There is a lot of confusion about the term dyslexia. It is often referred to as a condition like asthma or autism.
In fact, dyslexia just means “impaired ability to read, not caused by low intelligence” (ie can’t read and we don’t know why).
So, to my mind, a “diagnosis” of dyslexia is like calling out the AA repair services and having the man in a yellow jacket solemnly announce “your car is a non-starter”.
The only thing that matters is why the car doesn’t start and why a child is struggling with reading. Once you know that, you can start to fix the problem.
In our experience, 90% of dyslexia can be solved quite easily. The real danger of the term dyslexic is that parents, teachers and children drop the struggle and start to plan a future without proper literacy skills.
No special support, extra time in exams or dispensations can make up for the fundamental loss of being unable to read well. Our society is a literate culture and any individual unable to access the written word with ease is at a huge disadvantage.
So, lets find out why someone is finding reading hard and do everything we can to fix it for them!
-David Morgan