Still, Elliott says, there is no greater abuse of the current diagnostic system than in the establishments of further and higher education, where the guidelines are much more open. “The disability lobby is so strong and the advantages, financial and otherwise, so great that they are diagnosing dyslexics all over the place,” he says. “At universities students can get laptops, extra books and other equipment, sometimes to the value of almost £10,000 each. It’s a very problematic area.”
Some students, he says, are milking the situation for what it’s worth. “They ask for different coloured exam papers, extra photocopying, anything they can get. And the numbers of people who do this are just growing. If you are giving special needs provision without any particular criteria, it is obviously going to proliferate.”
While no precise figure is available for the amount ploughed into helping dyslexics at colleges and universities, it is estimated to be around £50 million. It is leaving the teaching profession disgruntled. One lecturer at a university in the South East of England, who wishes to remain anonymous, despairs at the increasing number of students who claim to be dyslexic.
“On one degree course I teach, about one quarter of the year get extra time in exams, extra help with their course work and other assistance because they have this label,” she says. “You become quite cynical. Dyslexia was virtually unheard of when I was a student. Now every other person has it.”
Another university lecturer, based in Sheffield, describes the situation as “laughable”. He says: “There are obviously a few who genuinely have a problem, but the majority seem to be jumping on the bandwagon for any extra time and help they can get and there is nothing we can do to stop it.”
Its happening..get over it.
