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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