Irish teachers feel 'unprepared' for dealing with dyslexia

A new survey reveals that Irish teachers feel unprepared for dealing with dyslexia in the classroom.

Research carried out by the Dyslexia Association of Ireland to mark World Dyslexia Day found 97% of teachers feel they need extra training.

Dyslexia affects about 10% of the population.

Learning Diversity expert Sara Haboubi, who has just returned to Ireland from Australia, said it was not so much a question of how children learn, but how they are taught.

"People with dyslexia are often proven to have a higher IQ and are extremely creatively talented," she said.

"They use a different system to make sense of what's going on and creating connections. We need to look at how those students need to learn more effectively, rather than the same system that seems to work for the majority of students."

Today is World Dyslexia Awareness Day. To mark it, dyslexia.ie is running a social media campaign around the hashtag #iwishyouknew to encourage people to tweet and facebook things they wish teachers, parents, employers and others knew about dyslexia.