Post 16/18 courses

[Fiona25]

Hello, 

 

My 16 year old daughter has been dancing since she was 3 and like many dreams of being a professional ballet dancer. She has achieved well in all her dance exams and has her heart set on post 16 full time ballet school. Although my preference is for her to wait until she is 18. The complicating factor is that she has a significant hearing impairment/dyslexia and really struggles with academic work. Although all the big ballet/dance schools talk about inclusivity I am wondering whether anyone has real life experience of a child who has gone into fulltime training with a hearing impairment/dyslexia or other disability and could comment on support available. Some have said that the dance world won't consider her even if her dancing is really good, but its not clear whether there is a way of allowing her to follow her dreams. 

[Chira]

@Fiona25 I will pm you.

[Jan McNulty]

Hello @Fiona25 and welcome to the Forum.

[Out-the-other-side]

@Fiona25 I’ll also pm you 

[Flower]

Having a severely dyslexic dd myself I was interested to see this post - particularly as several dance schools offer only degree courses.  I will follow this thread, and hope to see some replies. 

[Farawaydancer]

DS is dyslexic. It was never an issue with regards to completing the ‘academic’ parts of the diploma, school made adjustments and provided support  in the same way they did for his GCSEs and A levels. 

[Chira]

For information:-

Central Ballet School 

Rambert School 

Trinity Laban

Centre for Advanced Training in contemporary dance 

Northern School of Contemporary Dance 

(RAD + ISTD offer accommodation's and support within an exam setting.) 

 

These dance schools are all actively inclusive, from their application, selection and audition process through to their training and beyond support is excellent.
They all have Inclusivity Policies and follow The Social Model of Disability. They are in our experience progressive and inclusive. 
Experience of the other main dance schools through intensives and training is not inclusive when it comes to accommodations. Even the impact of Dyslexia the most common SpLD in dance students is still very poorly understood, some teachers are aware, many are not. And even where there is awareness even this is limited.

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Chira