Dyslexia Awareness Week 2018

Dyslexia Awareness Week (DAW) is held on Monday the 1st of October through to Sunday the 7th of October.

 

Dyslexia is a hidden disability thought to affect around 10% of the population, 4% severely. It is the most common of the Specific Learning Difficulties (or differences), a family of a related conditions with considerable overlap or co-occurrence. Together these are believed to affect around 15% of people to a lessor or greater extent.

Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) affects the way information is learned and processed. They are neurological (rather than psychological), usually hereditary and occur independently of intelligence.   

Contrary to popular belief, dyslexia is not only about literacy, although weaknesses un literacy are often the most visible sign. Dyslexia affects the way information is processed, stored and retrieved, with problems of memory, speed of processing, time perception, organisation and sequencing.  

  • The word ‘dyslexia’ comes from the Greek and means ‘difficulty with words’.
  • It is life long, usually genetic, inherited condition and affects around 10% of the population.
  • Dyslexia occurs in people of all races, backgrounds and abilities, and varies from person to person: no two people will have the same set of strengths and weaknesses.
  • Dyslexia occurs independently of intelligence.
  • Dyslexia is really about information processing: dyslexic people may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear. This can affect learning and the acquisition of literacy skills.
  • Dyslexia is one if a family of Specific Learning Difficulties. It often co-occurs with related conditions, such as dyspraxia, dyscalculia and attention deficit disorder.
  • Dyslexic people often have strong visual, creative and problem-solving skills and are prominent among entrepreneurs, inventors, architects, engineers and in the arts and entertainment world. Many famous people are dyslexic.

For more information or help regarding Dyslexia contact the BDA (British Dyslexia Association) on

Tel: 0333 405 4567

Or email them via their website