Dyslexia is not a myth

JOHN Rack heaves a big sigh.

"I don't want to use any unprintable words," the head of assessment and evaluation at the Dyslexia Institute's education centre at York University says carefully. "But this is disappointing and it is very unhelpful. I know academics like to be provocative and have a good ding-dong. But real people are affected by this."

What has made him angry is a controversial Channel 4 Dispatches documentary to be screened tonight. The Dyslexia Myth claims to expose the "myths and misconceptions" surrounding a condition that affects as many as one in ten people.

In it, a number of distinguished academics argue the condition doesn't really exist at all - but is simply an 'emotional construct'.

Many children are being diagnosed with the condition to save embarrassment with their reading skills and, to get extra help at school, the programme will claim.

But the emphasis on dyslexia - and the assertion that people with poor reading skills but high IQs should be diagnosed differently from other poor readers - is wrong and simply hides the true scale of reading disability in the UK, the academics will argue.

One of the experts who will put forward the controversial view is Julian Elliott, professor of education at Durham University. In a hard-hitting article in last week's Times Educational Supplement he wrote: "Dyslexia persists as a construct largely because it serves an emotional, not scientific function.

"Forget about letter reversals, clumsiness, inconsistent hand preference and poor memory - these are commonly found in people without reading difficulties, and in poor readers not considered to be dyslexic.

"Public perceptions often link reading difficulties with intelligence and, in our culture, an attribution of low intelligence often results in feelings of shame and humiliation. Hardly surprising, therefore, that the widespread, yet wholly erroneous, belief that dyslexics are intellectually bright but poor readers would create a strong... demand to be accorded a dyslexic label.

"Yes, of course some children will require special resources and dispensations, but we certainly don't need spurious diagnoses of dyslexia to achieve such ends."

Spurious diagnoses? You would expect someone like Dr Rack to object to that. Actually, he accepts that if a diagnosis is spurious, it is of no help to anyone. But he also believes that what he calls a "good assessment" of a child's (or adult's) condition can help to "disentangle the factors that contribute to difficulties, which enables teaching and support to be most effectively targeted". Wrong diagnosis bad, in other words, right diagnosis good.

Dr Rack has no doubt dyslexia as a diagnosable condition exists. He has seen at first hand the difference it can make to children if their condition is properly diagnosed and they are taught in a way that helps them to overcome it.

Yes, there are some myths about dyslexia, he says - such as that it only affects people of at least average intelligence. (It is not connected to intelligence, although it is more obvious in clever people because the contrast between their general intelligence and their reading and writing is so stark).

Yes, there is sometimes confusion caused by trying to label as dyslexic a whole range of different learning, language and behavioural difficulties which affect literacy. And yes, teaching approaches that work for dyslexia often work for those with other language difficulties too.

But the evidence for dyslexia as a biological condition which affects the brain's ability to make certain connections between sounds and written marks is there, Dr Rack insists. Several genes have been identified which may be linked to the condition - and if one parent is dyslexic, there is a 50 per cent chance that any of their children will inherit the condition.

Brain imaging has even shown differences in specific areas of the brain related to language processing in dyslexics and non-dyslexics, he says.

So instead of rejecting dyslexia, we should reject the concept of 'ordinary poor reading', he claims. Instead of just lumping all poor readers together, we should be "developing our understanding of the different reasons why people find reading and spelling hard, one of which is dyslexia, and addressing these with targeted teaching and support."

To argue for a "one size fits all" approach to teaching those with reading difficulties is nonsensical, he says. "Unfortunately, that is the implication that many will take from the assertion that dyslexia is mythical."

:: Case studies

Tamsin Pearson was so incensed when she heard academics calmly asserting there was no such thing as dyslexia on Radio 4 earlier this week that she shouted at the radio.

She was particularly enraged by the suggestion that dyslexia was being used by ambitious parents as an "excuse" for children who did not do well at school. "It is not!" she says hotly. "It is about trying to find the right tools to help children deal with the condition and overcome it."

Tamsin's second daughter Lucy, who is ten, was diagnosed with dyslexia in November 2003. Until then, she really struggled with her writing - despite the best efforts of her teachers at Elvington School, who Tamsin has nothing but praise for.

She would get words and letters the wrong way round, write Bs instead of Ds, and just couldn't get the hang of writing or spelling. Tamsin began to think she might be just not very bright - but couldn't believe that, because Tamsin was so obviously bright and chatty as long as she didn't have to write something down.

Tamsin clicked only when her adoptive brother revealed how he had been diagnosed in his mid-40s, and what a nightmare his own schooling had been because his condition had not been recognised.

She took Lucy to the Dyslexia Institute's centre in York, where it was confirmed Lucy was dyslexic.

The transformation in her daughter since she started getting special tuition at the centre has been astonishing, says Tamsin. "It has made a huge difference. She is much more confident and happy within herself because she knows it is in her brain. She knows that somewhere down her arm - which is how it is explained to her - it all goes wrong." Lucy's written work, despite all her best efforts, used to look dreadful, says Tamsin. Now, it is much better.

Tamsin is realistic about the future. Her daughter will "achieve what she is capable of" academically, she says. But at least now, because her condition has been recognised, she will be able to do that, Tamsin says.

Nicola Carruthers is now 15 and studying for her GCSEs. Before she was diagnosed as dyslexic, and despite extra reading tuition at school, she was getting nowhere with reading and writing, says mum Jill, from Easingwold.

The diagnosis, and extra tuition at the Dyslexia Institute from the age of eight changed all that. English still isn't Nicola's strongest subject, says Jill - but she's optimistic Nicola will get eight or nine respectable GCSEs. "And she's fabulous at maths!"

There is no doubt in Jill's mind the teaching her daughter received at the Dyslexia Institute helped enormously. "It was brilliant! It helped her so much," she says. "You could see the difference straight away."

:: What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia causes difficulties in learning to read, write and spell. Short term memory, mathematics, concentration, personal organisation and sequencing may also be affected.

About one in ten of the UK population have the condition, according to the Dyslexia institute - and as many as 375,000 schoolchildren have severe dyslexia.

The condition usually arises from a weakness in the processing of language-based information, including the ability to make connections between sounds and written symbols such as words and letters. Typical characteristics include poor spelling, difficulty reading, poor handwriting, confusion about left and right, difficulty with maths and poor short-term memory. It can affect people of all ages.

To find out more about dyslexia, you can contact the Dyslexia Institute on 01904 432930 (York) and 01423 522111 (Harrogate).

:: The techniques

The Institute uses a "multisensory approach", which involves using children's senses to help them find alternative ways of recognising words and parts of words.

Techniques involve concentrating on visual patterns and even on the shape and feel of a word. Children are taught individually or in very small groups.

Lessons are structured, with letters and groups of letters looked at individually, and special strategies for tackling long or 'tricky' words.

Effectively, children are being helped to develop alternative pathways in the brain to enable them make connections between sounds and symbols such as words and letters, says Dr Rack. It's like the way some people remember their credit card pin number by the sequence of movements they use to key it in, he says. That uses a different brain pathway to remembering the number visually in your head.

The Institute is a nonprofit-making charity, but has to charge for tuition and assessment.

Updated: 09:14 Thursday, September 08, 2005