Alex Milliner
Alex's story
Vital stats
Age – 22
Problem areas – Reading, writing, concentration, confidence, social skills
Completed Dore – August 2003
Background
Sandra and Mike Milliner knew from an early age their son Alex was struggling to develop. They recognised typical symptoms of both dyslexia and dyspraxia in his behaviour. “Between the ages of four and 13 there wasn’t a single year he didn’t have a broken bone, he would trip over a matchstick,” recalls Sandra. It was Alex’s dyslexia that became the major problem. Despite being highly advanced verbally, he still ended up, like many kids with learning difficulties, with a ‘lazy child’ label. When they were told ten year-old Alex would not be able to sit his SAT exams, Sandra and Mike decided enough was enough. They needed a solution and enrolled him on the Dore Programme.
“I used to struggle to concentrate for 3 seconds at a time, now I am getting 80% in my Open University modules.”
Alex Milliner
Alex’s journey
Alex spent just over a year completing his Dore Programme when he was 14 and puts much of his success down to his Programme specialist Matt. According to Alex, “Matt was a really nice and approachable guy. Early in the Programme I suffered from mood swings but there was an amazing support network at Dore and my family was always patient with me.” Alex began to see changes in his symptoms within two months and on completing the Programme went on to fulfil a lifetime ambition when he was accepted onto an undergraduate nursing course. Since then Alex’s confidence and independence have grown to the point where he now deals with organising his own life and has the confidence and ability to set him own goals and achieve them.
The future
Alex is now 22 and has taken a year out of his nursing degree, while he contemplates doing a secondary qualification, which will allow him to become a paramedic. He works part-time as a bank nurse and has the focus and motivation to be continuing with an Open University course where he is achieving over 80% in most modules. In the space of ten years and with the help of Dore, Alex has turned his life around and set him on a path to achieve his dreams. “The programme has given Alex a chance to go far beyond what was predicted for him in his early school years and for that we will always be in debt to Dore,” comments Mike.
“There was an amazing support network at Dore and my family was always patient with me.”
Alex Milliner