The AchieveAbility project has would like to add to the discussion about
Thursday night’s channel 4 programme Dispatches: The Dyslexia Myth by
raising its concerns about some of the views expressed.
AchieveAbility is a national project funded by the Higher Education Funding
Council for England with partners from across the education and voluntary
sector including the British Dyslexia Association and Dyslexia Institute.
The project’s purpose is to raise awareness and to support the progression
of learners with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) such as dyslexia,
dyspraxia and dyscalculia to higher education.
We feel that some of the views aired in the programme misrepresented the
nature of dyslexia and could well mislead the public. It was implied that
dyslexia is solely about poor reading ability, and seemed to be an attempt
to criticise national literacy levels rather than to start a debate on the
condition itself.
Dyslexia is not solely a literacy issue but a specific learning difficulty
which is a neurological condition affecting information processing and
understanding meaning. It can affect people from all backgrounds and with
all levels of IQ.
The assertion that the diagnosis of dyslexia undermines literacy
interventions is damaging to the good practice developed by experts in the
field.
The Project assert that support in the classroom is key to achievement, not
just in reading, but also in conceptualising information and the
development of working memory.
It is for this reason that the Project is launching a pilot to enhance
teaching methods in further education and schools for all learners, not
just learners with SpLD.
At the end of September the AchieveAbility Project is releasing 4,000 CD
ROMs to schools, colleges and Aimhigher practitioners. This CD has been
developed in conjunction with the Dyslexic Institute and aims to raise
awareness of the nature of the specific learning difficulties: dyslexia,
dyspraxia and dyscalculia and of opportunities in higher education.
Also in June 2006 Bill Rammell, Minister of State for Higher Education and
Lifelong Learning, will be keynote speaker at the AchieveAbility national
conference where the key message from the Dispatches programme will be
discussed.
Katherine Hewlett, Project Director
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www.achieveability.org.uk
AchieveAbility: Breaking barriers to HE for students with specific learning
difficulties
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