Charity Profile

What is British Dyslexics?

We are a national registered charity consisting of professionals who are interest in helping children with dyslexia.  The charity is totally independent of any other organisation.

The aims and objectives of the charity are:

To provide free information packs
To provide a telephone help line.
To raise awareness and understanding of dyslexia.
To support dyslexic children and their parents.

We are not only interested in helping children and teenagers to succeed in both compulsory, further and higher education, but we also passionately believe that getting extra help should not depend on a parent's ability to pay for extra tuition. Unlike the B.D.A. and D.I. currently we make no charges for any of the services or information we provide.

How do we differ from others?

Unlike the B.D.A. and D.I. our interests are in employing computer technology to provide more information more cost effectively, for example, by building up a database to connect dyslexic students with Equal Opportunities Employers.

Our organisation is run mainly by dyslexics, we are not only aware of the problems: we live with them, on a day-to-day basis. The charity's trustees are all university graduates, in a number of disciplines and so we know, first hand, how difficult it can be to cope with the current education system. So when we are told "you don't know what it is like to be dyslexic", we can truthfully answer "Yes we do"! We have a real understanding of dyslexia and the many problems encountered by dyslexics seeking employment. Our purpose is to offer educational support to dyslexics and to provide cost effective information to parents, educational institutions and employers.

Who benefits?

Ultimately we will help many dyslexics through the education system and to gain worthwhile employment by building links with sympathetic employers. The degree of each individual's disability varies, but we know that up to one in thirty suffer a severe disability. This categorises the problem of dyslexia as being of the same magnitude as asthma. The register of grant making charitable trusts lists over 130 charitable trusts set up for the relief of asthma sufferers, there are none listed for dyslexia. Although dyslexia has been recognised for over one hundred years, because of the magnitude of the problem very little has been accomplished during this time in providing help for all dyslexics. Instead costly and antiquated teaching methodologies simply ensure that only a small number of lucky individuals receive help. This is something which with help from our supporters we hope we can change.

It is now well understood that emotional problems in both adolescents and adults often relate to educational difficulties that create feelings of failure and poor self-esteem. This can then be responsible for impairing the ability for many to cope in later life. Most parents take a keen interest in their children's progress, but if a child fails, then parents also feel that they too, have failed in some way. By supporting our organisation you will not only be helping many dyslexic students but also their families and all of society in general. Never before have academic qualifications been such an important factor in a highly competitive employment market; the failure to gain relevant qualifications can condemn our children to a life of missed opportunities. By providing the information in the conventional ways and through exploiting the Information Super Highway (which is almost cost free)  a great deal can be achieved and many thousands of dyslexics can benefit.