Understanding Dyslexia

Dyslexia is one of a range of Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD).   

In 2009 Sir Jim Rose's Report on 'Identifying and Teaching Children and Young People with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties', gave the following definition of dyslexia:

• 'Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling.
• Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed.
• Dyslexia occurs across a range of intellectual abilities.   It is best thought of as a continuum, not a a distinct category, and there are no clear cut-off points.
• Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor co-ordination, mental calculation, concentration and personal organisation, but these are not, by themselves, markers of dyslexia.'

Source of information: www.nhs.uk/conditions/dyslexia/symptoms

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that mainly causes problems with reading, writing and spelling.

It's a specific learning difficulty, which means it causes problems with certain abilities used for learning, such as reading and writing.

Unlike a learning disability, intelligence isn't affected.

It's estimated up to 1 in every 10 people in the UK has some degree of dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a lifelong problem that can present challenges on a daily basis, but support is available to improve reading and writing skills and help those with the problem be successful at school and work.

What are the signs of dyslexia?

Signs of dyslexia usually become apparent when a child starts school and begins to focus more on learning how to read and write.

A person with dyslexia may:

• read and write very slowly
• confuse the order of letters in words
• be confused by letters that look similar and write letters the wrong way round (such as "b" and "d")
• have poor or inconsistent spelling
• understand information when told verbally, but have difficulty with information that's written down
• find it hard to carry out a sequence of directions
• struggle with planning and organisation

But people with dyslexia often have good skills in other areas, such as creative thinking and problem solving.

Getting help

If you think your child may have dyslexia, the first step is to speak to their teacher or their school's special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO or Inclusion Manager) about your concerns.

They may be able to offer additional support to help your child if necessary.

If your child continues to have problems despite extra support, you or the school may want to consider requesting an in-depth assessment from a specialist in assessing specific learning difficulties (SpLD), an educational psychologist or a speech and language therapist.

This can be arranged through the school, or you can request a private assessment by contacting:

• an educational psychologist directly (see the directory of chartered psychologists on the British Psychological Society's website)
• a voluntary organisation that can arrange an assessment or share details of a qualified assessor in your area, such as the British Dyslexia Association, The Dyslexia Association, or Patoss

Please click on the links below for more information:

https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dyslexia/

http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk

http://www.thedyslexia-spldtrust.org.uk