Change of direction for teacher - (Full text for Easier Reading follows)

Full Text (for easier reading) :

AFTER 18 years of devoting her energies to the needs of dyslexia sufferers, Kenmore teacher Christina Alexander has swapped that world for a less stressful one. She spoke to Paul Lancaster.

CHRISTINA Alexander, the pioneer of a learning system for people with dyslexia, is taking a well-earned break to write fiction.

"Absorbing all the issues with dyslexic children and their families takes its toll on you and I've always been nose to the grindstone," Ms Alexander said.

"It gets pretty harassing doing all the consulting and after 18 years I suffered from burn out.

"So now I've decided to write fiction, which will be a lot of fun and certainly less stressful."

After seeing children with dyslexia in trouble in court and dropping out of school Ms Alexander decided to help them.

"I found there was nothing practical out there for the children and what was there was simplistic and condescending, with all the richness taken out of it," she said.

"It was a dreadful situation and I really had to start from scratch.

"We were all failing the children in some way, so I decided to write a teaching aid which was funny and help children read using multi-sensory methods."

Ms Alexander then set about writing her pioneering book Katey Clean about a girl in a messy house.

From that point the demand for her teaching skills blossomed beyond her wildest dreams, including starting her own publishing company, Turkey Tracks Press.

"I was curious about people with learning difficulties and I had a huge waiting list of people wanting help," Ms Alexander said.

"I must have been a nut, because I couldn't say "no" to people, especially when I could see the end results, like a young girl who had 100 words after only six months."

Although she has taken a much needed change of direction with her writing, success continues to follow her in the world of fiction.

Her first short story, which celebrated rural women, was short-listed for a national competition.

"I'm also writing a memoir as to the struggles to get dyslexia recognised, but writing about it is so much easier than having to deal each week with troubled people needing help," she said.

And while Ms Alexander may not be directly involved with helping people with dyslexia now, people can still get assistance by visiting the website at www.dyslexia-australasia.com

- Back to Media Room