Screening for dyslexia

sir – I was heartened by Matt Hancock’s piece (Comment, December 7) about his campaign for all children to be screened for dyslexia before they leave primary school.

We are very grateful that our own daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of eight, which gave us time to find a school she was more suited to.

I will never forget her first encounter with the head of learning support at her new school, who not only explained to our daughter that she too was dyslexic, but was also quick to point out to her that there would be no ceiling to her potential. So, far from feeling “embarrassed” about her diagnosis, as Mr Hancock says he was, she is happy and thriving in an environment that celebrates dyslexia.

Like Mr Hancock, who received excellent support at university, she is one of the lucky ones, given that 80 per cent of children with dyslexia leave school without being diagnosed. Screening children at primary school, using cheap technology that is already available, could improve the life chances of so many young people. Emily Watkinson

Bridgwater, Somerset

sir – Matt Hancock believes that screening for dyslexia in schools would help to tackle illiteracy, but I am afraid this would be a misdirection of resources and a counterproductive step for the dyslexia community.

Mr Hancock describes how, after his dyslexia was diagnosed, he was taught to read words as pictures, not individual letters. Later, however, he shares the fact that he could not enter the name of Michael Heseltine on his phone as he could not work out how to spell it – not surprising if he was taught to remember words as pictures.

Instead I would urge him to support his own Government’s guidance for the teaching of early reading through systematic synthetic phonics. This is evidence-based and the most effective way of teaching all children to learn to read, including vulnerable groups, such as those with special educational needs and dyslexia.

Dr Marlynne Grant Registered educational psychologist Bristol