The Writing Framework, 2025

Have you seen ‘The Writing Framework’ (2025) as published this week? Politics aside, from an SpLD assessment point of view, it is good to see that alongside phonics, and due to the complex nature of our writing system “this can be supported if pupils know letter pattern conventions (orthography), the units of meaning in words (morphology) and (to a more limited extent) the origins of words (etymology), all strengthened by their exposure to words in their reading” (Page 42). The guidance recommends developing this knowledge and reinforces what we need to explain and include in our SpLD assessments.

This is not new to us, but I was thinking that it supports our recommendations for ‘specialist support and intervention’ or ‘targeted recommendations’, such as the use of ‘morphology matrices.’ 

Potential recommendations

• Alongside a multisensory, cumulative, structured phonics programme, use morphology: the structure and construction of words, which assists with reading and spelling and helps develop orthographic skills, (skills recommended in the ‘The Writing Framework’ July 2025). e.g. Louise Selby, Morph Mastery: https://louiseselbydyslexia.com/morph-mastery/
• ‘Spelling Shed’ (useful for parents and schools) is designed to help students improve their spelling through structured games and practice and uses orthography and morphology matrices, that is understanding and learning how to combine prefixes, roots and suffixes to support spelling and comprehension- https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb/

• What are your thoughts? How can we use this to tailor our recommendations to the needs of the individual assessed?

European Dyslexia Association (EDA): Dyscalculia working definition- June 2025

We in the UK are not the only ones moving forward with dyscalculia. The European Dyslexia Association, is not only going to change its name to include dyscalculia, but it has produced a European working definition for dyscalculia (without drawing a distinction between dyscalculia and other specific maths learning difficulties) (Karagiannakis, G., Noel, M, and Gilmore, C). It was noted during the conference that many countries do not have a definition, or even acknowledge dyscalculia! It will be interesting to see if a Europe-wide definition will help these countries to move forward with a recognition of dyscalculia.

The EDA definition is broadly in line with the SASC 2025 definition. Such convergence should give practitioners confidence that we are all heading in the right direction, in line with current research and thinking! Please read more here:

• Insights from the European Dyslexia Conference emphasised the importance of research in validating practices, including maths, and this is what has happened with our 2025 definitions. The updated SASC report format demonstrates our assessments areas to be grounded in current research.
• In our reports, wisely-used rationales, help explains the reasoning behind test choices, which in turn has guided the updated test lists. There’s a shift away from traditional tasks (like reasoning tests) unless they provide meaningful insights about the individual. I have to work hard to get my head around this! As was said at the conference, the goal is to understand the person, not just follow routine. Whilst there are core assessment areas, there is flexibility depending on the emerging profile: adaptive assessing is key—this shift requires ‘adapting’ in my head, but is the approach which is supported by current evidence-based research. 
• Germany are using a “multiaxial-approach” (this was a new word for me!), a diagnostic approach using an holistic view, going beyond pure clinical symptoms—this aligns with the new report format being adopted in the UK.

The European definition takes into account developmental trajectories and the need to assess magnitude beyond whole numbers (e.g. fractions/ decimals/ negative numbers), as well as profile mathematical strengths and integration of cognitive, affective and mathematical dimensions, which is key to informing interventions.  

In the European definition, there are five key areas to be assessed:

• Number symbol understanding: magnitude/ symbolic number system/ mathematical symbols;
• Mathematical fact storage and retrieval;
• Calculations: mental and written, and algebraic;
• Maths Reasoning;
• Geometry (optional in the SASC 2025 framework).

As with the UK’s definition:

• the symptoms need to be persistent, 
• show a poor response to effective instruction, 
• no strict cut off lines, 
• influenced by genetics and environment, 
• co-occurs with other SPLDs, 
• involvement of maths anxiety,
• not caused by low IQ, although it is noted that fluid intelligence impacts mathematical performance. 

We are making progress!

If you have any queries or questions about dyscalculia or dyslexia, please do get in touch- rebecca@educationaccess.co.uk

#Dyslexia

#Dyscalculia

Risk and Resilience

What a fantastic 3 days at the European Dyslexia Association conference in Athens! So many things to think about.  Here’s part 1 of my musings:

The Delphi definition of dyslexia, gives us Table 4: “a risk and probabilities assessment practice framework” and this framework came up many times over the three days, in various different ways. Here is my summary of the common ideas from many different sources listed below- the challenge: how to balance them! I am looking forward to final information from SASC about our new definition of dyslexia and dyscalculia and report writing moving forward to help with this.

