In our last blog post, we explored the definition of dyslexia (which varies across organisations) according to the British Psychological Society and explored some of the characteristic difficulties of dyslexia (including phonological awareness, verbal memory, working memory, verbal processing speed, and the fluent and automatic development of skills). In this blog post we will consider why it is important that dyslexia and literacy difficulties are so important to have at the forefront of our minds when working in education settings.

The National Literacy Trust (2024) defines literacy as:

the ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate effectively and make sense of the world

Literacy skills (reading, writing and language) form the basis for the acquisition of knowledge and unlock the rest of the academic curriculum, which is likely to impact one’s future prospects in terms of higher education and employment (DfE, 2022). Being literate is essential to the successful participation in modern society as it is involved in the majority of everyday activities (Breadmore et al., 2019) and English is a hugely important subject as reading is the gateway to wider learning. It is therefore essential that difficulties are addressed early and with appropriate tools of assessment and intervention.

As literacy difficulties can be so impactful on our lives, it is essential that school staff are aware of the signs of literacy difficulties from early years all the way to adolescent years. Although basic literacy skills are taught and consolidated in primary school, secondary school students with literacy difficulties have often learnt coping strategies to manage their difficulties which means that their difficulties may go unnoticed and they sometimes slip between the cracks. The key to supporting the young people you work with is an awareness of what behaviours you are looking for in the classroom. This can be difficult because no learner is the same and dyslexia will present differently in each person. Additionally, there may be other factors coming into play, such as the learner’s prior experiences (or lack of them, if they have missed schooling due to Covid-19 or for other reasons), other physical, emotional, behavioural or learning needs, the learning environment and their home background, too. This is where our course on dyslexia, which you can find here, can help. It is delivered by Specialist Teacher Pasannamati Neal and Educational Psychologist Dr. Gary Lavan and it helps you to recognises that the ‘signs’ may be different in different age groups. It guides you through systematically identifying and supporting pupils with literacy difficulties in your setting whilst also providing a comprehensive checklist of common characteristics for each age phase.

 

References

British Psychological Society. Division of Educational Child Psychology. (1999). Dyslexia, literacy and psychological assessment. British Psychological Society.

Breadmore, H.L., Vardy, E.J., Cunningham, A.J., Kwok, R.K.W., & Carroll, J.M. (2019). Literacy Development: Evidence Review. London: Education Endowment Foundation. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Literacy_Development_Evidence_Review.pdf

Department for Education. (2022). The Reading Framework: Teaching the Foundations of Literacy.