A Focus On Prevention
Defying Dyslexia
We can identify children at risk of developing dyslexia as early as six months old.
Children are not born with dyslexia; however, many are born at risk of being diagnosed with it when they struggle to read and spell.
For the first time, very young children can type on a ‘speech sound’ keyboard, see any word they build appear, and hear it voiced—fabulous for non-speaking autistic children! #InnovateUKFunded
Three-year-old Avery is learning how words work by exploring those that matter to him through Phonemies-to-Text.
This is child-led, personalised learning.
To Avery, this is play; he chooses it for fun.
Typing words in ‘Speech Sound Monsters' creates new pathways in the brain, allowing us to prevent dyslexia from developing—even before children begin learning about letters and sounds at nursery or school. We are focused on language processing skills, even if children are non-speaking.
Our goal is to screen all children before they turn three, ensuring no child starts school at risk of struggling to learn phonics, read, or spell. We defy dyslexia.
Get involved in this ambitious initiative as we raise funds to develop a tech-based version of The Reading Hut's face-to-face screening. The application scored 84% within the Women in Innovation competition, all assessors recommended it be funded, but we were not successful.
Together, we will launch a national screening project capable of assessing 1.5 million three- and four-year-olds annually, analysing data, and supporting at-risk children before they enter the education system and throughout their primary years.
This is an Immunisation Against Illiteracy—a transformative step towards dramatically increasing the number of children reading for pleasure.
By fostering a culture of reading for enjoyment, we empower literacy to become a powerful catalyst for meaningful, systemic social change.
Questions often asked:
Q "Children are not born with dyslexia" please do share the reasoning.
A If children don’t struggle with reading and spelling, they can’t be diagnosed as dyslexic.
If we eliminate any struggles in learning to read and spell, how would you determine if a child was ‘born with dyslexia’?
The question really is, if we can avoid children being diagnosed as dyslexic by making the development of orthographic mapping easy to achieve before the end of Key Stage 1, at the latest, would you want that?
Let’s say we could screen for a predisposition to difficulties with language processing, especially relating to phonemic awareness, as early as six months—we aren’t screening for dyslexia; these are risk factors.
If not addressed, they create huge issues for at least 1 in 4 children.
Most teachers have no idea who those children are and would love to!
That’s what I’ve been doing with Aussie teachers for a decade.
We prevent dyslexia (the term used to describe struggles with reading and spelling) from developing—defying it.
Addressing the language processing challenges before they are taught with one-size-fits-all synthetic phonics programmes.
Without struggles with reading and spelling, we can spend more time on each child’s unique gifts and focus on embracing their strengths.
Q "To clarify further, is dyslexia totally resolved, meaning no problems with reading or writing remain, after your intervention?"
A This is a focus on prevention more so than intervention.
The children we identified as at risk at ages 2–5 don’t have any issues later on with reading and spelling, so they couldn’t be diagnosed with dyslexia when aged 8+ as they don’t fit the criteria.
And the older primary aged children who were officially diagnosed (before they started word mapping with our tech, etc.) are now having their diagnoses queried when they go to secondary school, as they no longer have any issues with literacy.
So the reading and spelling issues are prevented or resolved. It’s MUCH harder when we don’t get them until later - it’s much easier when they’re younger because they haven’t switched off from wanting to read. The older they are, the less intrinsically motivated they tend to be.
So I guess it depends on your definition of dyslexia. They’re still their awesome selves—they just don’t struggle with slow and laborious reading or get letters in the wrong order when spelling (and not notice).
Now, with so much freed-up working memory and cognitive resources—since they store words in the orthographic lexicon (no memorisation required—speech, spelling, and meaning are glued)—it doesn’t feel like hard work anymore. And that’s empowering.
Bypassing the Education System to Immunise Children Against Illiteracy
Screening toddlers to identify the 1 in 4 children at risk of developing dyslexia is a worthy cause. By 2027, we aim to have the technological capacity to screen, store, and analyse data for 1.5 million 3- and 4-year-olds in England each year. Our approach is to 'screen and intervene' before children even realise they were heading towards a school life no child deserves. We ensure they won’t struggle to read and spell, allowing them to focus on their strengths—with increased odds of reading for pleasure early on.
Early reading for pleasure gives children choices. I remember reading an article about Steven Bartlett, in which he shared how he was always in trouble at school but would spend hours reading business-related material, soaking up the information that interested him. He often talks about the failings of the school system (and how teachers aren't to blame) in many interviews. He identified what so many of us know, yet little changes, as the incentives in schools are not designed for personalised learning.
When a child can read and write, they can learn whatever they want through any medium they choose—they don’t have to rely solely on watching videos. They can engage with AI, make use of the wealth of resources available, and access opportunities—but to do that, they must be able to read and write.
At The Reading Hut, our goal is not to 'teach reading and writing' for reasons tied to academic outcomes. It’s because we know that children will then be able to access learning they cannot currently get in schools.
Early screening for dyslexia markers before children turn 3 is complex. One crucial aspect is ensuring that children enjoy the screening process—they shouldn’t even realise they’re doing anything other than playing with Phonemies on the screen! Next-generation learners are remarkably tech-savvy. Even though three-year-old Avery isn’t developmentally ready for writing (tiny fingers and fine motor control take time!), he still wants to copy words and understands the links between the Phonemies (speech sound characters living in Speech Sound Cloud Land) and the 'pictures of the sounds' (graphemes, to you and me!).
Screening can be challenging for toddlers, especially for non-speaking children who need to participate without feeling pressured to use a voice. It must also engage neurodivergent minds, such as autistic and ADHD children. Capturing their interest and letting them discover is a huge part of what we do. Too many instructions or restrictions, and they’re onto the next thing—avoiding the screen altogether!
While many screeners are designed with outcomes in mind—'What are we screening for?'—our focus is equally on how we can gather as much information as possible while engaging each child so they feel great about themselves during the process. As we advance, we’ll use technology to better tailor experiences for individual children.
Screening and assessments often make children feel inadequate if they don’t 'get' the questions or tasks, especially when the tasks aren’t written for them as individuals. When assessments fail to recognise their starting points, they can lead to feelings of inadequacy—and avoidance.
When screening toddlers, we assess language processing and working memory issues. Much of this involves tracking what they say and do, so we can build a picture of them as learners.
Our goal is to create learner profiles for all children in England before they turn 3, and then again at 4. This allows us to identify children less likely to thrive in the current education system. By offering an alternative provision—accessible online—we give parents the option of a different KS1 experience for their children. This is especially valuable if whole-class, one-size-fits-all synthetic phonics and the Phonics Screening Check are still mandated at that time.
We aim to create options and find the children most in need of them. Currently, parents expect their child will thrive in school and not struggle to learn to read and spell. Yet, after years of struggle—often involving the same instruction in smaller groups or being removed from their peers—many are sent for a dyslexia diagnosis. And then what? If schools truly understood why children were struggling, they would already be doing things differently. The barriers are a combination of DfE policy, lack of training around prevention and personalised learning, limited resources, 'bulk learning' packages dominating the market, and insufficient teacher autonomy.
After a decade of witnessing how difficult it is to change this broken system—despite its glaring failures (labelled as a 'SEND crisis')—we are focusing on prevention instead.
Our upcoming book outlines these goals and shows parents how they can bypass the system, whether their child attends school or not. Get in touch to be part of the movement pushing policymakers to rethink everything they believe about how the school system should operate. We can embrace thousands of unique children in one campus and still teach each one as if they’re the only child there.