SASC Consultation: Dyslexia

An update on SASC's consultation process to consider issues concerning the assessment and identification of dyslexia.

In January 2021 SASC initiated a wide-ranging consultation process to consider issues concerning the assessment and identification of dyslexia. To date, this process has consisted of four stages:

1. Firstly, the creation of a working group, comprised of academics and practitioners, brought together to facilitate discussion and interaction between academics and assessment practitioners, including specialist assessors, psychologists and those who had personal and/or family experience of dyslexia. SASC also ran a parallel online consultation with a group of assessment practitioners, and special educational needs and disability services managers in schools and higher education. This focused on issues around effective assessment for intervention and support in schools, colleges and universities. A draft consultation paper was written.
   
   
2. A second consultation phase involved both the initial working group and a wider body of consultants in commenting and advising on changes and amendments to an initial draft of a consultation paper.
   
   
3. The third part of the consultation was launched in April 2022 with the publication on the SASC website of a paper:
   Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) Assessment Standards Committee (SASC) Consultation Paper on the identification of and effective intervention for literacy difficulties in children and adults. Implications for the assessment of dyslexia. (See below).
   
   Between April and May 2022, A SASC survey gathered 407 responses to this paper. These were summarised, presented and discussed at the SASC Conference in June 2022. SASC also made an official response to the March 2022 HM Government SEND Review Green Paper, ‘Right Support, Right Place, Right Time'[i]. (See below).
   
   
4. In a fourth consultation phase held between October and December 2022, key issues arising from responses to the paper were discussed with a group of 50 assessment practitioners, academics and representatives from stake-holding organisations, at a series of six online 90-minute structured discussions. Among the themes discussed were a definition and identification criteria for dyslexia and key current issues in both pre and post 16 years assessment. Summaries of these meetings were presented to the SASC Board in January 2023. 

What next?  

The SASC consultation on dyslexia will set priorities for SASC policy discussions.
A final paper will be produced, with a particular emphasis on refining the proposed definition and identification criteria for dyslexia. The paper will be re-written in three parts: Theory, Policy, Practice, with a short summary document that covers all three sections. The revision of the paper will take into account commentary from the consultation survey's qualitative and quantitative data and feedback from the structured discussions.  While the initial plan was to produce this paper by April 2023, SASC will now delay this publication for a few further months: This is so that it can also take into account two important developments:

A newly initiated Delphi consensus study will aim to reach consensus around a definition and identification criteria for dyslexia. This study will be led by Professor Maggie Snowling (Oxford University), Professor Julia Carroll (Coventry University), Paul Thompson (Warwick University) and Lynn Greenwold and Caroline Holden (Chair and Vice-Chair of SASC).  

60+ academics, practitioners (including psychologists and specialist assessors), representatives from stake-holding organisations and other interested individuals across the UK, Europe and internationally, will be invited to take part. We aim to conclude the study in no longer than six months but hope that this study will represent the best possible UK, European and international consensus statements on these issues. 

Further work arising from the Specific Learning Difficulties Network SLDN headed by Michelle Luciano of Edinburgh University (michelle.luciano@ed.ac.uk) and Sylvia Parrachini of St Andrews University (sp58@st-andrews.ac.uk). Leading the SLDN terminology working group are Kinga Morsanyi (K.E.Morsanyi@lboro.ac.uk) and Joel Talcott (j.b.talcott@aston.ac.uk). The network has discussed the SASC consultation and has set, as a priority, a mission to achieve agreement over definitions of SpLDs.

SASC therefore hopes to conclude this important consultation and to produce further guidance for assessors on a definition and identification criteria for dyslexia by autumn 2023. The SASC consultation has also prompted important discussions about the current pre and post 16 report formats, about SASC's role in providing policy advice and guidance to the Department for Education, Student Finance England and the Student Loans Company and about other guidance it can usefully offer to assessors. These discussions are ongoing and any changes to current advice and guidance will be reported as soon as they are confirmed.  

For further enquiries email: sasc@sasc.org.uk. 

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[i] https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-review-right-support-right-place-right-time