ABSTRACT
The term ‘dyslexia’ is widely used as a shortened version for ‘specific developmental dyslexia’ for individuals who have an unexpected difficulty in learning symbol codes at a level in accord with their intellectual ability. It particularly affects reading and writing but can also cause difficulties with number and musical notation in some pupils. It is a less popular term in education for a number of reasons, some of them to do with an aversion to medical sounding words, to potentially stigmatising labels and to the economics of provision. However, dyslexics and their parents are often greatly relieved to have this diagnosis given for it helps them feel less at fault. For brevity the term ‘dyslexia’ is used in this book.
