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Hi - it is now 2002 and it is definitely time to get writing again. First of all I wish everyone a very happy 2002 from I Am Dyslexic.com.


• BACK TO SCHOOL
  I am now back at school for the new term. Actually it was quite good to get back to see my friends and I actually do enjoy St Bede's. I leave at the end of this summer term and go onto my senior school. I am not quite sure yet whether I will take the Common Entrance or the Scholarship papers. I have sort of been working for the Scholarship and I think I am OK in Maths and Science - I also really enjoy Geography and History. I actually came top in the exam in Geography last term but I was surprised. My English is absolutely nowhere near scholarship level - I dread the thought of even having to read the paper let alone answering questions - at least I will have my iBook to help me! I think my headmaster and my new school will decide what I will take and then I will have to get organised as the exams will be in about May.
  
  
• MY ALARM SYSTEM!

  I have been at school for a little while this term. I wonder if anyone uses the same method as me to be organised through the day. I have a cool watch that can have lots of alarms set for different times. I will list all my alarms and what they mean!

  • 7.00am is the first one which is supposed to wake me up but unfortunately it doesn't! At about 7.05am my mom wakes me up but I pretend not to notice.
  • 7.10am - another alarm this time I get up and have a shower. I then start to get organised for school.
  • 7.44am This means that I should be very nearly ready to leave the house.
  • 7.50am - another alarm and this means we need to leave for the bus.
  • 6.00pm is the next one - this means the bus should be leaving school.
  • 7.00pm This is an important one as it means that it is time for the Simpsons on TV.
  • 10.00pm is the last one and this is for Terry Garridan's Last bus to white hawk. This is on the radio on Southern FM.
  
  Does anybody else have a system like this? It actually seems to work quite well but I hope I don't lose my watch!

• TintaVision
  
  
  Just before I went on holiday I had another appointment with 'Tintavision'. This was my 3rd one - I had my first one last summer and the second one in October. At each visit I have been given a series of tests and from these results I was given a colored overlay to put over my work to help me read more easily - this time they gave me two overlays which made things much easier as I can have one at school and one at home. I also put the color on the computer so that I always had it as the background rather than white. At each of my visits the color changed slightly as I had adapted to it. The background color works in 'Word' and 'Excel'. It is only a background colour so it doesn't come out when I print my work out which is very lucky for my ink cartridge! I definitely find the colored background on the computer easier to use rather than the usual white. You can go to Tintavision's website for more info - please click on the link above.
  
  
• NEW PAGE "SUCCESSFUL DYSLEXICS"
  

  Rather than have the usual page that most dyslexic sites seem to have i.e. lists of dyslexic famous people like Richard Branson and Michael Hesletine I thought I would make a new page with info and stories about 'ordinary dyslexics' like me. I would love to hear from anyone who is dyslexic who feels that they have been successful - I thought if the person could write about a paragraph about themselves it might be really helpful to the people who are still really struggling. By successful it might mean that you have just learnt to touch type and that your grades have improved or perhaps you have suddenly started to enjoy school and have made new friends. I would love to hear about any successes however small and I will make this new page which I hope will give people lots of encouragement. Parents or teachers could send in the stories if it is easier and please remember no success is too small. People like Richard Branson seem so distant that I thought this might be a better idea. But I do need some stories otherwise it will not work! Please click here to send a story

  
  
  
• MESSAGE BOARD
  

  I still get loads of emails which is brill - I really do like getting them. I do try and reply but it is very hard. I also have to find time to keep the site up to date. This means putting the new birthdays on, spelling tips, writing new quizzes, reading the entries, choosing the winners. I must admit that I did get a bit behind over Christmas and I am very sorry if I have not replied to you. I am gradually catching up again and things should be back to normal very soon. I feel a bit like the train service in the UK at the moment - that is rather late with everything. I think I will catch up quicker than the trains! If anyone thinks they could write their email as a message to be posted on the message board it might be helpful as I am sure other people are really interested in some of them. If you want to leave a message for the message board please click here!. POWERPOINT Last term we were given the task to make a Powerpoint project. I had only used powerpoint a bit before but I really enjoyed the challenge. I managed to record lots of good sounds as well as all the normal stuff. The project was on 1971 and I started it off with a time machine. Our school has been really good with IT. Since I have been there we have been introduced to: Website Design Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Microsoft Powerpoint winlogo how to make advent calendars databases and lots of other stuff We are about to learn something about CAD design and I think we will have to draw The Globe Theatre for a History project. I have also done lots of other things out of school but I think we have been lucky and I am not sure that I would actually have ever made this site if I had not learnt the basics at School. Actually I think our IT department is cool - our teachers Mr Barclay and Mr Mier are good fun! HOLIDAY I have had a brill holiday. I went skiing in La Plagne in France and it was really good fun. The first week the resort was nearly empty but there weren't many runs open - the second week over Christmas, there were loads of people but there were more runs open. There were quite a few queues but we skied mainly over lunchtime and so it wasn't too bad. COURSES I am still doing my Visual basic course at the local collage - It is a City and Gilds course and I have an exam around Easter I think. I am enjoying the course although I am rather a lot younger than everyone else! MY OLD NEWSLETTERS I still have my last newsletters and they can be read by clicking here. Also if you remember I used to have a news page, well I have put these back on, so please click here to go to them.