Music and Dyslexia. Opening New Doors. Edited by T R Miles and John Wecombe. Whurr pound;16.50. Dyslexics I have Known or Reaching for the Stars. By Beve Hornsby. Whurr pound;16.50.
The editors of Music and Dyslexia have assembled a fascinating and inspiring collection of authors. Although it may be fashionable to focus definitions and descriptions of dyslexia on language, there are other areas where symbols dominate, particularly in mathematics and music.
Perhaps the shortage of material on the difficulties dyslexics have with music is because the impact on most lives is less dramatic than language. But if music is your passion then it can be a very important problem.
The lessons from this book are wide ranging. They are about perseverance, compensatory strategies, the ingenuity of individuals and the attitudes of other people, their ability to inspire or destroy ambition and hope.
The successes of the dyslexics in this book are the result of hard work, of the underlying uncertainties that they overcome on a daily basis. There were no “miracle” routes to success and that, for me, makes their achievements all the more important. If you have any interest in dyslexia, get this book and read beyond the words.
Beve Hornsby’s Dyslexics I Have Known is an interesting, eclectic book from one of the pioneers of understanding dyslexia. The content is quirky, for example there is a page on synaesthesia, and the text is dotted with personal views on such wonderfully debatable topics as IQ and spatial ability.
Several chapters are almost tantalisingly brief. For example, the ground-breaking Alpha to Omega programme is summarised in four pages. Other topics include diagnosis and careers. There are many snippets of interest with some almost throwaway paragraphs of tangential information.
The chapter on the readability of print is a good illustration of how complex even a seemingly simple facet of learning can be. Somewhat disappointingly there are only a few case studies, but they do give an encouraging message. Overall a unique and personal book from a remarkable woman.
Steve Chinn
Steve Chinn is principal of Mark College, Highbridge, Somerset
