[minimarshmallow]

(Original post by Sean9001)
Red-tape at its finest.

Reasonable adjustments - e.g. access to a screen reader, possibly print off project briefings on different coloured paper, that sort of thing. It's not difficult, and it minimises the deficit.

[Meganjones]

Firstly your an ignorant so and so!!
Go and learn what dyslexia is... Then write again!!

[EMPStudent]

(Original post by cuckoo99)
Someone has been watching too much Simpsons lol

No, I never watch it. I did work experience last summer at a nuclear power station and realise the importance of time in emergencies.

[dclarke35]

I'm dyslexic and to be honest the extra time that I get 25% extra in my exams doesn't put me at a massive advantage, as It's usually only 15 minutes which allows me to plan and check over spelling and grammar. Thus, it doesn't put me at an unfair advantage as my writing speed is twice as slow as the 'able bodied' student, so it only allows me to do plans, not write twice as much as the typical student, and without this I would, most probably fail my exams.

[Miss Scarlett]

(Original post by rosieelizabeth)
But if your disadvantage is reading and understanding, which is what an English exam is testing, why should you be given extra time to get your grades up? Everyone has disadvantages, everyone is different. I understand extra time for say...geography, history, or perhaps just no points taken away for communication errors, but writing English essays is all about communication and presentation and understanding, so if you can't do it, you can't do it. An employer who hires someone who has a high grade in English won't be very impressed when they can't write a report or get something involving reading or writing done in the time they are given.

They aren't going to get a high grade. It just gives them the extra time to re-read and check their understanding.

Anyway, what employer is going to hire someone because they have a good grade in English?

[aWildPidgey]

Why not just give everyone the added time that some people get?

[rosieelizabeth]

It is true though, absolutely, that the extra time is used to get them up to the level of someone without dyslexia, how is that going to help job-wise? Their results will suggest they are at a normal level of ability, when they aren't.

[minimarshmallow]

(Original post by aWildPidgey)
Why not just give everyone the added time that some people get?

Because the dyslexics would then need extra extra time. The point is to give the dyslexics the same opportunity as the neurotypicals to show their knowledge, which they wouldn't have with the same time.

[minimarshmallow]

(Original post by _vilaseca_)
As anyone with half a brain cell would say, if it's not applicable to the world of work, it shouldn't be applicable to bloody exams!!!

(Original post by rosieelizabeth)
It is true though, absolutely, that the extra time is used to get them up to the level of someone without dyslexia, how is that going to help job-wise? Their results will suggest they are at a normal level of ability, when they aren't.

I totally agree, anyone who will be going into a career where they'll have to read, handwrite and then re-read an essay in an hour in strictly controlled conditions where they aren't allowed to type or use a coloured overlay or coloured pens/paper or screen reader or ability to change fonts or potentially take their work home shouldn't get extra time in their exams, in case their employers get the wrong idea of their ability to do this job. Oh, what's that? This job doesn't exist. Oh.

[Boo_x]

Wow the amount of people who totally don't understand dyslexia amazes me.
You cannot cheat on the tests, they are tested and retested to make sure they are reliable. It is not a case of just lying and misspelling things.

Yes there is a big range in the severity of dysleixa though so some people might not need the full extra time whereas others do. It'd be pretty hard to give time based on the severity so by giving evreyone the same it works out for most people though.

Like others have said they only get extra time in exams. In things like projects/coursework they are given the same time restraints as everyone else, this is much more similiar to the world of work and a dyslexic learns to deal with this and manage their time appropriately.

[OU Student]

(Original post by lubus)

dyslexia doesnt affect you rability to do maths.

It affects your ability to read questions, no?

The ignorance on this thread is amazing.

[kayjay]

(Original post by Stray)
The fact that you are studying medicine somewhat scares me... I'd expect a medic - even a student - to have the most understanding of this - that SEN are orthogonal to other, more-important skills and abilities.

Doctors don't do much handwriting in the real world. Not even prescriptions these days... everything is on a computer, letters are dictated into a voice recorder.

Generally, I'm much more concerned about the whole range of sophisticated skills my Doctor should have. Primary school skills such as reading and writing are not what distinguishes a great GP or specialist from a crappy one.

My step-son's paediatrician has terrible dyspraxia (she told us when she diagnosed him with the same thing). She is always running late, her desk is a mess, she can't get the forms for tests out without dropping them on the floor... and she's a brilliant doctor with such a good reputation that people don't care that you might spend 2 hours in the waiting room - when you get in there she is fantastic. She also runs her clinic six days a week because she's super dedicated.

