What is The Society for Immediate Awareness of Alternative Learning?
A. IMMEDIATE AWARENESS
You are probably familiar with the terms “dyslexia” and “attention deficit disorder”, which are intellectual disabilities that can be severe to mild in 20% of our population. We here at IAAL have learned to call these disabilities
alternative learning
Style
B. THE SOCIETY
We are a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Alternative Learning. Our mission is to help honour everyone’s right to an education by bringing immediate awareness to the alternative ways of learning and teaching discovered by science, technology and, most importantly, the experience of people with an alternative learning Style
. Other goals are
- To bring awareness to the emotional element of learning and how it effects self-esteem
- To provide information and resources
- To encourage a positive attitude while nurturing and supporting acceptance
- To replace negative language with positive information
- To help provide everyone with the opportunity to learn
- To promote the abilities of alternative learners
- To adopt a new understanding of alternative learning
In order to make all of this a reality, we are currently working on two things:
The
Educational Tool
The Truth About Reading – Sample pages and info
The Presentations at schools in Greater, Vancouver Schools
The Truth About Reading Isn’t Black and White
To Contact: The Society for Immediate Awareness of Alternative Learning
call 604-790-2610 or email iaal@shaw.ca
More About Alternative Learning
The Story Of Jonathan
Meet Jonathan. Jonathan thinks and learns a little differently than many other people. Where many people recognize letters and words, Jonathan sees shapes. Where most see two-dimensional letters, Jonathan sees three-dimensional sculptures. Jonathan is very talented. He can walk into a room and instantly rearrange it in his head – something that other people pay thousands of dollars to experts for. He has a keen sense of colour and can put together a complicated piece of furniture in an afternoon.
But all Jonathan used to thinks was …
· Sometimes I’m so ashamed and embarrassed at how different I am, I just want to hide forever.
· I’m afraid they’ll find out I can’t write that well.
· I’m so afraid they’ll laugh.
· When they realize just how dumb I am, they won’t want to be with me anymore.
· There’s something terribly wrong with me.
· Probably I’m mentally retarded – they’re just too polite to tell me.
· Why is it that I know all about hockey statistics but I can’t do simple math?
· I’m such a loser!
· I don’t know what I’m good at. I only know what I’m bad at.
Can you image what it was like to think and feel like that all day long, in addition to struggling with trying to think and learn like everyone else around him? Can you imagine how much mental and emotional energy that took? Seriously. Try to imagine that.
Fortunately, Jonathan was lucky. His family and friends wanted him to get ahead, they wanted him to be happy. But sometimes they felt lonely and confused with all of this, too. So Jonathan and his friends and family looked for someone to help. And they were lucky. They found someone who believed in him and was delighted by his talents and his way of thinking. Someone who helped him dissolve these awful thoughts so that he could put his energy into finding ways of learning that work for him, and into doing what he does well. And his thoughts changed to
· Oh! I’m not making this up! I do have this different way of learning, but it works!
· I guess I’m not a loser. I have strengths and qualities and talents that are totally my own.
· I don’t care anymore whether they’ll find out that I have a hard time reading a lot of stuff. They’ll also find out that I’m a darn good carpenter, cook and poet!
* * * * *
So this is the story of Jonathan. If you know someone like him, maybe we can help. Whoever it is, we’ll listen and extend a hand. Jonathan didn’t have to do it alone, and no-one else who learns differently should have to. As they say in the movie Lilo & Stitch:
“Ohana means family, and that means no one gets left behind”.
Written by isabella Mori
Would it help you, as parents, to feel empowered and endowed with a strong sense of your rights in pursuit of an effective education for your child? Would this sense of rights and duties enable you to be a better advocate and co-teacher of your child?
Once a parent decides to choose a school for their child (as opposed to home education) I believe parents have certain rights and expectations regarding their child’s achievements in that school. That is, regardless of the conditions the child comes in with (poverty, disability, ethnicity, different learning style, etc.) the school has a value-added education element that they should be able to contribute.
In most cases, most parents expect at least a grounding in the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic as a foundation for further learning. Otherwise, why send the child to school?
Please examine this document, Parent Rights and Their Children’s Education, developed in 1977 by Education Advisory, an education consumer advocacy group and tell us if this would have been helpful. I think such information, outlining a sense of parent rights, duties, and responsibilities, is one of the most neglected tools kept from parents.
These are the categories in the brochure:
1. Right to Choice
2. Right to Information
3. Right to be Heard and Consulted
4. Right to Special Assistance
5. Right to Involvement
6. Right to Safeguards
7. Right to Appeal
There is a renewed sense internationally that parents, above all others in education, can make the biggest difference today. This Rights document, on a site called The Schools We Need, has been downloaded so many times we lost count. Here is the link:
http://www.theschoolsweneed.com/forums/attachments/43.pdf
I truly wish your group the best attention and progress it deserves.
Tunya Audain
By: Tunya Audain on May 29, 2008
at 4:58 pm