Your editorial “A fast sell for dyslexia” (TESS, last week) falls into the familiar trap of thinking that the Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Attention Disorder Treatment Centre (DDAT) has invented something new that Scottish teachers hadn’t thought of in their methodology for supporting pupils with dyslexia.
You state: “The latest theories on the effect of movement and balance on the cerebellum may challenge those methods”. Well, I doubt it. For many years Scottish teachers have been using physical activity to improve the balance and co-ordination of these pupils as part of a holistic approach to supporting their learning.
I suspect that many Scottish teachers, particularly those in special educational needs, watched the ITV documentary to which you refer hopeful that they might learn something new which would have improved the quality of their provision for pupils with dyslexia.
It was probably a great disappointment to find that hope dashed. Alternatively, it would have been encouraging to think that many schools are already using these methods as part of their approach.
I just feel desperately sorry for those parents who spend the money in the belief that what DDAT offers is a miracle cure, and then find that it is only part of the solution.
All the money spent by the millionaire businessman on these centres, which will, no doubt, make him even richer, would have been better invested in research that would have benefited all pupils with dyslexia, not just the privileged few.
Jane Mott Lecturer in SEN Faculty of education, Aberdeen University