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What really stood out for me was the research by Aro et al. (2024) which has examined the long-term mental health outcomes of individuals diagnosed with learning difficulties in childhood. It highlights that children diagnosed with these disabilities are at a greater risk for mental health issues, particularly when it comes to difficulties with mathematics (as compared to reading). These were new results to me , but (on reflection) not surprising, given what we know about maths anxiety for example. 

So, to what purpose our assessments to support these risks and to increase the resilience factors – categorical, exploratory or action-oriented? Can we achieve all three? This understanding of the multifaceted and co-occurring nature of SPLDs, which a dimensional approach, as I have discussed previously, would give us, and the other users of our assessments, a broader understanding in order to accommodate each student’s unique learning profile. A holistic understanding leads to a deeper understanding of how cognitive factors, along with risk and resilience factors, interact. This will lead to better-targeted teaching methods, ultimately improving outcomes for people with dyslexia and dyscalculia. How to do this? An ongoing debate that I am trying to achieve: the starting point? Background information and listening!

As assessors, we need to be so mindful of how we contribute to this and how privileged we are in this process.

If you have any queries or questions about dyscalculia or dyslexia, please do get in touch- rebecca@educationaccess.co.uk

#Dyslexia and #Dyscalculia

‘The Matthew Effect’

We have often discussed the ‘Matthew effect’ in dyslexia. This phrase is used to describe the ever-widening gap in reading skills that develop from the small gap which might exist very early in life. However, I had not thought of this in terms of dyscalculia or maths difficulties until Daniel Ansari made a passing comment as part of the Dyscalculia awareness day, organised by the wonderful Cat and Rob at the Dyscalculia network

The Matthew effect is certainly not uniform across all students or contexts. Factors like teaching methods, access to resources, and individual differences can play a role. A fact provided by Brian Butterworth at the Dyslexia and Dyscalculia show in March 2024, and which supports this, is that of those born in Singapore, 10% have difficulties with maths. But, a whopping 90% of those born in the Dominican Republic have maths difficulties! 

The attainment gap in maths for disadvantaged primary aged pupils in England was brought home to me in the recent Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/04/disadvantaged-pupils-further-behind-in-maths-since-covid-english-study-finds

This gap is getting bigger, bigger than it was before COVID-19. As with literacy, the early advantages can snowball: students who grasp initial mathematical concepts easily can approach more challenging opportunities and gain positive reinforcement, solidifying their understanding. This can lead to them progressing faster than those who struggle initially. While those who struggle face frustration and disengagement, with the building blocks not being secure before the class attempts to build on them in more advanced topics. The pre-skills needed for high level maths are not in place. This can lead to avoiding maths and maths anxiety, all hindering their progress and further widening the gap. 

Addressing the Matthew Effect:

• Let’s start with Brian Butterworth’s idea of testing all young children with a dot enumeration task. His evidence shows that this will predict those who will have a difficulty with maths. Then we can intervene early!
• Early identification and intervention: Providing targeted support to children who show signs of mathematical difficulties, to prevent the gap from widening and actually closing the gap. You may need to go further back than you think to plug those gaps! See ‘intervention top tips’ for primary, secondary and further education.  https://dyscalculianetwork.com/dyscalculia-for-educators/
• Creating engaging learning environments: Making maths enjoyable through interactive activities and games can motivate children who may have lost some of the wonder of maths through being ‘left behind’ earlier in their education. Great selection of games here from the wonderful Karen: https://www.fixitmaths.com/resources.html
• ‘Numbalee’ is a compact pack of number games that reinforce place value and the four main operations, https://numbalee.com/#about-section
• There are a number of apps and assistive technologies that may help: I Have a Numeracy Difficulty and with Maths, What can Help? (callscotland.org.uk)
• Help with constructing and deconstructing numbers: starting with beads and moving onto numbers. Try this for free with your students (log in with your name): here:https://funmaths.research.sc/participant/login/dynamic/B869728D-8FB0-40A2-8960-10827E220781

Supporting maths anxiety: 

• Pass on a positive attitude, such as the “I can’t do it… yet” attitude, known as a growth mindset and supporting a ‘growth zone’ attitude: https://educationaccess.co.uk/toasty-tips/ or see https://educationaccess.co.uk/maths-anxiety/

If you have any queries or questions about dyscalculia or dyslexia, please do get in touch- rebecca@educationaccess.co.uk