Start-up inspired by late dia­gnosis

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When Dorenda Brit­ten was dia­gnosed with dys­lexia, she was 74 years old – but things sud­denly fell into place.

The respec­ted Christ­ch­urch designer, busi­ness­wo­man and prop­erty developer, a long-time judge of the Hi-tech Awards and sis­ter of the late designer and innov­ator John Brit­ten, chan­nelled her new-found know­ledge into an organ­isa­tion that aims to uncover hid­den cap­ab­il­it­ies and tal­ent within com­pan­ies.

Her start-up, Unlock Innov­a­tion, estab­lished in 2024, is now a respec­ted con­sultancy that helps work­places get the best out of dys­lexic people and chal­lenges mis­un­der­stand­ings about the learn­ing dif­fer­ence.

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Teachers and the science of reading

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Which of the report’s findings or results do you find most encouraging? And which is most troubling?

There is a lot to be encouraged by here. The growing understanding of phonics and word recognition among teachers is promising, as is the finding that 81 percent of respondents recognize the importance of breaking words into parts to support struggling readers. We were also especially glad to see the report include information on understanding the needs of students with dyslexia and English learners.

At the same time, several findings are deeply concerning. We are troubled by the continued finding that only 2 percent of teachers report learning evidence-aligned reading practices during their pre-service training, as opposed to the training they receive after years of teaching. This means the overwhelming majority of teachers have been entering classrooms without the knowledge they need. It is also troubling that 56 percent of teachers still associate dyslexia primarily with letter reversal. Finally, we are also concerned by the “science of reading gap” in high-poverty schools and at intermediate and secondary grade levels.

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Dys­lexia is only one of many reas­ons a child might struggle with read­ing and writ­ing

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Whether and when to use the label “dys­lexia” has been a per­en­nial debate in edu­ca­tion, write Penelope Han­nant and Julila Car­roll from the Uni­versity of Birm­ing­ham.

Some experts and aca­dem­ics argue that there is too much focus on the dia­gnosis of dys­lexia, rather than on provid­ing sup­port for all chil­dren who struggle to learn to read. Oth­ers argue that chil­dren with the most sig­ni­fic­ant dif­fi­culties have to fight to get the recog­ni­tion they need.

Pub­lic fig­ures, includ­ing celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, have called for all chil­dren to receive early screen­ing for dys­lexia.

We work together as research­ers in psy­cho­logy and edu­ca­tion, with expert­ise in how chil­dren learn to read, dys­lexia, neurodi­versity, and how chil­dren with spe­cial edu­ca­tional needs should be sup­por­ted. While calls for uni­ver­sal dys­lexia screen­ing are well inten­tioned, we believe this approach could lead to more prob­lems than solu­tions.

One con­cern is the lack of accur­acy in many screen­ing tools, which can res­ult in unclear or mis­lead­ing out­comes.

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Professor studies impact of physical activity on attention in kids with dyslexia

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A Mercer University professor is researching the impact of physical activity on attention in children with dyslexia, with initial findings showing movement breaks can improve elementary school students’ focus.

Dr. Adam Keath, director of the health and physical education program in the College of Education, said researchers already know that physical activity during the school day has significant effects on neurotypical students’ academic performance, but not much is known about the effects on students with dyslexia. At the same time, students with dyslexia often use more cognitive processing while reading, which can lead to academic fatigue.

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