After a few moments of general laughter from those about us, she realised what she had said. We went on to discuss the difficulties she had had at school and the problems she still experiences in written language. It is for her and those like her that I write this article.

Literacy and numeracy are fundamental rights of all people within our democratic society. We statutorily provide our children with a minimum of 11 years of full-time education and encourage as many young people as possible to continue into further and higher education. As teachers we see it as out duty to ensure that all children access literacy and numeracy as the basic key to success.

Newly-trained teachers leave their institutions with a wealth of ideas, highly motivated - as well as with a little trepidation - as they face the responsibilities of their charges for the first time. Within the first few weeks in every classroom, by employing the strategies and skills acquired in training, teachers are pleased to see that most children are coping with their school work to a greater or lesser extent.

However, it soon becomes clear that there are a few children who seem to be anomalies. Despite all encouragement, they are failing in subjects involving literacy andor numeracy. The “interesting” point about these children, unlike some others, is that they are clearly bright. Some are exceptionally good in subjects such as art, drama, computer skills in fact anything involving visual, spatial and practical thinking skills. Others are very good at expressing their ideas and knowledge verbally. What they have in common is that they are failing in written tests. They exhibit a great disparity of ability between their knowledge and their written work.

Teachers are faced therefore with bright pupils who are encountering unexplainable difficulties in the acquisition of literacy andor numeracy skills. It only takes a short while of being in school before frustration sets in, on the part of both pupil and teacher.

Unrecognised and untreated dyslexia is known to cause a problem of low motivation and self-esteem. This causal link between failure to acquire literacy, and emotional and behavioural difficulties is widely accepted in educational establishments. The answer, therefore, has to be in the earliest identification possible if we are to avoid misery and frustration for pupil, teacher and parent.

We must view DyslexiaSpecific Learning Difficulties in terms of both abilities and difficulties if we are to understand these children and fulfil our commitments as educators. We need to teach them the way they learn best and not necessarily the way we may prefer.

These pupils have at least average ability, but despite conventional teaching will have areas of difficulty in some or all of language skills, organisation, short term memory and fine co-ordination skills. This will cause significant limitations in the development of aspects of some or all of speech, reading, spelling and writing. It may affect numeracy and cause secondary behavioural difficulties in some children.

What is complex is that each dyslexic child will have a different cluster of abilities and difficulties. Skill is required therefore in the identification of these children. These are skills that every teacher will be required to have as there are dyslexic children in every classroom. We are in fact talking about 4 per cent of the population being severely affected with a further 6 per cent evidencing mild-moderate difficulties.

Well established dyslexic adults who have completed their education often point out that their successes were based on the full support they had from both family and teachers, appropriate teaching methods and constant boosts to their motivation and self-esteem; with this came peer group support. These successful adults felt that their individual potential had been met despite their problems, and they showed a most positive attitude towards society. Others who were not identified and were not taught appropriately, and are still frustrated in their lack of success as adults - talk of a rapid loss of motivation and self esteem with the growing certainty that they would never be capable of achievement. Both groups have lived out “self-fulfilling prophecies”.

It is vital therefore to identify these children at the earliest opportunity. A teacher will look for a cluster of difficulties. Signs to look out for are: Pre-School: 1. Family history is significant, as dyslexia is inherited by many. Make no assumptions, however, that the parents will always be aware as a generation ago people were not as well informed as we hope they are today 2. Late onset of speech 3. Often a history of “glue-ear” and possible allergies 4. Concentration difficulties 5. Poor co-ordination fine andor gross motor difficulties.

Primary: 1. A discrepancy between receptive and expressive language 2. Word finding difficulties 3. Limitations with phonological awareness - rhyming, specific sounds in words, confusion of the order of multi-syllabic words 4. Short term memory limitations - difficulty with remembering specific tasks, for example, arithmetic tables, historical dates, foreign languages. Some may have difficulty with map-reading and later with geometry 5. Left-right confusion 6. Reading difficulties. Specifically: * hesitant and laboured reading - may omit or add extra words * omitted lines or repetition of the same line twice * loss of place * confusion of words that look alike, for example, noon, foroff, wassaw * difficulty in sounding out multi-syllabic words * disregarding of punctuation markers * comprehension difficulties.

It should be noted that not all dyslexic children have reading problems 7. Writing and spelling errors might include: * disparity of ability between spoken and written language.

* messy work, for example, pages curled, crossings out, badly set out work * handwriting too heavy and laborious * confusion of similar letters, for example, bd, pq, wm * bizarre spelling.

* same word spelt differently in the same passage of work, for example, more, moor, mor * wrong letters or omitted letters due to lack of good auditory discrimination * confusion between upper and lower case letters.

Secondary: Any of the earlier problems outlined above may still remain. In addition, the student is now faced with a new set of challenges: many teachers, a large, noisy school, homework assignments, and all that is involved with public examinations. This clearly puts pressure on the system of the dyslexic pupil which is structurally weak, particularly in memory and organisation. Difficulties experienced might be: 1. remembering which books to bring to class 2. organising life around a timetable 3. misunderstanding complex instructions 4. taking notes at speed.

5. completing work on time As a result of the strain, the student may be extremely tired and fractious, and employ avoidance techniques whenever possible. It is easy to see how, when misunderstood and with no support, motivation and self-esteem drop rapidly and for some, secondary behavioural difficulties manifest themselves.

These then are the main areas of difficulty with which the dyslexic pupil has to cope on a daily basis over a period of many years if earliest diagnosis and intervention have not taken place. Add to this the frustrations of the very able dyslexic pupil, of whom there are many. In a society which demands that the 3Rs are the only way to prove knowledge, many of these people will fail.

I have many questions to postulate. For the past century, precision in writing has been a main focus of learning, but what was valued before that? Where are we going now in terms of the skills need for the 21st century as we enter an advanced technological age? What skills will be needed and valued then? Who will be the best qualified to provide them? Who will decide what is intelligence? And what is an intelligent person?

Are the following not intelligences? So many are relevant to the bright dyslexic: A. general intellectual ability B. specific academic aptitude C. creative or productive thinking D. leadership quality E. visual or performing arts F. psychomotor ability We as specialist educators, neurologists and researchers in all aspects of the field of dyslexia know that our pupils can be both exceptionally able and have a learning disability. These very bright people will often turn their talents and frustrations to crime in order to succeed at something if they are constantly seen as failures at school. What a tragic loss for the individual and for society. What responsibility sits on the shoulders of teachers. Would it not be better to find ways of recognising these young peoples’ abilities and difficulties at the earliest stages of their education, and then go on to teach and motivate them appropriately?

The 1993 Education Act with its 1994 Code of Practice makes it incumbent upon all teachers to identify, assess and remediate their dyslexic pupils. The Code is very specific in terms of its demand on schools and specialist. In law headteachers, specialist teachers, classroom teachers and the Local Education Authorities must follow the 5 stages of assessment as outlined below: Stage 1: Class or subject teachers identify the child’s special educational needs, gather information and put into place any special arrangement to meet needs Stage 2: The special needs co-ordinator, with the class teacher, will devise more comprehensive strategies Stage 3: Specialist staff from outside the school - educational psychologists or advisory teachers - help support a child with more complex needs Stage 4: The LEA considers the need for a statutory assessment Stage 5: The LEA considers the need for a Statement of Educational Needs, and makes one if it is appropriate. It will then arrange, monitor and review provision.

Theoretically this is good. However the Code of Practice will only be effective if teachers are skilled to do what is required of them, and have systems in place to support them.

My experience shows that in initial teacher training programmes, almost no preparation is given to mainstream class teachers to fulfil these duties incumbent on them in law. Of the groups of special needs children, the dyslexic group is one of the largest and one that all teachers will meet on a daily basis. It is the one group which when handled correctly, will pay back the most to society. There can be no justification for this lack of training.

Next year it will be 100 years since Dr Pringle-Morgan first documented the case of a 14-year-old dyslexic boy who spelt his name “Precy” and “did not notice the mistake until his attention was called to it more than once”. He could “only with difficulty spell out words of one syllable”. Yet the “schoolteacher who taught him for some years says that he would be the smartest lad in the school if the instruction were entirely oral”.

We have come a long way since then, in terms of our understanding of dyslexia. you, who have read this article will be of the new generation of educators to bring hope and success to a large group of people who have been seriously underachieving over a long period of time.

Education is a challenge and the lives of these young people are in your hands. may I and my colleagues at the British Dyslexia Association wish you every success and offer you continued support.

o British Dyslexia Association, 98 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU Helpline: 0734 668 271 Send SAE for further information to the above address.

o Further reading: Dyslexia: The Training and awareness of Teachers (1994 ) by Lindsay Peer. BDA Pounds 1.50 plus pp. Overcoming Dyslexia (1988) by Beve Hornsby. Mcdonald Optima ISBN 0366 144 992 Help for the Dyslexic Child (1983) by T R Miles and E Miles. Methuen ISBN 0416 337 406.

Lindsay Peer is education director of the British Dyslexia Association.