Good evening Terry and Andy, I just jumped out of bed to write this email to you, in fact this red letter. You see I have been pondering f...

Natasha's Red Letter to Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

13:23:00 Dyslexia Australia 0 Comments

Good evening Terry and Andy,

I just jumped out of bed to write this email to you, in fact this red letter. You see I have been pondering for some time all the things I go through as well as my children being dyslexic. I had plans to send my red letter to pollies maybe, but my children inspired me and I have chosen you.

Please understand I have trouble spelling and with grammar at times. Red Letters are encouraged to be written without spell/grammar checks so the recipients can see what its like for us reading everyday. I haven’t strictly followed this guideline, generally correcting the four or five errors in every sentence i write as i go.

I don't know if you know what dyslexia is or what its like, especially in our Queensland schools for dyslexic children. Dyslexia can affect so much, nit just reading, and it is for life. If you have trouble reading, or are slow you have trouble in EVERY subject as everything is written, science, maths, history, art and so on. You see 1 in 10 people, of all backgrounds, are dyslexic. But teachers don't know. In fact, so far we’ve had over 20 main classroom teachers, and not one has had or since had any training or professional development in dyslexia. We have had only 2 of these teachers having a positive impact on my children. I have four children, 3 diagnosed dyslexic, one yet to even start school and  each with their own learning challenges making school all that much harder.

You see the reason I am inspired to send this to you is this – two of my children are reading your books at the moment (this actually translates to I am reading them with their help). My daughter, in year 5, read all the Treehouse books, some by herself (BIG deal for me/us/her!!) and now we are reading your version of Macbeth. I do not like Macbeth, and had to work really hard to motivate myself to read it with her. But I have started, she loves it, loves reading different parts with me, a little like acting (she likes drama!)

So thankyou for writing your books, all the different types you do and the little silly bits you put in that make it fun. I love it when we find something my children want to read, they love being read to, always have (in fact I still read to my teen). But anything that inspires them to try and read by themselves is even better.

Please keep them coming,
Natasha

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