Disabilities Bill is not applicable to all children

THE report by your education correspondent Niall Murray (Irish Examiner, Jan 6) on the Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill illustrates the confusion surrounding the debate on educational disadvantage for young people with learning problems.

To include school-going children who are dyslexic in a bill dealing with disabilities, as suggested by Olwyn Enright of Fine Gael, is erroneous.

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty in reading, spelling and/or writing; it is not a disability. Dyslexia could be grouped with dyspraxia and attention deficit disorder, but not with disabilities such as autism.

The bill in question hopes to deal with matters arising out of court cases which made certain judgements regarding intellectually disabled children.

The taskforce report on dyslexia made several recommendations that merit legislation or at least departmental intervention.

Lumping together all learning problems might be economically sound, but it does a disservice to children whose needs are specific.

Michael O’Donnell,

Cork Individual Tuition,

19, St Patrick’s Hill,

Cork.