As part of the launch of Curia’s Dyslexia Commission’s 2022 report, key figures in the sector of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) were invited to offer their thoughts on how assistive technologies can help to improve outcomes for dyslexic people in education and how that relates to the Government’s Levelling Up Agenda.
This session was chaired by Neil Carmichael, Former Chair of the Education Select Committee. He was joined by Julia Clouter, a former teacher and Global Head of Education at Scanning Pens, Andy Salmon, Director and CEO of Sir Linkalot, and Matthew Poole, Director of Grants and Investment at The Youth Futures Foundation.
All three panellists discussed how education, skills and training relate to the Levelling Up Agenda and the policies that they would like to see implemented to ensure the Government’s target of 90% of children meeting expected standards in writing, reading and maths is achieved by 2030.
Dyslexia and the need for assistive technology
The first panellist to speak was Julia Clouter. She discussed how scanning pens have the potential to transform the way that dyslexic children learn as they read out loud words that the user doesn’t understand and provides a definition.
Talking about how technologies can support the Levelling Up Agenda, Clouter said:
“As part of my current job, I go into schools and talk to teachers about how they implement technology to support pupils. Prior to that, I was a teacher myself for 25 years and with SEND students for ten of those so I’ve gathered a good level of expertise.
We talk about levelling the playing field and the way you can do that is by making assistive technologies a normal way of working. They will help to make exams a test of knowledge rather than a test of whether you can read or not.
In order to get to this point, we need assistive technology that is available to students throughout their whole education journey to make them feel empowered and to ensure that they believe in themselves.”
Julia also spoke about the importance of “changing mindsets” and installing a “toolbox approach to learning” which was incidentally one of the recommendations to come from the Dyslexia Commission’s 2022 report.
Alternative learning methods
Andy Salmon was the second speaker at the session. He discussed his belief that the best way to improve outcomes is to change how students learn from key stage one upwards. Explaining why, Salmon said:
“The only technique that schools use to teach facts is through rote learning. That’s what makes dyslexia an impairment because this way of learning is a non-negotiable set of rules. It’s an issue because these learning techniques aren’t good enough for people who are neurodiverse.
Dyslexic people are forced to use their imagination to remember learning because rote learning is no good for them. What you’ve got to do with learning in my opinion is get children involved. We’ve got to find a more inclusive way of learning.
You can do staff training, get better diagnoses, and get smaller classes but ultimately, the key is changing the way children learn.”
Offering a solution via his Sir Linkalot training methods, Salmon gave a couple of examples of how “linking” can help dyslexic children learn to spell difficult words.
- The word ‘Eat’ – Dyslexic children may automatically spell this word as “Eet”. However, one child he worked with learned the correct spelling by saying that the problematic ‘a’ looked like an apple which linked in with eating.
- The word ‘Said’ – Dyslexic children may spell this word as ‘Sed’. However, one child he worked with learned the correct spelling by saying if you turn the ‘e’ to the side then it looks like an ‘ai’ which gets them to write the word correctly.
Young people and employment
The final speaker was Matthew Poole who discussed The Youth Futures Foundation – a non-profit organisation that aims to improve the employability of young people from marginalised backgrounds.
Speaking about the data he had gathered through his job in relation to dyslexia and employment outcomes, Poole said:
“We now know that you’re more likely to become not in education, employment or training (NEET) if you have a special education need. We also know that if you have a special education need and your highest qualification is below a level two then you are even more likely to become NEET.
What’s more, if you have a special education need and your highest qualification is below a level two and you have experienced poverty then you are even more likely to become NEET.”
To try and combat this we’re funding different providers that can deliver different levels of support to those not in employment who have a special education need. One team, in particular, is looking at SEN in a local area and thinking about how the coordination of services and the system can work together for young people rather than against them.”
Questions and answers
The session ended with the panellists answering questions from audience members. One of the key questions came from someone who asked specifically about the government’s 90% target for primary school children and what can be done to achieve it.
Clouter said that meeting this target would be impossible “without schools and local authorities thinking about planning and the steps they need to take”. She added that the number one priority should be to “empower teachers to feel confident enough to use assisted technologies”.
Poole said that we need to understand why these targets are important. For him, the best way for the government to work towards this target is to “put young people at the centre and find out what works for them because not everyone learns and understands in the same way.”
Summary
- The Dyslexia Commission’s 2022 report emphasised the need for assistive technologies to improve outcomes for dyslexic people in education.
- Julia Clouter, Global Head of Education at Scanning Pens, discussed the importance of making assistive technologies a normal part of the education system to level the playing field for dyslexic students.
- Andy Salmon, Ceo and Director of Sir Linkalot, advocated for changing the way students learn from key stage one upwards to better support neurodiverse students.
- Matthew Poole, Director of Grants and Investment at The Youth Futures Foundation, discussed the need to support dyslexic young people to improve their employment outcomes.
- The panellists agreed that empowering teachers and putting young people at the forefront of the education system is key to achieving the government’s target of 90% of children leaving primary school with the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths by 2030.
Final thought
The thoughts and opinions of the three panellists will be gratefully received by not only Curia’s Dyslexia Commission but also the Levelling Up Commission who’s members are well aware of the importance of education within Government policy.
With new technologies being introduced across all sectors, it makes sense that assistive technologies are brought into schools at a higher rate to ensure that every child is given an equal opportunity to succeed.
Part 2 of the launch can be viewed here: