Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for attending. I listened carefully to what she said. The key elements that stuck out for me were the focus on inclusion, full participation, having no barriers and additional supports. They are all incredibly important in helping young people achieve their full potential and ensuring they are able to go on and have a full life within their own community and in society with respect to both employment and their own lives.

This is a good opportunity to talk about dyslexia. It is important the focus is on dyslexia awareness this particular week and that we have the opportunity to talk about the barriers and the research that is there. We can talk about famous people with dyslexia who have achieved an awful lot. Fair play to them for saying that despite this they have done well. Senator Dolan gave us a few such examples. I mention Steven Spielberg, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Richard Branson and Muhammad Ali. Many of our actors and actresses also have dyslexia. I think in particular of people I have met through life who suffered because of their dyslexia due to it not being diagnosed at an early enough stage for intervention. They always felt like the class dunce and they were at the back of the classroom. As a result they did not like school. It impeded their social interactions with their peers and teachers. Their sense of disempowerment was colossal and some never got over that. It is quite shocking to see how their whole lives were impacted on because of it. I am thinking of one person who suffered from dyslexia which was never picked up. He repeated his leaving certificate three times to get what he wanted to do in college. He got the course he wanted, which was architecture. He repeated every year twice and after ten years became an architect. He is now successful. That is how determined he was to get over this. I have great admiration and respect but we must learn lessons from that and ensure children are no longer isolated when they have such an issue. We must deepen our own understanding and awareness of dyslexia and deepen the understanding and support within the school system.

The awareness campaign going on this week is important because it is estimated dyslexia affects one in ten people and affects both children and adults. It is a common difficulty, as I witnessed myself when teaching at primary level. It causes people to have issues with reading text, writing words and spelling. As has been noted, it is important to understand this is not a measure of anybody's intelligence. It is not a learning disability; it is a specific learning difficulty. Having dyslexia does not impact on someone's ability to process complex information or to contribute to society. It is simply an additional need that if accounted for, and if relevant supports are made available, should not impact on an individual's life. All it means is that extra thought, care and support is needed and, as a society, we should certainly be willing to offer that.

As with any learning difficulty, early intervention is key and we must ensure parents and teachers are aware of the potential signs of dyslexia. We cannot take that for granted. Those suffering from dyslexia will often also struggle with retaining information if it is written. If anyone hears their child saying, he or she must keep rereading a sentence or he or she seems to struggle with following or remembering a story, this is a potential sign of dyslexia. Thus we need to know what to look for and we especially need to raise awareness of dyslexia in the education context, and that is why the Minister of State is here. We need to ensure our education system is equipped to support students who are dyslexic and that our teachers and the wider school communities are able to support the dyslexic students appropriately.

I have always been a passionate advocate for truly inclusive education.We cannot allow a situation where somebody's educational outcomes are negatively impacted by either additional educational needs or by socioeconomic background. Education is a key differentiator and high quality education needs to be offered to all of our students. Ensuring fair and equitable access for all pupils has to be a key priority.

For my own party, Fianna Fáil, throughout our history we have been behind dramatic expansions at every level of the education system, and enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. That is why there very specifically is a Minister of State with responsibility for special education, who, of course, is Deputy Madigan.

The Dyslexia Association of Ireland has some key and important research that is worth noting. It, of course, highlights that dyslexia is a lifelong condition which can impact on college work and social life, on occasion. If it is not identified, the result can be underachievement, frustration and, worst of all, low self-esteem. The research released today showed that access to dyslexia identification is a real challenge. Some 79% of respondents reported waiting more than two years for assessment and 39% more than four years. That is shocking and we need to do far better. It states that 100% of teachers reported having students in their class with unidentified dyslexia, and a third of these stated they believed they had five or more undiagnosed dyslexic students. Some 91% of parents and teachers report that having a child’s dyslexia identified helps them to better understand and support their learning needs which, of course, results in improved self-esteem, confidence and mental health, apart from educational outcomes. Over 96% of teachers said they would benefit from more training on dyslexia identification and interventions.

For many people with dyslexia, remote learning was very challenging, and we have to bear that in mind as we and they are struggling to try to catch up. Many parents felt their children had fallen behind in their literacy skills during the pandemic.

Looking at dyslexia in the workplace, most jobs require some level of literacy and-or numeracy, and adults with dyslexia may struggle with time management and organisation at work. As a society, all efforts have to be made to support individuals with dyslexia, making reasonable accommodations where necessary.