Education Experts Query Dyslexia Diagnosis

Educational experts are questioning the diagnosis of "dyslexia", saying it is unscientific and lacks educational value.

Durham professor Julian Elliott, a former teacher of children with learning difficulties, has written a book, The Dyslexia Debate, based on five years' study of education, genetics, neuroscience and psychology.

He says there should be more focus on helping children to read rather than finding a label for their difficulty, suggesting resources are wasted by putting young people who are struggling to read through diagnostic tests, because the label lacks meaning.

"Parents are being woefully misled about the value of a dyslexia diagnosis," said Professor Elliott.

"In every country, and in every language, a significant proportion of children struggle to master the skill of reading and some will continue to find it difficult throughout their childhood and into adulthood.

"It is very easy for teachers to identify such children. The hardship and difficulties that typically result are often incapacitating, undermining and distressing.

"Typically, we search for a diagnostic label when we encounter problems because we believe that this will point to the best form of treatment.

"It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the parents and teachers of children with reading difficulties believe that if the child is diagnosed as dyslexic, clear ways to help them will result.

"Research in this field clearly demonstrates that this is a grave misunderstanding."

But the views of the Durham University professor and those of professors at Yale in the US have been challenged by the charity Dyslexia Action, which says the term clearly defined in 2009 following a review by Sir Jim Rose still has meaning and should not be dropped.

The charity's Dr John Rack insisted the term retained a scientific and educational value.

He said: "If the argument is to treat all struggling readers as if they were dyslexic then that is fine with us.

"But we don't buy the argument that it is wasteful to try to understand the different reasons why different people struggle.

"And for very many, those reasons fall into a consistent and recognisable pattern that it is helpful to call dyslexia.

"Helpful for individuals because it makes sense out of past struggles and helpful for teachers who can plan the way they teach to overcome or find ways around the particular blocks that are there."

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