Have you got Dyslexia and don't know about it?
If you keep failing your AKT, or other exams, it is worth checking if you have Dyslexia. If Dyslexia is confirmed through a professional assessment, the RCGP may award you extra time (like 40-45 minutes) in the AKT. Just because you have successfully graduated in becoming a doctor doesn't mean you can't have Dyslexia. People with Dyslexia can be high achievers.
I want more information on Dyslexia
Go to this webpage: www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/
Dyslexia Assessment Tools
There are a number of websites offering online Dyslexia Assessment Tools. What you have to remember is that these are 'quick and dirty' screening tools. If you feel you have some of the signs and symptoms as listed by www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/, then try and make contact with a professional who is qualified at doing assessments.
One of the useful quick and dirty dyslexia screening tools is available here and costs around £30:
http://www.spot-your-potential.com/index.htm
Professional Dyslexia Assessment Centres
Throughout the country are registered and approved Dyslexia assessment centres. You can find a local one through www.bdadyslexia.org.uk (click 'About Dyslexia' and then 'Local Dyslexia Associations'). Here's a quick link for you here.
The assessment is done on a 1-1 with a qualified specialist. It will last around 3 hours and a report will be generated. The whole things costs around £500 but have a word with your Deanery or GP Training Scheme. If there is a high index of suspicion that you may have Dyslexia, it is likely they will help fund the assessment. However, this can vary from Deanery to Deanery.
If I have Dyslexia, what sorts of things can help me with my learning and development?
Here's a number of things worth exploring online for more information.
First, there's a couple of good websites:
www.selfgrowth.com/reading.html
Second, do a Google search on:
"text to speech software"
"speech to text software"
Thirdly, consider buyng:
A copy of : ACE Spelling Dictionary by David Moseley - It's a brilliant book which has helped loads of people with learning difficulties. You can buy it at Amazon for around £10 and is quite a short book.
A reading pen: http://www.readingpen.co.uk/
And finally, try and get a small notebook (like the ones Police Officers use) and produce a list of commonly used words that you have difficulty with (either spelling or pronunciation). And keep that little notebook in your pocket all the time.
What sorts of things does a Dyslexia Assessment Report Say?
General Intellectual Abilities
Pattern of Cognitive Strengths & Weaknesses:
- cognitive profile (usually irregular in Dyslexia)
- verbal and non-verbal reasoning skills (usually normal in Dyslexia)
- auditory working memory (derranged in Dyslexia)
- processing visual information at speed (derranged in Dyslexia)
Attainments in Basic Skills:
- core literacy skills word reading, reading comprehension and spelling
- speed of reading
- free writing and copying skills
- spelling, sentence structure and handwriting
- phonemic decoding and phonological processing at speed
- most of these are derranged in Dyslexia.