West Cumbria Dyslexia Association
working in partnership with Lakes College West Cumbria
As we have recently replaced our news letter
with the WCDA website at www.wcda.org.uk ,
we thought we might again remind our members and web browsers
of the facilities the college generously make available to us as an association
also how we, as an a association, can assist in the College.
The College has hosted West Cumbria Dyslexia
Association from October 2001. This gives us the advantage of having
a permanent address to which all our outside mail can be sent and put
into our mailbox to await collection.
We are also allowed a limited amount of photocopying which is useful
when we need copies of minutes for meetings.
The College acts as our help line and takes
any outside calls for help and information. They then pass on any messages
via e-mail which in
turn we respond to. We have limited use of the phone for outside calls.
As an association we have the use of the
Learning Resource Centre (LRC) for our monthly committee meetings, General Meetings and AGM’s
where we invite speakers which the general public, tutors and students
are welcome to attend.
We also have a member of the Learning Support
Team on our Committee which enables the College to keep up to date
with our activities.
We hold regular ‘Befriending sessions’ with two trained
Befrienders. The role of the befriender is to help parents to understand
and support their dyslexic children. This often entails dealing with
schools and acting as an advocate, when required. These sessions
are held on the first Tuesday of each month during term time. We
meet in the LRC from 5-30 p.m. to 6-30 p.m.
We also have a service for adult Dyslexics that serves both the College
students and the general public. This is held in the LRC every Tuesday
from 6-00 to 8-00. This session is to help adults with dyslexia understand
and accept their dyslexia. There is also time within this space for non-
dyslexics to gain a better awareness/understanding of this learning difference.
Many of our enquiries come from adults that have in the past failed at
school. It is important we can offer a warm and friendly atmosphere in
which to meet these prospective students. These meetings can, and have,
lead to them enrolling in the well-run literacy course that runs along
side our sessions.
We find that some students find it more comfortable to talk to other
dyslexics about the difficulty they might be experiencing. We in turn
can then approach College Student Services and together we can look at
a way forward.
We have recently enlisted the assistance of a specialist teacher and
assessor who is M.ED and A.M.B.D.A. qualified. We can now offer a screening
assessment for Dyslexia, assessment for access arrangements for examinations
and assessment for Disabled Students Allowance. These assessments can
take place in the College.
Tutors, dyslexic students both young and adult have
access to our service, skills and knowledge.
Doris Pearce
Chair Person
West Cumbria Dyslexia Association
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