Dyslexia pamphlet helps parents

A new publication will help parents identify and address the needs of students with dyslexia, Minister of Education Chris Carter says. The Ministry of Education has just released a pamphlet – Dyslexia - Breaking Down the Barriers – as part of its ongoing work programme on dyslexia. “Dyslexia covers a range of specific and persistent difficulties a student may have with learning to read and write. It is an issue that can cause considerable anxiety for parents,” Chris Carter said. “The ministry already has a number of very effective programmes of support for struggling readers and writers and is fine-tuning these to ensure they are as effective as possible in meeting the needs of learners with dyslexia. “This pamphlet outlines some of the key characteristics of dyslexia and suggests how parents can work with teachers at school and provide help at home to improve outcomes for their children.” The Ministry of Education worked in collaboration with The Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand to develop the pamphlet’s content and to better address dyslexia in schools through its work programme. The work programme also includes:

•developing more effective assessment tools and professional development processes to ensure that students with difficulties associated with dyslexia can be identified as early as possible, and •a resource for teachers that will provide strategies to help struggling readers and writers, including those with dyslexia, to be started in 2008.

Dyslexia - Breaking Down the Barriers is being distributed through the Team-Up project via schools, and can also be downloaded from the Team-Up website: www.teamup.co.nz