Normally when a business collapses it is common to see other businesses circling hungrily, eyeing up assets and soliciting customers. The dyslexia industry, for all its claims just to be helping people, is no different from any other business. It has been brought to my attention that The Learning People, subject of one of my very first blog posts, have started wooing former clients of Dore and spamming blogs covering the Dore collapse. While The Learning People may be cheaper than Dore and has had similar amounts of media exposure and celebrity endorsements it also has just as much scientific evidence supporting it. Practically none.
I will keep this simple. There is no cure for dyslexia or other specific learning disabilities. There are only coping strategies which may lead to an improvement over time. If anybody claims they have a cure, whether standing on a wobbly board throwing beanbags or making letters out of plasticine, they are lying, perhaps to themselves as much as patients but they are still lying. If these people charge money for their lies then they are seeking to profit from the disabled. Do not be fooled by them. They may think they are helping, they may have other motivations than profit, but they need profit to survive. They will not pay for research that may question their treatment because that would affect profit. They are business men and women. They will exploit you for their bottom line.
Even though there is no cure for dyslexia or other specific learning disabilities that does not mean you should give up hope for you or for your child. Support them by giving them the extra help they may need, consult with your Educational Psychologist, lobby their teacher for extra help but above all do not think that their problems will hold them back in life without a cure. There are many people, myself included, who have managed just fine despite specific learning disabilities. They are no barrier to success.
Do not let the vultures with their fake cures take your money. Coping with a disability should not be an area of life exploited by commercial interests. It should be an area where the education system supports those who need extra help. If you feel the education system isn’t helping enough then you should contact teachers, schools, MPs, charities, universities and researchers. Not private businesses.
Here are some links to get you started, if you have others leave them in the comments and I will add them.
thanks to duck
