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Dyslexia International (DI) recently held a ‘Give the Gift of Literacy’ lunch at the European Parliament in Brussels in the presence of its patron, Her Royal Highness Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein.

The lunch was an occasion to thank all DI’s sponsors, in particular those that supported its e-Campus, an open education resource offering high-quality, free, online training for teachers. The e-Campus, which is available in French and English with more languages to follow, is equipping teachers with the means to teach reading and writing to all their students, including those with specific difficulties.

At the lunch, Nirj Deva, the Member of the European Parliament for South East England, said that he has family members and friends with dyslexia and recognizes the advantage of early detection. Those that are not diagnosed till later in their development are more likely to suffer from problems of self-esteem, he added.

Among the attendees were representatives from DI supporters including Ludvig Forrest of the King Baudouin Foundation, Elise Bouvy of the Generation Europe Foundation, Christine Lenneberg, director of Internationalisation Support Unit, Brussels Invest and Export, André Poncelet, founder member, and Jean-Francois Delsarte, education councilor at the Cabinet

de la Ministre Marie-Dominique Simonet.

Experts, including Dr Chasty, a member of Dyslexia International’s Advisory Panel and a psychologist and international consultant on learning abilities, have argued that 90% of all children with dyslexia (or difficulties with reading, writing, spelling, memory and organisation) can be taught in a mainstream class provided their teachers are adequately trained. Technology such as the e-Campus is now making it possible to train all teachers at no extra cost to the government.

Judith Sanson, chair of the board of directors, DI, said: “There is no reason why ministries cannot now ensure that all their teachers are given the opportunity to upgrade their skills based on latest research and learn what dyslexia is, how to identify it and how to adapt their teaching approaches and methods to be equipped to include those children with special needs in mainstream classes.” The francophone ministry of education in Belgium have successfully piloted the e-Campus and are leading the way in showing how its Open Courseware, free online training can be used to raise teaching levels across the country.

Meanwhile, DI is in discussions with Stanford University Coursera team with a view to introducing the online training in their programme so that it will be more

Giving the gift of literacy

30 April 2013

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widely known and available in all parts of the world.

Next year’s World Dyslexia Forum in Brazil represents an opportunity to expand the training further – the training is now also available in Portuguese. Dyslexia International promotes free and fair education for all and equal opportunities for those who struggle with reading and writing by making teacher training the priority.

www.dyslexia-international.org