11. Supporting Pupils with Dyslexia: Emotional or Mechanistic Approaches to Literacy

Each year, a significant number of pupils in Northern Ireland fail to engage with the curriculum because of the disability known as dyslexia. Some will develop high levels of anxiety following years of failure. It is suggested that schools typically employ mechanistic approaches to remediation, which in many cases, fail to address effectively the emotional and social needs of these pupils. Should these needs be ignored, pupils can then find themselves increasingly isolated and disaffected. This situation is exacerbated by the number of children whose first language is not English and who now reside in Northern Ireland. Some will have dyslexia, which may go unnoticed because of the emphasis placed on improving language and teaching word recognition skills. In September 2005 dyslexia became a recognised disability in Northern Ireland, placing greater responsibility upon schools to meet the needs of pupils with dyslexia, including those whose first language is not English