HL Deb 22 November 2000 vol 619 c78WA
Lord Smith of Leigh

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have conducted research to enable them to judge the effectiveness of the teaching methods promoted by the Dyslexia Association both for dyslexics and for others with learning difficulties. (HL4658)

Baroness Blackstone

The Government are committed to helping all children with special educational needs and are taking a number of steps to raise awareness and improve the identification and assessment of children who have or may have dyslexia. This work is being taken forward in partnership with some of the voluntary organisations that support children with dyslexia, including the British Dyslexia Association.

Findings from two dyslexia research projects funded by the department were published last year. The first involved the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre to identify strategies to help teachers in the classroom; and the second was work Manchester Metropolitan University did with the British Dyslexia Association on methods of identifying and assessing specific learning difficulties and for effective intervention strategies in the classroom.