16th July 2012 12:42
By Blue Tutors
Dyslexia Training for All Teachers?
A new report by the charity Action on Dyslexia suggests that more needs to be done to aid teachers in identifying and teaching children with dyslexia. Writing for the BBC News Education page today (27/06/2012) Judith Burns reports that the charity found ‘Almost two thirds of parents of dyslexic children (61%) said their child had to wait a year for help after being diagnosed.
Of 450 parents surveyed for the charity Action on Dyslexia, 90% said teachers lacked awareness of the condition.
More than half (56%) of the parents questioned by YouGov believed dyslexia was not given enough recognition within the education system.The respondents wanted more specialists to help identify dyslexic children (82%), more specialist support for parents, teachers and children (92%) and a school environment that did not stigmatise their children for being different (57%).
At the moment there is no requirement at all for teachers to have any dyslexia training, despite one in ten children being diagnosed with the condition.
The effects of late diagnosis can be huge, resulting in bullying, suffering and a sense of failure so it’s important that it is not only identified but dealt with as soon as possible in a child’s schooling.