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Ben's dyslexic mind on TV

Emma Tracey Emma Tracey | 12:55 UK time, Monday, 7 January 2013

Newsround reporter Ben

One in ten children are believed to be dyslexic to some degree, which means there are two to three children in every classroom who have the condition.

My Dyslexic Mind is a CÖ÷²¥´óÐã Newsround film about being diagnosed with the learning difficulty and getting the right help at school. The 15 minute special report is presented by 12-year-old Ben Hunter, who found out he had dyslexia when he was seven.

Before the diagnosis, he says school was a frustrating experience: "I thought I was just dumb and I couldn't do the work very well. I had to just keep on trying and miss would be disappointed with me."

An estimated six million people have dyslexia in the UK. It affects reading, writing and memory.

In the film, Ben meets fellow dyslexic Dominic Wood, one half of kids TV duo Dick and Dom.

Ben notes that a significant number of people in the arts and sport seem to have dyslexia. Dom agrees and says it's because "your creative side is a lot more alert" if you are not excelling academically.

The presenter tells Ö÷²¥´óÐã Breakfast: "Without having all those learning difficulties, it wouldn't have helped me channel into the route that I'm now in".

Pleased to have met a worthy role model, Ben says he and Dom could talk about dyslexia all day.

In the same interview on Friday, Ben tells viewers it's important to let people know you're having problems and to get diagnosed as early as possible.

He concludes with important advice: "It's not an excuse in life, you have to still try your hardest."

• My Dyslexic Mind goes out on the CÖ÷²¥´óÐã channel at 5 PM on 7 January and it will be available for seven days afterwards on Ö÷²¥´óÐã iPlayer.

•Check out Try Being Me, CÖ÷²¥´óÐã's interactive dyslexia experience, and find out how it was created in this post from the About the Ö÷²¥´óÐã blog.

More from Ouch! on dyslexia

Marcus Brigstocke: dyslexia helps my comedy

Video: My Adapted Life: Gizmos that help me read and study

2011 Apprentice winner Tom sees his dyslexia as a positive

You can follow Ouch! on and on .

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Superb. Well done Ben on a marvellous report. I'm dyslexic and a PhD - nothing is impossible, but will take hard work against this linguistic-focused world. My full comment is too long to post here, so please see it on my website:

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