As a nine-year-old, Tom Mullally had a 'superior' IQ, but could never understand why he still couldn't read or write. He watched on as his classmates moved on to the next year level while he was left to repeat and spend years in remediation and special education.
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It is hard to believe that years later, the same young boy would be travelling the country, advocating dyslexia care in free seminars. He will give tips, insight and practical knowledge about about what dyslexia is how and parents can help their children get over the reading hump. He comes to Goondiwindi (May 10), Moree (May 11) and Inverell (May 12).
For Mullally, the need for these lessons is personal. At the age of 7, he was told by his teacher that he would never amount to anything. Tom said it destroyed his confidence to the point that he labelled himself 'dumb and stupid' and would purposely use avoidance to sit out of classroom activities.
"I was a functionally illiterate nine-year-old; I couldn't read or write my own name,” he said. "I struggled with reading, comprehension, spelling and getting my ideas onto paper, and for a while I spent a long time in remediation and special ed classes.
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"It affected my confidence; I had withdrawn and didn't want to participate in activities at school, because I didn't want my weaknesses to be shown to the classroom.”
"I knew something was going on, but I just wrote myself as dumb and stupid because I was struggling to do the reading other kids found easy.”
Marianne, Tom’s Mother, took him to undergo tests and assessments that showed he had a superior IQ, but still didn't quite understand what was happening. So she travelled to and from America, where she studied dyslexia for three years.
Within five days of Marianne returning to Australia, Tom said he was finally able read AND comprehend. Marianne now educates and empowers parents across Australia who have children struggling and teaches the techniques she has built on for the last 15 years of working with more than 400 Dyslexic adults and children.
This seminar shortcuts the journey to understand what is really happening for these creative thinkers. This Mother Son team have firsthand experience of the education struggle and will now cut through the jargon and confusion around the learning difficulty.
"Her teaching changed my life,” Tom said. “I was school captain in Year 12 where I graduated with dux in two subjects, and went on to do a double degree at university in Sydney.”
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Tom is now 25 and runs his own social media business in Sydney - but this April he will be a guest speaker at Marianne's free dyslexia seminars. 10 to 15 per cent of Australians have dyslexia, a disorder that involves difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters and other symbols.
Dyslexia has become the sleeping giant of learning difficulties but is often not spoken about in education circles.
“These kids are not lazy, dumb, stupid or naughty. They are smart articulate learners. They just have to be taught the way they learn,” Tom said.
The lessons
Goondiwindi Time & Date: Thursday, 10 May @ 7pm Venue: The Jolly Swagman Cost: FREE Who Should Come? Parents of Children struggling with reading and writing Register@: www.dyslexia.com.au/register or Tel: 02 9436 3766
Moree Time & Date: Friday, 11 May @ 1pm Venue: Moree Services Club Cost: FREE Who Should Come? Parents of Children struggling with reading and writing Register@: www.dyslexia.com.au/register or Tel: 02 9436 3766
Inverell Time & Date: Saturday, 12 May @ 11am Venue: Inverell RSM Club Cost: FREE Who Should Come? Parents of Children struggling with reading and writing Register@: www.dyslexia.com.au/register or Tel: 02 9436 3766
