education.

Director of the Reading Clinic Dr. Janet Kemp told Hamilton Lions yesterday that anywhere from two to ten percent of a population has dyslexia and children are held back because schools are slow to recognise their learning problems.

Dr. Kemp who is also school psychologist of the clinic told the Lions that anywhere from two to ten percent of a population can be affected by dyslexia -- an extreme difficulty learning the sound structure of language as required for reading and spelling.

"As a result of this language disability children at school struggle when they encountered the printed word,'' Dr. Kemp said.

"The educational community has been slow to acknowledge the specific difficulty that dyslexia poses lagging well behind medical research.

"Top medical researchers at Harvard and Yale have conducted brain research and family and longitudinal studies that validate dyslexia as a hereditary neurological difference that varies in severity.'' She added that we should not blame the environment or ignore and blame the child. But instead we should provide the best treatment possible.

"If these children are not identified and special intervention is not provided, then the first outcome is that the child is `language crippled', a term that is in vogue in this era when descriptors such as educationally challenged are proffered.'' Dr. Kemp stated that a few of the purposes of the Reading Clinic was to help identify learning disabilities and other school related difficulties using a dedicated group of tutors who work throughout the Island with children and adults who are identified with having a specific language disability.

She added that the clinic also educated parents and teachers about specific problems their students have in an effort to help them achieve success in their different environments.

"A child entering any school in Bermuda should have an equally high chance of being correctly identified as having a specific language disability and of being provided the appropriate services,'' she added.

DR. JANET KEMP -- Director of the Reading Clinic.