General Enquiries

If you would like to speak to someone about any of our courses, please use the numbers below. If you prefer to make your enquiry by email, please use the Enquiry Form

Residential Courses
01766 781900

Community Courses
01248 353254

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Ever thought you might be dyslexic?

Is this you ?

Did you work your heart out at school only to be told that you were lazy and good for nothing, so you didn’t bother any more (well what was the point)?

Can you verbally discuss complex ideas, but when you write them down it is as if a child has taken over your hand?

Do you have to work three times as hard at reading only to get half as far as others do in the same time?

Did you spend more time devising ingenious ways to avoid lessons at school than actually going to them?

If this is the case then you may have dyslexia or another learning difficulty. Don’t panic your education career is not over, all is not lost. Coleg Harlech WEA has a wealth of experienced staff who are very aware of the types of problems that you face. They have many ways of helping you.

You are not alone

On average 25% of Coleg Harlech students have some problems. You will therefore get support from other students as well as the tutors. You will hear about other people’s experiences and be fortified from the fact that you are not the only one.

Help is available in the following ways

Tutorial
These are one to one sessions where you can discuss the problems you have. Your difficulties can be directly tackled.

Contents
It is fundamentally the contents of your work that is looked at and not simply your ability to spell.

Professional Assessment
If you are not sure if you have a problem then this can be professionally assessed. This assessment can then help you understand your problems.

Technical Help
Students can borrow a computer/laptop with specialised software on it to help them with the difficulties identified on their assessment.

Understanding
Teachers have all experienced the difficulties that some learners get and are sympathetic and encouraging, not dismissive.

Not Alone

If you have a difficulty remember you are in good company - other people who have dyslexia are Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Whoopie Goldberg, Robson Green, Keira Knightley and Sir Steven Redgrave.

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a disorder that affects millions of people all over the world. It is one type of specific learning disability that affects reading. Although people can learn to compensate for their specific learning disability, it is a permanent factor that affects the way a person understands, processes, "takes in," retains, recalls, and/or expresses information. Specific learning disabilities affect self esteem, education, work, socialisation, and daily life through problems in listening, reading, writing, spelling, mathematics, problem solving, organisation, and time management.

A person with a specific learning disability like dyslexia learns at their own level and pace, while often excelling in other areas. Frequently, they will be inconsistent in their daily tasks and abilities, such as spelling a word one day and not the next day. Some of their experiences are difficulties with concentration, perception, memory, verbal skills, abstract reasoning, hand-eye coordination, social adjustment, low grades, underachievement, and expression. Often, people with specific learning disabilities are considered lazy, rebellious, class clowns, unmotivated, misfits, or of low intelligence. These misconceptions, without understanding can lead to rejection, isolation, feelings of inferiority, discouragement, and low self-esteem.

Dyslexia is a general term for reading disorders. Other general dyslexia related problems include dysgraphia (writing problems) and dyscalcula (mathematics problems). dyspraxia (movement problems).

Being dyslexic is like running a 100 metre race. In your lane you have hurdles, but no one else does. You feel that it's unfair but you try running like the other competitors anyway. Then, you hit a hurdle and fall flat on your face. People and teachers are yelling at you to try harder, so you get up and even though you can see people are well ahead of you, you try. Running faster and faster trying harder and harder to catch up, then you fall even harder at the next hurdle. Then, someone has a little faith in you and takes the time to show you how to run hurdles and now you are in with a chance of keeping up with everyone else and even of outrunning others. The key, though, is that you have to do it differently, the way that works best for you.

The staff at Coleg Harlech WEA are all waiting to be that person who has faith in you and your abilities to show you the way to become an academic sprinter.