Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia

What these are, briefly

Dyslexia affects how the brain processes the sounds within language. It shows up in reading, spelling and written work. It is not a problem with seeing letters, and it says nothing about intelligence.

Dyspraxia, also called developmental coordination disorder, affects the planning and coordination of movement. In adults it often shows up as difficulty with sequencing, organisation, spatial judgement and anything requiring several steps in order.

Dyscalculia affects the sense of number and quantity. It is not the same as finding maths hard at school. It is a difficulty with how numbers work at a basic level, and it makes money, time and estimation difficult.

Many people have more than one, and any of them can occur alongside ADHD or autism.

We are not going to give you the usual numbers

You will have seen it said that dyslexia affects around 10 per cent of people. We are not going to repeat it as fact.

The British Dyslexia Association states the figure without a citation. Dyslexia Action, a UK organisation in the same sector, has looked into it and said so publicly. Their words:

The original source of these statistics is difficult to trace. We cannot assume that a 10 per cent estimate is universal or verified.

Dyscalculia is in the same position. The commonly quoted figure of around 6 per cent comes from a charity estimate with no traceable source behind it.

Dyspraxia has one figure we can stand behind, from a UK study. A large cohort of British children was assessed at around seven and a half. Of those, 1.7 per cent met the strict diagnostic criteria.

Pooled European research puts developmental coordination disorder at around 2 per cent. There is no reliable UK estimate for adults at all.

We are telling you this rather than picking a confident number. The shortage of evidence is itself part of the story. These are conditions that a great many adults suspect they have and cannot get anybody to take seriously.

That is easier to understand when you know how thin the underlying research is.

Sources: Dyslexia Action: prevalence, Lingam et al. 2009, Li et al. 2024

The reason adults seek support

Almost never the reading, the coordination or the sums.

What brings people is usually what has built up around them over twenty or thirty years.

• The belief, absorbed early and never examined, that you are stupid or careless
• Exhaustion from compensating constantly, and from hiding that you are compensating
• Anxiety about being found out at work
• Anger at the school years, and at the adults who called it laziness
• A career shaped more by avoidance than by choice
• Grief, particularly for people who only find out in their forties or later

None of that is a learning problem. All of it is the kind of thing people bring to talking therapy.

We do not assess or diagnose

A formal diagnostic assessment is a separate service from ours. We do not carry out assessments, we do not diagnose anyone, and we cannot refer you for either.

You also do not need a diagnosis to work with someone through us. If you say you are dyslexic, that is enough. Nobody will ask for a report.

Adjustments you are entitled to ask for

The Equality Act 2010 defines disability by the effect an impairment has, rather than by its cause. The statutory guidance is explicit that "it is not necessary for the cause of the impairment to be established". The duty to make reasonable adjustments follows from how something affects you.

With a professional, the practical requests are small and reasonable.

• Send summaries and homework as audio or bullet points rather than dense text
• Say things aloud rather than relying on written material
• Keep appointment times and locations consistent
• Confirm details in a message rather than by telephone

Source: ODI: Equality Act guidance

Where else to get help

The British Dyslexia Association covers dyslexia and dyscalculia, including adult support and workplace guidance.

Dyspraxia is harder to point you to. The Dyspraxia Foundation, for decades the main UK charity, closed in April 2024 and went into liquidation that August. Its old web address is no longer under any charity's control and should not be visited.

Smaller organisations have since formed, and support is currently fragmented. We would rather tell you that plainly than send you somewhere that no longer exists.