Dyslexic links - sites about dyslexia

1. UK dyslexia/special needs organisations;
2. Overseas/international dyslexia organisations;
3. General dyslexia resources;
4. Education resources for dyslexia;
5. Personal dyslexia websites;
6. Speech recognition and dictation;
7. Audio and electronic books;
8. Other products;
9. Dyslexia services.

UK dyslexia/special needs organisations:

The British Dyslexia Association: The BDA also run a very useful help line on 0118 966 8271 (UK) and is a good organisation for people to belong to if they are interested in dyslexia (especially if they are dyslexic). They publish a large number of handy leaflets. Some of these are on their website.

Dyslexia Scotland: has a particularly good database of advisors, researchers and institutions to do with dyslexia in Scotland.

Dyslexia Action who train a lot of teachers and provide assessment and tutorial help for dyslexic people, particularly children.

Dyslexia Research Trust in Oxford.

World of Dyslexia provides a range of information and resources to all of the various interest groups in the field of dyslexia. Includes information for parents and students, advice for dyslexic adults, teachers and classroom assistants and much more.

Overseas/international dyslexia organisations:

International Dyslexia Association - the approximate equivalent of the BDA in the USA.

World Dyslexia Network Foundation (WDNF) has information and checklists for dyslexia and is aimed at people using languages other than English or using English as a second language.

Dyslexia, The Gift Information and resources for Dyslexia is provided by the Davis Dyslexia Association.

LD Pride Online is another site focusing on the positive aspects of Learning Difficulties (which, in the USA, often encompasses dyslexia).

Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic provides books on cassette.

General dyslexia resources:

Abilitynet is a good source of information on disability and technology and offers downloads of numerous factsheets and skillsheets, as well as advice on customising your computer.

A Framework for Understanding Dyslexia can be found on the Department for Education and Skills website. It is aimed particularly at teachers at post-16 level. Resources include approaches and practical programmes as well as theoretical information. A hard copy is also available.

DyslexiaA2Z is a resource which is particularly good on some of the less “educational” approaches to dyslexia: vision, hearing, the brain, assessment and dietary supplements.

Dyslexics.org.uk has good information for parents on how to support their dyslexic children’s education, particularly for home educators.

Check the map Find all your learning disability services.

Dyslexic.com is our own site for general information on dyslexia, including SpLD resources and updates on the Right to Read Campaign.

Education resources for dyslexia:

The Technology for Disabilities Information Service builds on the work of the DIS in HE project. It is specifically aimed at HE, but is becoming an increasingly useful resource for people teaching or supporting students with disabilities.

BECTA and the National Grid for Learning conference area.

Healthcare professionals with dyslexia – also for healthcare students with dyslexia.

Dyslexiahelp aims to help teach dyslexic students, with useful tips and teaching ideas, free teaching materials and some useful links for teachers.

EmpTech is a comprehensive database of technology for disabilities, particularly aimed at users in education and the workplace.

Links for EFL Students and Teachers – although designed for learners of English, the resources on reading, writing and grammar are often relevant to dyslexic students. One day, time permitting, we may do our own version specifically for dyslexia.

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development have published an interesting analysis of the process of learning to read.

Speech recognition and dictation:

There is a useful and active speech recognition forum at SpeechComputing.com. There no longer seem to be any general, active speech recognition mailing lists, however, even from SpeechComputing.

Audio and electronic books:

The Listening Books is a subsidised service costing £70 per year (in 2006) for people who are diagnosed dyslexic (or blind or other people who need it) to have recorded tapes of books etc, including free postage. Calibre is another UK service.

Audible is a digital service where you download sound files (in several formats including MP3) to play on digital audio devices, including Palm, and Windows CE.

There are also: Audiobooksforfree (non-copyright works) and Bartleby (mostly out-of-copyright classics).

Project Gutenberg has a large collection of out of copyright electronic texts (etexts) in various formats. These are mostly older works whose copyright has expired.

Similarly the University of Virginia’s E-Book Library has 2,100 publicly-available e-books (April 2002) for Palm and MS Reader, including classic British and American fiction, major authors, children’s literature, the Bible, Shakespeare, American history, African-American documents, and much more. Plus 10,000 publicly accessible web e-texts.

Other Products:

Texthelp Systems, publishers of Read and Write and other software for people with dyslexia and other disabilities, for whom we are distributors.

Inspiration the publishers of Inspiration have examples, extra ideas for teachers and a newsletter.

Dyslexia services:

The Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre provides services for the dyslexic community including various types of assessments, eg for the Disabled Students’ Allowance, and tuition. The Centre also trains specialist teachers; runs shorts courses for teachers, parents and children; and conducts an annual conference.

Article last updated: 25/11/2009.