Homogenised & Webinated by
Sheldon Q. Bartleby, Esq.

Learning Difficulties

This is a text suitable for both children and parents. Written in the casual style of survival guides for gifted children, ‘Perfectionism’ abounds with quotes, bold headings, cartoons, boxed questions lists and examples of children’s writing, making this an approachable easily read text. While an index is provided, there is no reference list to bibliographic detail, although references at the end of each chapter encourage further reading. Miriam Adderholdt-Elliott gained her PhD. from the University of Georgia, USA.

Throughout the text, many true life examples from children or parents with dyslexia are given in italics. Boxed sections discuss important points within a chapter and provide practical solutions to many problems. A clear layout with suitable use of bold headings, bullet points and italics make the text easy to read. The resources section provides websites, books with brief annotations, and organisations including SPELD in New Zealand. Immediately following this section is an index. Dr Frank is an educational psychologist and family therapist, who remained an undiagnosed dyslexic until near the end of his post-graduate study. Dr Frank has written this book in conjunction with Kathryn E Livingston, an author with seventeen years experience publishing parenting articles.

Large clear print combined with explicit labelling showing to whom the section applies - student, teacher or parent - makes this text easily read. Using a variety of bullet points, tick boxes and numbered lists enables information to be easily assimilated. The resources sections provide several pages which enable you to rate your classroom/ home environment and a section which discusses school problems. These problems relate back to surveys given earlier in the book and show where in the text relevant information to improve performance is located. Samples of teacher and student work plans are included along with bibliographic references, followed by an index.

Diane Heacox started her career as a regular classroom teacher moving onto resource teaching for gifted and talented students, eventually becoming Director of Gifted Education Services. By 1991 she was employed by the Universities of St. Thomas and Hamline in Minnesota to teach post graduate courses in gifted education. Concurrent to these positions she also directed the Edina Public School Gifted Education Services, coming into contact with many gifted yet underachieving students.

The “Resources, School and Publisher’s” chapter has some organisations and dyslexia-specific publishers which could be useful to New Zealand parents. Address and contact phone numbers are provided but not URLs. The brief annotated school section is North American specific. A bibliography and index are included. Daphne Hurford has fifteen years experience as a journalist before gaining her M.A. in educational psychology. She works as a reading and learning specialist.

Plain visual format, printed on cream paper with a selection of coloured paper is intended to demonstrate Irlen’s theory. There are lots of real-life examples from students who describe the condition; blurry print, words cascading off the page like a waterfall, neon lights flashing around words, white paper so bright it hurts the eyes and makes the student physically ill, and the amazing results of colour therapy. While an index is provided there are no bibliographic references. “Clinics: where to turn to for help” does not actually supply New Zealand addresses although we are listed as a country with practitioners. Helen Irlen worked for ten years as a school psychologist, becoming in 1981 Director of a Learning Differences project attached to the California State University.

Jonathan Mooney suffers from dyslexia. Unable to read until twelve years of age, he eventually graduated from Brown University with honours in English, and was also awarded the Truman Fellowship for graduate study in learning disabilities and special education. David Cole has ADHD, dropped out of high school aged fifteen; a new start enabled him to learn. He also graduated from Brown University - with an honours degree in visual arts. Mooney and Cole have gone on to create a project 'eye to eye' which teaches and empowers student who are like themselves.

Sample conversations, boxed diagrams, and parent tips in the margin make this a very readable text. Chapter Twelve is labelled 'an overview'. It wraps up discussion from earlier chapters and states the twelve Rimm Laws of Achievement, a must read section. Full references are provided to chapters before a comprehensive index. Appendix A is a model which can be installed in schools - note American bias. Appendices B-G contains examples of group and individual achievement identification measures. Appendix H lists resources which are American specific and irrelevant to New Zealanders. Dr Sylvia Rimm is a leading educator and writer of books regarding gifted children. Note : earlier editions of this book are entitled ‘Underachievement Syndrome: Causes and Cures’.

In the Minds Eye uses a small font and even smaller font for long indented quotes and real-life examples. Black and white photographs are provided of the personages in case studies, as well as brain scans and historic background. Appendix A entitled ‘Symptomatology’ gives an often currently used list of indicators of dyslexia. Extensive notes for each chapter follow this section, followed by an equally extensive reference section and index. Thomas West is a writer living in North America; many books tackling the subject of dyslexia refer to this text, and he would appear to be the first influential writer on the subject.