Dyslexia myth?

Is your child just a poor reader and not dyslexic? New research claims the term dyslexia is "meaningless"

A row has broken out over dyslexia after claims by a professor from Durham University that dyslexia is a "construct" which has gained currency largely for emotional rather than scientific reasons.

Professor Julian Elliott claims parents are latching onto the term "dyslexia" to describe all manner of different reading difficulties based on a widespread, but wrong, perception that dyslexics are generally intellectually bright.

He says it is used as an umbrella term and is essentially meaningless. Every person should be individually assessed as to discover what the nature of their reading difficulty is. Whether spelling, chronological problems or eyesight.

After 30 years in the field, he says, he has little confidence in his own ability to diagnose it.

No clear guidelines

Prof Elliott goes on to say that you cannot diagnose dyslexia in a child given our knowledge at the moment. The same criteria isn't consistently used and there are no clear guidelines. The scientific community has shown there's no consistent evidence that certain treatments makes a difference.

The professor writes in the Times Educational Supplement: "Contrary to claims of 'miracle cures', there is no sound, widely-accepted body of scientific work that has shown that there exists any particular teaching approach more appropriate for 'dyslexic' children than for other poor readers."

Prof Elliott is to feature in a Channel 4 documentary on the subject (Thursday, September 8) which will highlight an intervention project in Cumbria and North Yorkshire which is making progress with poor readers without labelling them as dyslexic.

The claims, which are to be followed by a conference next month in London entitled "The Death of Dyslexia?", will excite fevered debate. Prof Elliott said his arguments follow an exhaustive review of the research literature. 

"Experts have failed to agree what dyslexia is, and being diagnosed as dyslexic makes virtually no difference to the treatment that the individual requires," he adds.

'Unwise' comments

But Susan Tresman, Chief Executive of the British Dyslexic Assocation, said: "The professor's comments seem to imagine that one can encompass what dyslexia is within reading, which is unwise.

"In reality it embraces a wide range of conditions, including difficulties with number and sequencing and retrieval of information as well as problems with spelling and reading.

"There is no difficulty for educational psychologists or trained teachers in spotting the condition. Dyslexia survives as a term because it is a real condition, experienced by six million people in the United Kingdom.

"I know of so many individual cases which completely refute what he is saying. Though I do agree that there is no link between dyslexia and intelligence."

Dispatches-The Dyslexia Myth - September 8 at 9pm on Channel Four.