She told us that when she was at Uni, her examiners used to get her to come and read her scripts to them, and then give her a viva on the questions she hadn't answered because of running out of time.

I don't know how time is allocated for clinical practice tests, but I do know that judgement, patience, clear-thinking, maturity, compassion, problem-solving, team working, creativity and a ton of other skills are the true ingredients of good medics (not always the same mix in the same quantities).

Tbh I'm in agreement with you that timed assessments aren't necessarily a great way to test people - but that's a bigger question than whether we should attempt to make those assessments fair for people with SEN.

It is in our interests to take away those artificial barriers, especially for important jobs like medicine - because we want the best doctors, not the ones with the fastest reading and writing skills.

Doctor's still do lots of writing by hand - such as when clerking patients in and taking notes as a junior. This requires fast writing and the junior doctors must be able to read and write all the notes for patient safety, especially on night shifts when hand over notes and patient notes are what you have to go on.

All doctors should have to work within the same time limits such as when clerking patients in, working in A&E or just general ward work. If you aren't competent enough to do it in the allocated time then you just aren't competent enough whatever the excuse.

A lot of what you say about doctors is related to consultant grades, but everyone starts at the bottom where the glut work is. And a bumbling doctor would not instill faith in a patient who's about to get blood taken or a procedure performed.

You said that she got to ensure the examiners knew what she had wrote and given a viva for any questions she didn't have time to answer.

I reiterate that there are many people limited by their ability to write.
I have been told that i better watch about my writing because it is bordering on illegible because I have too much to write. So if I can't get all my knowledge down in the time because i can't physically write faster, why don't I get extra time. And no before someone says I do not have a disorder.

Somone else mentioned that people are too qucik to label everything. In recent exams many of my friends took painkillers before the exams because they know they get sore hands. None of these people contemplated the idea they would be given extra time, they just manned up and faced it because they knew that they don't have a disorder but the exam conditions bring it on.

As someone said, people with dyslexia are not as good at reading and writing as others, and therefore this should be reflected in the exams as this is a skill being tested.

[OU Student]

(Original post by kayjay)
I have been told that i better watch about my writing because it is bordering on illegible because I have too much to write. So if I can't get all my knowledge down in the time because i can't physically write faster, why don't I get extra time. And no before someone says I do not have a disorder.

You've just answered your own question. You don't have a disability; so why should you get extra time?

[sarahw17]

(Original post by OU Student)
You've just answered your own question. You don't have a disability; so why should you get extra time?

i agree with you i get extra time in the exams, but i never use it as i dont have a disability my friend gets extra time and she uses it as she doesn't understand the questions so the reader has got to explain the questions to her

[Electronica]

Why do exams even have a time limit? If you don't know the answer to a question then you aren't going to suddenly miraculously learn it in the middle of the exam paper. Exams should last the whole day for everyone and people should be allowed to leave when they please. That way nobody is unfairly treated.

[OU Student]

(Original post by sarahw17)
i agree with you i get extra time in the exams, but i never use it as i dont have a disability my friend gets extra time and she uses it as she doesn't understand the questions so the reader has got to explain the questions to her

They're not allowed to explain the questions. When I've needed questions reading to me, that's been it. They can't explain them.

Confused as to why you get extra time if you never use it and don't have a disability.

[sarahw17]

(Original post by OU Student)
They're not allowed to explain the questions. When I've needed questions reading to me, that's been it. They can't explain them.

Confused as to why you get extra time if you never use it and don't have a disability.

they did to her they think that i cant read properly but i can i know ages ago i went to a special school because i couldn't pronounce some words

[OU Student]

(Original post by Electronica)
Exams should last the whole day for everyone and people should be allowed to leave when they please. That way nobody is unfairly treated.

Any idea how off putting it is to be in an exam and others are getting up and leaving?

[jellybean252]

I agree that students with dyslexia should be given extra time in exams. However, I do think that the testing for dyslexia should be much more strict than it currently is, some people are being classed as 'dyslexic' when the reality is that they just read and/or write slower than most people.

[OU Student]

(Original post by jellybean252)
I agree that students with dyslexia should be given extra time in exams. However, I do think that the testing for dyslexia should be much more strict than it currently is, some people are being classed as 'dyslexic' when the reality is that they just read and/or write slower than most people.

This just shows what you know about the tests. It's far more than reading and writing.