Struggling with my dyslexia & the idea of teaching.

So where I am at in this process: I have been offered a place for a schools direct program. Which is conditional on me obtaining my Professional Skills Test in English and math. I have passed my math and am retaking my English.

The main issues I am having is fear, I am severely dyslexic and I am very worried about the workload, specifically the paper work and organisational requirements.

Is there any one within this forum that is currently going through the school direct program with sever dyslexia? Do you have any regrets? Do you think its to difficult?

Any discussion would be helpful.

I'm not a teacher, but I am dyslexic and dyspraxic and just wanted to say how much I admire you for deciding to go into teaching. have you gotten extra time sorted for your skills tests?

Hi,
Thanks, yes I have got extra time for my QTS Professional skills test. 25% As well as getting a paper test for each. I have a diagnostic report that I had done while I was at Uni (UWE) for Graphic design so I was able to email them that along with a form I had to fill in.

I have one complaint, the people who are responsible for booking tests for the dyslexics for QTS/PST take a long time to get back to you. There are only two people in the whole country that deal with us, they have 10 working days to get back to you. Which means that it can take almost half a month for them to get back to you. I personally think that there should be more of a team of people who can book/ correspond with people like me who are trying to take the QTS/PST.

So where I am at in this process: I have been offered a place for a schools direct program. Which is conditional on me obtaining my Professional Skills Test in English and math. I have passed my math and am retaking my English.

The main issues I am having is fear, I am severely dyslexic and I am very worried about the workload, specifically the paper work and organisational requirements.

Is there any one within this forum that is currently going through the school direct program with sever dyslexia? Do you have any regrets? Do you think its to difficult?

Any discussion would be helpful.

I'm not Dyslexic, but I was a teacher (and also used to teach kids with Dyslexia). Like @claireestelle, I think it's incredibly cool what you're doing.

From a teaching perspective, the level of admin and organisation needed is high, I'm not going to lie. However, it's the systems you put in place for yourself to manage that which are what make it possible in my opinion. Every teacher needs those sorts of habits and processes to get through, and it'll be the same for you. I'm assuming, but I reckon you've probably got some pretty solid personal habits in place to manage your dyslexia already, so it'll be working out how you apply those to the teaching workload.

I wonder whether the Schools Direct programme will also be able to offer you some support on this front?

Best of luck with it all!

I have about 4 teachers that I know are dyslexic, all of whom are executive heads. I have dyscalculia which is sort of a maths version of Dyslexia, and I just wanted to say that I think it's very admirable of you to do what you do.

Not directly, I will have to apply for DSA and then fund any extra help through that. which is disappointing as I thought that I would be able to access the student support services of the uni that my schools direct placement is associated with.

Ahhh I see. I agree, that is a shame. I wonder if you could contact student support services at that uni, and just double check whether there would be any options there (or maybe you already have)?

Fully appreciate you're still considering, and hopefully someone with more direct experience on the Schools Direct program might pop in here to help. But good to hear from @yzanne that there are examples of teachers with dyslexia who really flourish.

I hope your English exam goes well!

I work in a school with a maths teacher who is severely dyslexic. He is a real favourite of the pupils since he is so encouraging to them about their own obstacles to learning, and freely admits that he struggles with things like spelling and organisation. He talks about his own problems very cheerfully and no one judges him - I think the kids like him more for it and after all, everyone can relate to finding certain things difficult - especially in a maths lesson

@harrysbar My main concern is not the interaction with children. I have had years of experience as a nanny to get used to talking to little ones about the challenges I face. With your colleague, how do you think they handle the "business" side of teaching i.e paperwork, lesson planing ect?

So where I am at in this process: I have been offered a place for a schools direct program. Which is conditional on me obtaining my Professional Skills Test in English and math. I have passed my math and am retaking my English.

The main issues I am having is fear, I am severely dyslexic and I am very worried about the workload, specifically the paper work and organisational requirements.

Is there any one within this forum that is currently going through the school direct program with sever dyslexia? Do you have any regrets? Do you think its to difficult?

Any discussion would be helpful.

I don't have dyslexia but I am dyscalculic. I rarely inform others I'm innumerate, it rarely comes up in discussions unless I absolutely have to mention it.

Hey

I’m dyslexic, dyspraxic (and dyscalulic). I’ve got a conditional
Place for a school’s direct... it’s quite scary. I hope I don’t make a fool of myself tbh and I’m able to cope with it all!

(I didn’t add to the discussion but im in a similar boat to you)

I don't have dyslexia but I am dyscalculic. I rarely inform others I'm innumerate, it rarely comes up in discussions unless I absolutely have to mention it.

Hello @BewareTomato its nice to meet you. How are you finding the whole process? Do you think you have good coping mechanisms in place for studying? Have you told them ( the teaching school) about your learning differences? Have you done your professional skills test?