My son has just been diagnosed as being mildly dyslexic.
I am in the process of getting Beth tested but I suspect she has a much worse case of it than he does.
Does the ABRSM give any support to dyslexic candidates?
I've searched the site and can't find anything but I'd hate to miss something if it is there.
Thanks
Dora

I recently entered a pupik with dyspraxia and she was given the same treatment as a dyslexic. When you enter the pupil, there is a box to tick for which difficulty they may have, ie, learning, mental or physical. She got 3 minutes to look at the sight reading as opposed to 30seconds, she was also allowed to have several attempts at scales without loosing marks, and if you ask for permission, they can even allow you to take the scale book into an exam, to refer to only though. She was also given more time for aural and tests were repeated if needed.
Sight reading can also be provided on coloured paper and enlarged if requested.

A recent letter from the school, doctor or education psychologist must be submitted to the board. If this is not provided, no extra time will be allowed, but the examiner will be made aware of the circumstances. The board sent me few pages about specaial circumstances given to those with special educational needs so if you need to know anything else I'm sure i could go and find it.

This is the page you need:
http://www.abrsm.org/?page=exams/specialNe...ties/index.html

Thank you so much. Funnily enough Beth's sight reading is good, as are her scales. But she would really benefit from extra support with the aural, particularly the echo singing. That is consistent with other things about her that I notice.
She is doing her Grade 5 Theory in June and in mock papers Beth is taking the full 2 hours given which surprises me because it doesn't seem to me that the paper is time pressured. Fortunately she can do it in the 2 hours because obviously I can't get anything in place in 2 weeks.
Dora

Speaking from a position of complete ignorance, can someone explain how dyslexia affects the ability to do aural tests? Thanks.

It's to do with organisation of thoughts..... Dyslexia and dyspraxia can etc can effect your ability to think in an organised manner and so if that is the case, answering promptly isn't taken into account in the marking of aural tests (as it is for other candidates). I think that dyslexics might not understand immediately what is being ased of them... so they may ask the examiner to explain again.
I suppose in higher grades, they will be allowed extra time to allow for difficulties in reading the music for sight singing.

The purpose of extra time is to allow pupils with specific learning difficulties the opportunity to be assessed on a level playing field with other candidates... not to give them an advantage.

I do believe there is help available for dyslexic candidates in theory exams too.

Great question I can't give you an informed answer on. Apparently one of the difficulties that dyslexics can face is remembering sequences and my suspicion is that Beth's ability in this area is not in line with her abilities in other areas.
So one symptom of dylexia is difficulty in remembering a sequence of instructions.
Beth has real problems with speaking too. She often struggles to find the right word for things.
In terms of the aural Beth is fine with commenting on a piece and she's pretty good at rhythms, although a failure to learn rhythms is also a symptom of dyslexia. Her sight singing is okay too. But she can't echo sing four bars to save her life. She got 136 on her Grade 4 flute so it isn't as if she isn't musical.

All this came about because my son's reading age is 5 years ahead of his written English and he was tested. Beth is now looking to be a much worse version of my son.
From the tiny bit of reading I've done on the subject is that it isn't all bad news. Dyslexics are often good at maths which makes sense to me. I have a degree in Maths but every report I ever got said "orally good, written work poor"

I can say out of all of this that there is a real benefit to reading to children. My son reads a book a day, last weeks included "To Kill a Mocking Bird" and "The Kraken Wakes". He's 12. His school can't understand how he manages to read so much.
Beth is not as good a reader as he is but she is well above average. We read all the time to them when they were younger and while they were both very slow to start reading they eventually caught up and overtook their peers.
Dora (who had just assumed she had thick children)

Thank you so much. Funnily enough Beth's sight reading is good, as are her scales. But she would really benefit from extra support with the aural, particularly the echo singing. That is consistent with other things about her that I notice.
She is doing her Grade 5 Theory in June and in mock papers Beth is taking the full 2 hours given which surprises me because it doesn't seem to me that the paper is time pressured. Fortunately she can do it in the 2 hours because obviously I can't get anything in place in 2 weeks.
Dora
[/quote]

well im dyslexic and did the grade 5 theory paper and took alot of the extra time (1/2 an hour i think it was) going through it slowly and rechecking and stuff so definatley there isnt alot of spare time. however ifshe sdoing them in 2 hours and getting things right shell be fine. Good luck for her!

[quote name='doublestoppingmyheart' date='Jun 4 2008, 08:12 PM' post='705658']
Thank you so much. Funnily enough Beth's sight reading is good, as are her scales. But she would really benefit from extra support with the aural, particularly the echo singing. That is consistent with other things about her that I notice.
She is doing her Grade 5 Theory in June and in mock papers Beth is taking the full 2 hours given which surprises me because it doesn't seem to me that the paper is time pressured. Fortunately she can do it in the 2 hours because obviously I can't get anything in place in 2 weeks.
Dora
[/quote]

well im dyslexic and did the grade 5 theory paper and took alot of the extra time (1/2 an hour i think it was) going through it slowly and rechecking and stuff so definatley there isnt alot of spare time. however ifshe sdoing them in 2 hours and getting things right shell be fine. Good luck for her!
[/quote]
Thanks for this. I honestly think she'll pass the Grade 5 Theory and that is all she needs to do.
There is no pressure on her. I don't think she'll take Grade 6 with an instrument for a year so we've got lots of time for her to take it again if she doesn't get it this time.
Dora