§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if she will make an estimate of the number of children suffering from dyslexia;
(2) if she will state the number of children receiving some form of specialised education because they are handicapped by dyslexia;
(3) how many local education authorities provide special units, centres or schools for dyslexic children;
(4) how many local education authorities pay for dyslexic children to receive special education which the local education authority is unable to provide;
(5) how many local education authorities provide no special facilities for dyslexic children other than those provided for children who are slow readers because of other handicaps.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe term "dyslexic" has come to be applied to a small minority amongst those children who are late in learning to read whose difficulties are severe and otherwise unexplained. But there is no general agreement about the cause of the condition and no proof that it is due to a single specific cause. As dyslexia cannot be satisfactorily defined it is impossible to provide reliable statistics of the number of children suffering from it, or of the numbers of such children receiving different sorts of special education.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if her Depart- 506W ment will have discussions with the Department of Health and Social Security on the medical causes of dyslexia and the most effective remedial treatment.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe two Departments are in regular communication over the whole range of medical problems affecting handicapped children. There is no need for special arrangements in the case of dyslexia. In the present state of knowledge remedies for this condition must be educational rather than medical.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of Education and Science what research her Department is sponsoring into the most effective methods of helping dyslexic children to overcome their handicap;
(2) if her Department will prepare a summary of the most important findings from research in other countries into dyslexia and its treatment; and if she will send the summary to all local education authorities.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe literature on research into dyslexia in this and other countries is very extensive and the conclusions are sometimes divergent. I do not consider that an attempt to summarise it would be of practical value. My Department is sponsoring a research project at Leeds University to devise diagnostic tests and remedial programmes for children with specific reading difficulties.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers training colleges provide a course which will help future teachers to recognise and help the dyslexic child.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeAttention is paid during initial training to the problems children experience in learning to read so that teachers should be able to help them and identify those who may need more specialised attention.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many dyslexia research and diagnostic centres, similar to that run by the Invalid Children's Aid Association in London, there are in the rest of the country; and if she will name them;
(2) if she will advise local education authorities to set up dyslexia centres for the diagnosis and assessment of children, the treatment of very severe cases of 507W dyslexia, the training of remedial teachers, and research into new teaching methods.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeI am not aware of any other centre with research and diagnostic functions similar to those of the Word Blind Centre run by the Invalid Childrens' Aid Association. A few local education authorities have clinics for children with specific reading difficulties, and many others have remedial and advisory services, usually as part of their school psychological or child guidance services, to help children with learning problems, many of which are in the field of reading and language. Training of remedial teachers and research into teaching methods are matters for the colleges of education and university departments of education.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if she will advise local education authorities to provide more specialised individual tuition for dyslexic children within their normal schools;
(2) if she will recognise dyslexic children as a category of handicapped children requiring special education.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThere would be no advantage in creating an additional legal category. In many cases these children can best be dealt with together with others with severe reading difficulties, all of whom need special attention.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will take steps to increase the number of educational psychologists who have had special training in the early diagnosis of dyslexia.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe content of the courses which educational psychologists attend in order to qualify is a matter for the universities or colleges concerned. They will, no doubt, bear in mind the need to recognise and deal with reading difficulties of all types. There is scope for some specialisation by serving psychologists through co-operation between local education authorities on the lines recommended in the Summerfield Report.