Tina Law

DON SCOTT/Fairfax NZ

NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT: Adam Hodgson, 13, says national standards do not work for people like him with learning differences such as dyspraxia.

Adam Hodgson has dyspraxia, a condition that affects the planning of his movements and co-ordination.

He needs more time to sit exams, and if he was able to answer questions verbally he would get a much higher result, but he says the national standards testing system does not allow that to happen.

Adam, who attends Westburn School, said he was below the national standard, but that did not mean he was dumb. It just meant the method of testing was not suited to him.

In a speech he wrote for a school competition, Adam said the testing system did not give a fair reflection of what he was capable of doing.

Read more here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/7818865/National-standards-belittle-people-like-me