York is to host the "final test" of a new method to combat dyslexia and other learning problems by removing stress.

A one-day workshop at the city's Monkbar Hotel this Sunday will demonstrate a range of exercises, both physical and mental, designed to defuse the tension which it is claimed can hinder learning.

Howard Duckworth, of Hobgate, Acomb, is an advanced trainer in techniques based on 15 years of research by Gordon Stokes, author of course booklet Without Stress Learning Can Be Easy.

Howard, formerly from Scarborough, built up a successful business with five furniture shops, despite reading and writing difficulties at school.

After being told as an adult he was dyslexic he started doing exercises to deal with stress, and since then has gained a post-graduate certificate in management.

He threw himself into this campaign to combat youngsters' learning problems, saying: "I don't want them to go through what I've gone through."

One of the basic principles behind the techniques he uses is that stress creates mental blocks which hamper learning, even in adulthood.

An example cited by Howard is that of a child asked to stand up and read in front of a class. The child is already suffering a build-up of stress, and makes a mess of the reading - at which the rest of the class starts laughing.

He says that experience can lead to a block which can stay with the child, to the extent that if the child is asked to carry out a similar task in future - even as an adult - the stress will return.

Howard looks to ease the path to learning by defusing the stress that has built up, not by trying to deal with the root cause but by removing the "emotional baggage" that accompanies it.

One of the principal methods of the technique is a mental exercise in which the subject visualises a mirror into which they banish their troubles.

Physical exercises, including rubbing meridian (acupuncture) points to defuse stress in specific parts of the body, are used to address a range of learning problems, including the widespread one of examination stress.

Howard says: "You go into tests, you go into stress, you've blown it." But he says one girl who used these methods improved so much her teacher said if she had not been at the front of the hall she would have been suspected of cheating. One beneficiary of the techniques, Paul, aged 17, from Bridlington, says he used the exercises about ten years ago after learning he was dyslexic.

He adds: "It helped me a lot to get rid of all the stress in my life." Paul says he would recommend them to anyone with similar problems.

The day at the Monkbar Hotel costs £25, which Howard says covers a copy of a "learning without stress" booklet for each child. After the York "test" the workshop will tour the country when the cost will be £69.95 per adult and child.

But Howard promises anyone attending the workshop who does the exercises for 21 days and does not see a noticeable improvement will get their money back. He can be contacted at 15 Hobgate, York, YO24 4HE, telephone York 792000, fax York 792444, and email howardduckworth@compuserve.com

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