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There is a PowerPoint file available to accompany this presentation. The BDA Conference 2001 CD-ROM contains 61 PowerPoint files. For details of how to obtain the CD-ROM, please contact the BDA.
Wednesday stream K Session 12.00 - 1.00 Length 25 minutes
Roderick I. Nicolson
Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield r.nicolson@shef.ac.uk
Abstract
Dyslexia research in Britain has made outstanding progress over the past decade. Dyslexia is acknowledged explicitly in UK policy, the education acts make it a requirement for schools to identify and support children with dyslexia as early as possible, quick screening tests have been introduced to identify dyslexic children before they fail to learn to read, and considerable theoretical progress has been made on a range of fronts. I believe that the dyslexia community now has an historic opportunity to shape the agenda for dyslexia research and policy. I start by making clear three sets of distinctions that are too frequently overlooked in dyslexia research: the distinction between cause, symptom and treatment; the distinction between the causes of dyslexia and the causes of reading disabilities; and the distinctions between science as the search for the truth; research as the art of the soluble; and policy as the art of negotiation. Next I pose the question: what do we want to achieve in the next five years, arguing that consensus, inclusivity, open-mindedness and strategic planning hold the key. Illustrating the talk with vignettes from my work with Angela Fawcett, I then pose six questions for dyslexia research: what are the potential underlying causes of dyslexia; how can we identify each 'subtype'; how should we support each 'subtype'; what are the targets for support at different ages; what is the relationship between dyslexia and other learning disabilities; and how can we co-ordinate in research and practice to achieve our dyslexia objectives? In the course of the conference we will all hear much that will bear on these issues.
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