Help for Yorkshire families struggling with dyslexia

A specific learning difficulty which affects the ability to read or write fluently, dyslexia can cause people to have problems with spelling and writing and can also affect short-term memory and concentration.

“Many people are unaware that there is a reason behind their struggles,” says Sarah Patel, who runs Yorkshire Dyslexia along with Vicky Ringer. “Dyslexia can affect people from any background or walk of life, regardless of intellectual ability, and it’s a continuum, meaning no two people have exactly the same symptoms or level of severity.”

In children, signs could include reading difficulties, poor spelling, confusing letters like b and d, lack of organisational skills or struggling to remember more than one instruction at a time.

Alfie, from Bradford, is one of the children who has benefited from support from Yorkshire Dyslexia. He had been frightened of trying anything new and would often have emotional breakdowns out of sheer frustration and fear, but now his school day has been transformed since he was diagnosed and given the right help.

“He is being recognised for the clever little boy that he always was and has moved into the top sets in class, no longer assessed on writing alone,” says his mum, Claire Hamilton.

“His self-esteem continues to grow; he is now far more resilient and far more likely to say, ‘I'll have a go’.”

Yorkshire Dyslexia provides specialist dyslexia assessments for children, students and adults across the entire Yorkshire region, including Leeds.

Sarah and Vicky are both specialist dyslexia assessors and experienced teachers working in primary and secondary schools, mainstream and special educational needs. They can travel to your home or child’s school or you can visit their centre in Halifax or Wakefield – even during the weekends and school holidays – for a full assessment to identify a child’s learning strengths and weaknesses; they will issue a comprehensive report along with recommendations of how best to support your child at home and in school.

“We understand the difficulties experienced by dyslexic students, which have an impact on every area of their lives, and recognise the frustration parents may feel when their child’s full potential is not being realised,” adds Sarah.

"We also carry out workplace assessments for adults. As they progress through life, many people with dyslexia develop coping strategies which help them acquire literacy skills but they are slower to apply these. Signs of dyslexia in adults include; slow speed of reading or writing, difficulty in reading and processing information simultaneously, poor timekeeping or weak organisational skills. These difficulties can impact on a person’s performance at work meaning that undiagnosed dyslexia can hold them back from progressing with their careers, so we’re here to help.”

For more information, visit www.yorkshiredyslexia.co.uk or call 01422 365500 to book an assessment.