The dyslexia myth.

Is the condition of dyslexia as we've come to know it, a myth? Is dyslexia really just poor reading skills? And if so, where do these poor reading skills come from and what can be done to help the children affected? The kind of poor reading skills generally now classed as dyslexia could perhaps be better described as a problem distinguishing the tiny sounds in words. Some of this, it seems, can be inherited genetically but MRI scans of children's brains show that it can also be changed or perhaps even caused by environmental factors. Teachers say that children frequently now arrive at school with very poor language skills and that this is in part the reason for poor reading. But what about children whose parents do speak and read to them? There is a new initiative, the Cumbrian Reading Intervention which is proving to be excellent in helping children with reading problems, but how can the government ensure that enough schools get access to it?