For Dyslexia Awareness Week 2022, we’ve put together a guide on this often-misunderstood learning difficulty.

With this year’s theme being ‘Breaking Through Barriers’, we thought it was important to help bring some visibility to the barriers people with dyslexia face in education. Here is a simple overview of what dyslexia is, how it can impact children and young people, and some suggestions on actions we can take to we can help remove and reduce digital barriers.

©British Dyslexia Association

Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects the way certain types of information are processed by the brain. This can then impact a person’s capacity to read, write, and spell, amongst other abilities.

It is classified as a disability under the Equality Act 2010. This means it’s a condition that can have a substantial and long-term negative affect on an individual’s ability to perform normal daily activities. However, the symptoms of dyslexia can be different from person to person, so the extent to which it will impact someone’s life varies.

One of the most widely accepted definitions of dyslexia is taken from a 2008 government report called The Rose Report. It states:

“Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling.”

Here are a few of the most common symptoms experienced by children with dyslexia, aged 5 to 12 years old, according to the NHS:

You can read more on the possible symptoms here.

For young people (and adults), some of the common symptoms listed by the NHS include:

Dyslexia is often referred to as a SpLD, which stands for ‘specific learning difficulty’. The term ‘specific’ is used because it impacts specific areas of an individual’s ability, as opposed to a general learning difficulty. Other common SpLDs include dyspraxia, attention deficit disorder (ADD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dyslexia and other SpLDs

Dyslexia doesn’t just affect a child or young person’s abilities in the English classroom. It can impact their experience throughout every activity, especially as it is often concurrent with other conditions like ADD or with other literacies like numbers. Some people with dyslexia can also experience physical symptoms, such as difficulty with motor coordination. This can cause issues participating in physical education, playground play, and afterschool activities.

According to the British Dyslexia Association, young people with SpLDs such as dyslexia often report higher levels of mental health difficulties and are more prone to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.

In a digital world, it’s important to be aware of the barriers that dyslexia can create. Much of the lives of children and young people now take place online, from gaming for fun to interacting with friends and family on social media. Accessing these online places may be trickier for those with dyslexia, both from a readability perspective as well as communicating through writing. For example, remembering and getting passwords correct might be difficult.

A young person may be concerned that by interacting through written word online, the difficulties they face could be exposed and leave them vulnerable to judgement and possible bullying. They may have support in the classroom when their written work is only seen by a limited number of people, but when things move online there may not be a trusted adult or supportive person there to assist them with writing before it is seen by their peers. 

Social media is already a pressurised environment for young people. For those with dyslexia, there are added challenges and they may not feel able to fully express themselves online. This could result in a young person feeling misunderstood or socially excluded if they do not have the necessary help or support.  

British Dyslexia Association

When working alongside those with dyslexia, it is important to make sure their educational resources are accessible. Every child and young person should have equal and fair access to education and that should ideally include every resource used, from handouts to homework.

The British Dyslexia Association highlights some of the following advice through their Dyslexia friendly style guide.

You can also consider using one of the typefaces especially designed for people with dyslexia, such as OpenDyslexia, and familiarising yourself with the Web Accessibility Content Guidelines.

Also known as WACG, the guidelines are internationally recognised recommendations on how to improve accessibility on websites, apps, and digital services. They include recommendations such as providing captions for videos, making sure content can be read by a screen reader, and using text colours that show up clearly against the background colour.

Technology doesn’t always enhance the difficulties that children with dyslexia may face. Digital devices and clever software can help break down barriers to literacy, reading, and communication, improving a child’s self-confidence in the process.

If a child is diagnosed with dyslexia while in school, an educational psychologist will assess the child. The Education Authority will then provide assistive technology in accordance with the child’s individual needs for school and for home.

In addition to the above suggestions, The Child Mind Institute put forward the following accommodations for people with dyslexia which should be made in educational settings including extra time on tests, a quiet space to work, the option to record class, elimination of oral reading in class, and exemptions from foreign language learning.

Barriers could be overcome through emotional support. Discussing specific challenges and acknowledging hard work and strengths can be important in building resilience in order to manage their dyslexia.

Source: All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dyslexia and other SpLDs