come out in a random sequence that’s often quite hard to follow. I don’t see myself as having a learning difficulty, especially in the light of my past achievements. I just learn and work differently from the ‘typical’ way one is taught and expected to. In fact, whilst most people find, and many work environments expect such, that they are able to do most things reasonably well. I do some things really well, and other things really badly. If a task is interesting or very stimulating, I can immerse myself in it for hours without break, on the counter, if it’s not interesting, then I struggle.

I’ve returned to university now to learn new skills to order and sequence my thoughts to create coherent arguments. Sheffield University provides amazing SpLD support. Before starting, DDSS were able to see me and put in place support for me upon starting. As such, I have a SpLD tutor to help me with skill development and with learning support, and a mentor to help me organise and better manage my time, and deal with my struggles in facing the challenges I’m working to overcome. 

I’m very keen to be a part of this SpLD project team, because I want to help others understand different learning styles, appreciate the strengths they have, and better understand how they can make the most of them.

Aimee:

Hi, my name is Aimee, and I live locally just outside Sheffield. I am studying Medicine, here at Sheffield, and currently spend a lot of my time on placement in hospitals. I have always been a creative learner; I love to draw and paint when I’m not studying! I did find, however, that I struggled with the leap from A levels to University, and I was surprised to learn I had dyslexia when I was in my first year of Medicine. I soon learned my note taking was ineffective, and I was constantly behind with the workload. I had a dyslexia test, and it was confirmed that I had a rather rare type of dyslexia, which became apparent when I wasn’t performing as well as I had hoped.

I am always enthusiastic to approach studying in different ways, and I find I am always learning throughout my course! My tutor, Chris, has been an incredible support over my time working with her at the SpLD Tutorial Service. For the past three years, I have been adapting my learning methods to suit my lectures and tutorials, as well as being more efficient with time management! As part of the HEAR project, I am certain we can raise more awareness of specific learning difficulties, and offer help where it is necessary. It would be fantastic to reach out to other students and improve their university experience.

 Beth:

Hi, my name is Beth and I am in my second year of studying English and French. I have always loved reading but I have always found it difficult to voice my own opinions in a clear way, a difficulty that set me back during my time at primary and secondary school. After having struggled for years with issues like time management and organisation as well as difficulties in spelling, I discovered that I have dyspraxia around the age of fourteen. Rather than forcing me to feel like an outsider, my diagnosis has helped me to understand the different ways in which I learn and has also encouraged me to take on new, exciting methods of learning, including drawing awesomely colourful mind maps and bright colours-they really do work! The help that I have received from the DDSS and the enormous support that has been provided by my wonderful tutor, Harriet, have inspired me to find enthusiasm and zest in developing invaluable methods of combating the struggles that specific learning difficulties generate.

My experience of dypraxia has taught me that identified struggles in learning, such as dypraxia, dyslexia and ADHD, do not have to live up to the title of ‘learning difficulties’; in fact they are simply different ways of learning that are easy to overcome with the development of learning strategies that blossom in to expressive ways of thinking and creating ideas. In the SpLD society, we aim to inspire our members to take pride in their unique learning style and to put to an end to the embarrassment and shame that are associated with rare learning patterns. We all really look forward to sharing our own coping strategies with members of the society at the same time as developing new learning methods which will include all members of the society. In addition to this we are also really excited about making new friends and having fun! 

 Jenny:

Hello, I'm Jenny and I'm a third (and final) year Biomedical Science student at the University of Sheffield. Many describe the course I do as the background knowledge and research behind Medicine; which is comprised of lectures, tutorial groups, practical labs and human dissection! Having always thoroughly enjoy Science, this has lead me to pursue a career as a Science teacher this coming September.

Unlikely many of the other dyslexic/SpLD students at the University, I was only recently diagnosed with my learning difficulty towards the end of my first year of study here in Sheffield. I was initially believed to have dyslexia when one of my professors advised me to go and be tested after reading through an assignment of mine. Luckily, I did, and as a result it was found out I have a form of dyslexia which mainly effects my spelling, short-term memory and phonetics (how to pronounce words).

As I was unaware I was dyslexic at school and during sixth form, I didn't gain any additional support; however the University has greatly helped me in understanding dyslexia and how to cope with any of the challenges it puts in my path. My fantastic tutor, Harriet, has helped me to understand dyslexia is simply just a different way of learning and thinking. I have discovered many different strategies and learning technique, which I have not used before when writing essays, such as the spider diagrams, using cue cards and different colours to represent different arguments.

At the University, I have recently collaborated with 5 other students with learning difficulties, to help raise awareness of the unique range of SpLDs, and what students (and lecturers) can do to fulfil their potentials.