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The Dyslexia Association of Ireland (DAI) welcomes the changes made to the Irish exemption criteria announced today by Minister Joe McHugh. The DAI have been lobbying for change to the exemption criteria for many years and believe that the changes announced today, if implemented properly, will help to create a more equitable and fairer educational system for children with dyslexia.
In particular, the DAI welcomes the following changes:
DAI CEO Rosie Bissett commented “Today’s announcement is something that we have been waiting for for a very long time. The old Irish exemption criteria was not fit for purpose and we look forward to the implementation of new criteria which we have been very involved in advocating for.”
Bissett continued “We would like to thank all of our members, parents and teachers who took the time to take part in this consultation. I know that many of them have waited a long time to be consulted on Irish exemptions and so when they were asked to do so they did not hold back. An Irish exemption can make a huge positive impact to a young person’s life and we look forward to supporting parents, students and teachers through the coming months in understanding these changes once the Circular has been released with the full details.”
Amy Smyth, Information and Advocacy Coordinator with the DAI commented “This is a big day for children with dyslexia, their parents and the DAI. We have long been advocating that the old criteria was not fit for purpose. We welcome that many of our recommendations have now been taken on board. This will hopefully create a much fairer system.”
Bissett concluded ”This is a more holistic approach to accessing Irish exemption and we hope that it eliminates the false perception that children with dyslexia are somehow accessing supports that they are not entitled to or are faking their very real and very serious difficulties. We are hoping that this is a start of a shift in the narrative around persons with invisible disabilities in Ireland.”