Irish survey: Many Dubliners don't consider dyslexia a disability

From Dublin People:

Nearly half of people surveyed in Dublin did not identify dyslexia as a disability, according to research due to be published by the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD).

The data was revealed at a conference on dyslexia that took place in NUI Maynooth last week where international speakers addressed the issue of dyslexia in mainstream education. The research data reveals a degree of ignorance and uncertainty in relation to dyslexia.

Some 74 per cent of people in Dublin agree that dyslexia affects your ability to read and write and this is five per cent less than the national average of 79 per cent.

It was also revealed that 17 per cent of people surveyed believe that it affects your ability to tell colours apart, again six per cent below the national figure, and 19 per cent of Dublin people think it affects your ability to drive a car.

More than two in five people in Dublin believe that dyslexia can be cured, while one in four think there is nothing you can do to offset dyslexia.

Ann Heelan, Director of AHEAD, said: “We simply have to bring a better understanding of dyslexia to teachers, lecturers, tutors and the Department of Education.“The culture that exists now is the same ‘chalk and talk’‚ and text-based system that has been in place for decades and it doesn’t help students with dyslexia, whereas experiential learning is beneficial to all students.”

Ms Heelan added that one of the biggest challenges for people with dyslexia is getting the people around them to acknowledge and understand that dyslexia is a disability.

“In the past, people who had trouble reading due to dyslexia were often dismissed as being stupid,” she said. “That attitude is changing, but so is the incidence of dyslexia. Bigger classrooms will only make it more difficult for teachers to spot students who may have dyslexia.”

Dyslexia is believed to affect one in ten people in Ireland - over 400,000 people - and 49 per cent of people surveyed say they know someone with dyslexia.