There is an opportunity to fix an inequality within our education system.
Despite dyslexia being one of society’s most common disabilities, government offers no funding to support hiring dyslexia specialists within educational settings. Additionally, parents have no access to free screening or assessment, meaning that many dyslexic children receive no additional support.
During the pandemic there has become a Government focus on providing additional funding for children from the most deprived backgrounds. Whilst this is laudable, this funding focuses purely on economic circumstance and not on those needing academic support.
A simple fix would consist of three legislative changes.
1. All children to have access to free dyslexia screening and assessment.
2. Funding to enable early intervention from specialist teachers.
3. Every education setting to be required to employ a dyslexia specialist.
Dyslexia affects one person in five, and it impacts every aspect of a person’s life. If a young person feels their educational gap is widening from their peers, they can become disenfranchised from education and often the wider community. Life opportunities become narrower and can lead to young people taking the wrong path. Currently up to 80% of young males within prison are either diagnosed as dyslexic or display dyslexic traits, whilst 60% of young incarcerated males display reading skills akin to a 5-year-old.
At present, there is no mandated training given to new teachers about dyslexia, the support structures needed or the challenges faced by a dyslexic student.
Why does this matter?
For a young dyslexic person with no support their chances of success in life are reduced. Dyslexia doesn’t just affect literacy skills, but also many other areas: organisation skills; the ability to retain information; friendship building; self-esteem; the ability to apply for jobs or financial support; college and university applications; mortgage and rent contracts – the list is endless. Early intervention from a specialist enables a young person to develop coping skills which in turn allows them to move forward both in education and the wider world.
What does society gain?
If we fail to tap into these young peoples’ potential then we lose a generation of extraordinary thinkers. Many of our most creative talents are dyslexic – they see the world through a unique lens. Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Jim Carrey, Keira Knightly, Jamie Oliver and Steven Spielberg are just a few of the talented dyslexic individuals who have enabled our society to grow.
In interviews with well known dyslexics, they often talk about how hard formal education was for them and their struggle to fit in. If these exceptional people found it tough, how difficult is it for the average young person who is dyslexic? Dyslexia affects all ability ranges, it is life long – you do not grow out of it and it cannot be “cured”. We can only find ways to overcome and navigate the difficulties associated with dyslexia.
From the first moment you learn to read to completing a job application, the problem doesn’t lessen. The world can become an impossible place to navigate – with jobs becoming scarce and employers looking to graduates to fill them.
Despite this seemingly bleak picture, a simple change would make an enormous difference to our society.
Simple tools and strategies can enable a young person to see their potential and the positive attributes dyslexia can bring. All it takes is access to a free dyslexia assessment and a qualified, well trained specialist teacher.
If it was a legal requirement for all education settings to employ a specialist teacher and funding made available for support, then these young people would receive the education they deserve and the life chances that education brings.
It is common for children to compare themselves to their peers. Dyslexic students have a greater likelihood of developing low self esteem and self worth.
THE PARENT’S PERSPECTIVE
What happens if parents are concerned about their child’s abilities? Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, parents, who have been homeschooling may have noticed gaps in their child’s understanding, that they struggle to read the work set or write confidently. They notice spelling mistakes and sometimes the words misspelt in different ways throughout the same piece of work. The child shows reluctance to complete tasks set by the school or gets frustrated and upset when asked to complete the work given. Or they may have had their suspicions about their child being dyslexic for some while.
The first place a parent would ask for assistance is likely to be their school and/or class teacher. Currently there are no guidelines as to the level of knowledge or expertise a class teacher must have in regards to dyslexia. The class teacher passes on their concerns to the Special Educational Needs coordinator. As with class teachers, there is no legal requirement for the coordinator to have any specialist knowledge of dyslexia. The parent hits a brick wall. Hopefully the school or educational setting may implement some support strategies or suggest some catch up programmes, but there is no additional funding for specific dyslexic programmes. The parent may then seek additional support.
Before any specific help can be given, a Dyslexia diagnosis is necessary. But these are not available on the NHS, or through a school. Currently a dyslexic assessment will privately cost a parent between £500 and £700. As a parent of a child with dyslexia myself, the assessment we paid for has been key in helping us seek appropriate support from the school, whilst helping us understand home strategies to best support our son. We (as parents) know that had we not had the funds to pay for an assessment, it would have adversely affected the support he would be able to access.
I believe the 3 legislative changes would have a profound effect on the life opportunities of a large section of our population.
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