NEWS: Academics say 'dyslexia may not exist'

Top researchers have called for the term ‘dyslexia’ to be abandoned, saying that it may not actually exist.

They say it is being overused by middle class parents who fear their children who are bad readers will be called stupid or lazy.

Experts from the US’s Yale University and the UK’s Durham University have said that the use of the label lacks meaning.

They claim in a new book called The Dyslexia Debate that resources are being wasted by putting children through diagnostic tests and say the umbrella term is used too readily for children who often display vastly different reading problems.

The book, based on five years worth of study, argues that parents are being ‘woefully mislead’ about the value of a dyslexia diagnosis.

In Australia up to 1 in 5 people are thought to have dyslexia.

But the authors of The Dyslexia Debate say that more focus should be put on helping children to read, rather than finding a label for their difficulty.

The authors say that it is clear some children do have complex reading problems, but that the definition of dyslexia is so broad that it is difficult to make any meaningful separation from other poor readers.

“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.

“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.”

In The Telegraph Professor Julian Elliott, a former teacher of children with learning difficulties says that symptoms in one person leading to a diagnosis of dyslexia are often absent in another person similarly diagnosed. He says what helps one pupil with dyslexia may not help may not help another.

The book stresses that it does not question the existence of the real, sometimes complex, problems some children have with reading.

Instead they say that the main focus for teachers and professionals should be to spot reading difficulties early in children and “intervene as quickly as possible rather than search for a questionable diagnosis.”

Dr John Rack from Dyslexia Action however still insists the term retains a scientific and educational value.

He told Metro UK ‘We don’t buy the argument that it is wasteful to try to understand the different reasons why different people struggle.

‘For very many, those reasons fall into a consistent and recognisable pattern that it is helpful to call dyslexia.’

For more information on dyslexia go to The Australia Dyslexia Foundation.

For more information on the book The Dyslexia Debate go here