dysgraphia | 手写.破碎

Documenting Language Learning Methodology & Impairment

click on the picture to watch it on youtube

SONGLINE: Dyslexia-Curing Snake Oil Business

YER: South East of The Black Stump, Specifically South Pacific

★, aus terör, dysgraphia, education fail, medical labels, teaching strategies

0032 dysgraphia | 1:22 | 30 Dec 2020

I dread this will appear as a visual eyesore, but it was necessary to include the actual text from the video for further analysis. It's frustrating that I was hindered by the inability to access the Chinese characters.

dysgraphia | 手写.破碎

dys meaning impaired
difficult, broken meant'it-must've
dis meaning impaired
DSM-172
this meaning impaired
mental disorder
mental disorder komponent
this meaning impaired
stupid and muddy writing wright'ing*1
Дys meaning impaireД
slow and sloppy ryeting
Дys meaning impaireД
ş/he/it mean's stupid & dirty
ДiС meaНing impaireД
this is the term used by most doctors and psychologists
stupid & filthy writing
mental disorder
ДiС meaНinГ impaireД
this is the term used by most doctors and psychologists
ДiС mЙНinГ ИmpaireД
stupid & filthy
mental disorder
ДiС mЙНinГ ИmpeРeД
requires a stupid psychologist
ДiС mЙНiНГ ИmПeРeД
requires a filthy mental disorder
ДiС mЙНiНГ ИmПaiРeД
requires a stupid psychologist
*s *НiНg imp'aired (*unable to display chinese character insertion)
a mental disorder that required a
diş meğin'ing imp'ered
difficult, broken meant'it-must've

~ iD-ENTity

The exercise had two main functions:

1. Advancing Language Studies:
I needed to progress in my language studies, which led me to explore various methods of learning. The repeated references to «dys», «dis» and variations of Cyrillic and Latin scripts emphasised the concept of impairment from multiple angles. This was a record of my transition from Latin to Cyrillic characters, using typography as a visual teaching aid. The process was incremental, targeting visual perceptual difficulties associated with dyslexia. By juxtaposing different ways of expressing language impairment, I aimed to document and refine a learning methodology that naturally developed, adapting it into a more advanced visual teaching aid tailored to my needs later on.

2. Reflection on Impairment and Professional Evaluation:
This poem critiques the Australian rhetoric surrounding impaired communication. It specifically targets a self-aggrandizing expert who portrayed dyslexia (and dysgraphia) as mental health disorders, only diagnosable by psychologists.

The discipline of psychology is critiqued for its struggle with objective assessment, due to its reliance on subjective interpretations and shape-shifting diagnostic criteria, which undermines impartial evaluation. This is why «DSM-172» was included, serving as a sarcastic commentary on formal diagnostic manuals, suggesting that the narrator refers to the 172nd iteration of the DSM, to amplify the absurdity of such standards.

It is absurd for experts to diagnose neurological disorders based solely on children writing letters backwards or making errors in sound perception, without conducting physical examinations such as a basic neuro pinprick test or MRI scans, to verify actual brain abnormalities. If such tests were conducted, the results are likely show up as «normal», when neurologists don't find any physically apparent signs of malignancy.

The poem's visual composition is intermittently interrupted by a subtextual demand to prove the diagnosis of «hyperdysgraphilexia». This is the medical label I designed, to accurately describe my own condition with language. This serves as a covert tag to highlight how medical labels can be perceived as fabricated terms, designed to create problems. The inventors of these problems, get to profit from the sale of their snake-oil cures, no different to a TV commercial that offers a 100% guarantee, for curing hair loss ...or an Australian NDIS Wanker who claims they can cure autism.

Other Notes:

* Censored Language:
The poem employs strikethrough to censor negative language and emphasize cross-cultural incompatibility. Words like «stupid» and «hate» were prohibited in the family home and met with severe punishment if used. Although «filthy» wasn't censored here, I don't feel at ease with it/s use - because of how strong negatives like that were discouraged. It was sometimes the equivalent of facing the threat of being ostracised or facing some form of excommunication. This visual technique of strikethrough - was trying to annotate the restrictive nature of certain cultural norms and their impact on communication. In my case - certain words or mannerism in speech were almost amputed. They were not allowed to breathe or have any right to an existence in my vocabulary.

* Visual Representation of Language Impairment:
The superimposition of Chinese characters in the poem visually conveys the impaired state of the mother tongue. The disordered and out-of-sequence pen strokes in Chinese, represents the sense of fragmentation and disarray experienced when navigating Turkish, reflecting my internal struggle with language.

This ★ needs to be tagged and filed under the department for further development of teaching methods. It will require further review, articulation & refinement.

~ My Name Is Ayça, get used to it

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