Articles
Articles
Longer pieces, each one grounded in research I have published or contributed to, with the sources linked so you can go and read them yourself.
Understanding dyslexia
What is dyslexia, really?
This is the question I get asked more than any other. Parents ask it, teachers ask it, and a good number of adults ask it about themselves, sometimes after wondering for thirty years.
What actually happens in a dyslexia assessment
For most families, booking a dyslexia assessment comes after a long stretch of worry. You've noticed something. Maybe homework takes twice as long as it should.
Why I assess in person, and one assessment a day at home
By the time a family rings me they have usually been worrying for a long while. Here is what a day with me actually looks like, why it happens in person, and why it takes the time it does.
Wellbeing and mental health
Dyslexia and mental health: the link we can't afford to ignore
Of all the conversations I have, in assessments, in staffrooms, and on the podcasts I get asked onto, the one people are least prepared for is the link between dyslexia and mental health.
Protecting the wellbeing of dyslexic learners: what schools and families can do
In a companion article I set out why dyslexia and mental health are so closely linked, and why so much of the distress comes not from the difficulty itself but from how it gets handled.
Families and lived experience
"It's a battle": supporting your dyslexic child through school
When I researched what it's like to parent a dyslexic child, one word came up again and again. Battle.
The real cost of dyslexia to families
We don't talk enough about what dyslexia actually costs the families living with it.
Working with your child's school without it becoming a fight
For a lot of parents, talking to school about dyslexia feels adversarial before anyone has even sat down. The research bears that out.
What to do with a dyslexia report once you have it
A dyslexia assessment report can be a strange thing to receive.
Teaching and teacher training
Why teachers still aren't trained for SEND, and what to do about it
Every so often a petition lands in my inbox, and lately they seem to arrive in a steady stream, asking me to sign, share or follow a campaign for better special needs training for everyone who works in schools.
Integrating dyslexia support into mainstream teaching
Ask a room of teachers how to support a dyslexic pupil and someone will usually picture a separate intervention: a withdrawal group, a specialist session, something that happens somewhere else, to someone else.
How good dyslexia support actually happens in schools
School leaders often ask me a version of the same question: what system should we put in place to support our dyslexic learners? It's the right instinct, and policies and structures matter.
Supporting SEND as an early career teacher
If you're early in your teaching career and you feel underprepared to support learners with SEND, I want to start by taking that weight off your shoulders. It is not a sign that you're a bad teacher.
Assistive technology and EdTech
Assistive technology for dyslexia: what the evidence actually says
There's a lot of enthusiasm about technology for dyslexia, and a fair amount of scepticism too.
Choosing dyslexia technology for your classroom: a practical guide
Once a school is persuaded that assistive technology helps, and the evidence is strong that it does, the next questions are practical. What do we actually buy? Is it affordable? Where do we start?
Can AI tools like ChatGPT help dyslexic learners?
When ChatGPT arrived, I was asked for my view on whether it could work as assistive technology for students with learning disabilities, and I gave an expert opinion for Dystinct (Ross, 2023).
Evaluating EdTech honestly: doing research with technology companies
Every EdTech product comes with a claim: this improves reading, this raises attainment, this changes lives. Some of those claims are well founded. Many are not.
Voice, identity and hidden needs
"I'm dyslexic, but what does that even mean?"
That question, asked by a young person I was working with, became the title of one of my studies, because it captures something we too often skip past.
Hidden needs: helping the learners you can't see
There's a particular kind of pupil I worry about most.
Dyslexia from the inside and out: identity, labels and taking control
I write about dyslexia as a researcher and an assessor. I also live it. I was diagnosed dyslexic at 17, and, much later, with ADHD at 44.
Still want to talk it through?
Book a free 20-minute call. I will point you to the right next step, whether that is an assessment, training, a research conversation or something else.