A touching tale from Wales today, about a boy with dyslexia who has set up a small business importing and selling herbs and spices at local markets. An avid foodie, Tom Sweet was driven to create his business, with help from his parents, after others warned him that his dyslexia might prevent him from getting a good job later in life. He has since received encouragement in his endeavours from top chefs Rick Stein and Phil Vickery. It's the kind of determination you have to admire - especially since he's only 12 years old! "The stall is helping me a lot," Tom says, "especially with my maths."
Friday, November 30, 2007
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Whatever its cause, dyslexia can have a devastating effect on a child's education and later life. It's one of those conditions (like ME) about which there is great controversy amongst medics and educationalists, but there is no disputing the real and enduring problems that difficulty with reading and numbers can bring. So it is very heartening to hear of Tom the Spice getting his retaliation in first.
This is something of a Sweet and sour tale (!).
It's so sad that dyslexic symptoms now get grouped together and labelled as a 'problem condition', with less emphasis on remedy than diagnosis, and even less consideration of the impressive traits that often come with the condition, not least because dyslexics often develop alternative approaches to things.
People who can't tell left from right usually develop other ways to navigate; people who can't read text aloud smoothly often develop alternate word skills; people who can't sight read music learn different ways to play it, and so on (I know all this personally!). This brilliant kid, who seems to have quite a severe case and may be floored by normal office functions, has obviously developed alternative business skills, and they seem to be much better than the norm.
People born slightly different from others used to be considered eccentrics with an expectation that they had fortes in other areas; now, poor kids like this are now labelled as dyslexic - widely and wrongly regarded as a unremitting disability - and evidently forced to adopt extreme measures to restore their confidence and peer-group credibility. It's not progress.
(...but Tom Sweet's sweet success means there's still a Reason to be Hopeful!)
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