A DYSLEXIA expert has hit out at huge differences in how children diagnosed as having the reading difficulty are treated across the country.

Professor Joe Elliott said there was greater disparity of provision for dyslexic children in the UK than “just about any other country in the world”.

The Durham University expert was speaking during a two-day conference on dyslexia which brought together 17 experts from eight countries in the hope of reaching a consensus on the divisive subject.

Speaking to The Northern Echo during a break in the conference at Van Mildert College today (Thursday, September 24), Prof Elliott said there is no consistency in how local authorities respond to dyslexia and while parents might expect a diagnosis to lead to treatment, this might not be forthcoming.

“In some areas children are sent to special schools that cost up to £14,000 a year. But a child round the corner might get nothing,” he said.

Prof Elliott, who is also Principal of Collingwood College and who was previously a teacher in Sunderland, made headlines around the world last year by claiming the term dyslexia was unscientific and misleading and should be abandoned.

Critics said he was attacking middle class parents pushing for the best for their children.

But today (Thursday) he said: “I would never blame parents for trying to get the most for their child.

“I’m arguing the current system does not lead to equitable resources for all children who are struggling to learn to read.

“We need a system that identifies every child that is struggling and intervenes for that child straight away, instead of waiting for them to fail for a couple of years, sending them off to a private assessment, getting a diagnosis and then providing extra help. That isn’t going to be the way to solve the problem.”

It is thought around one in five children has some level of dyslexia, although criteria varies wildly.

Prof Elliott is also unhappy that children diagnosed as dyslexic might get extra help learning to read, while others with equally complex but different reading problems who are not diagnosed are left to struggle on alone.

The conference closed with delegates presenting their views to a public audience at the Calman Learning Centre tonight (Thursday).