Managing Dyslexia in Schools

Managing Dyslexia in Schools
Tuesday, January 27, 2015

I do not profess to be an expert on Dyslexia, I do however, have an interest in this area. Is it enough for a school to say they have a SENCO department that looks after children with Dyslexia? What special provision do they offer children who have Dyslexia. Do they understand the emotional complexity behind Dyslexia?

I have had some involvement with schools and their SENCO departments, what has surprised me over the years is the lack of depth of understanding. I appreciate that they have multiple needs to deal and the usual costs associated in running their departments, but I feel that more care is needed to support children through Dyslexia. Only today I read an article about Theo Papthitis (one of the Dragons in the dragons den) who was branded lazy at school and separated form others, why? lack of understanding would be my first thought.

When Dyslexic children struggle through the school system and manage to get to the important exam stage, what are they greeted with? New government changes which penalises Dyslexics for using a scribe.  http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/feb/05/dyslexia-gcse-exam-spelling

In a working environment wouldn’t this be a cause for concern, I am sure someone would raise a grievance for not making reasonable adjustments to allow them to perform to their natural ability.

So what’s the answer? I don’t know, but what I do know is, the government needs to really look at the changes they have implemented and the impact it has on the children, the schools and the parents.