Supporting Dyslexia Association

Uncertainty is the word that most people associate with dyslexia when they, or their children, have been diagnosed with the condition.

Will their dyslexia, which affects approximately 10% of the Irish population, affect their education, work and overall potential?

Dyslexia is a learning difficulty which affects the acquisition of fluent and accurate reading and spelling skills.

One organisation is leading the charge for dyslexics all over Ireland, regardless of age. The Dyslexia Association of Ireland (DAI) was founded in 1972 and works for people suffering from and affected by dyslexia by providing important information, offering appropriate support services, engaging in advocacy and raising awareness of the condition.

DAI represents more than 1,500 families and individuals all over Ireland, with its membership consisting of teachers, psychologists and other professionals.

To support DAI’s core services, the organisation has received grants from the National Lottery Good Causes fund for the past few years (€48,000 in 2014 and €70,000 in 2013), via the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.

Speaking on the impact of National Lottery grants, Rosie Bissett, CEO of DAI said:

“All of the funding we receive at the Dyslexia Association of Ireland goes towards supporting our vision which is where all people with dyslexia are enabled to fulfil their potential, where every child and adult with dyslexia has access to appropriate identification and support to achieve their full potential in education, training, employment and all aspects of life. We are the only national dyslexia service in Ireland”.

These core services Rosie speaks of include providing dyslexia awareness training and information, specialist education and training courses for children and adults, lobbying, advocacy, campaigning.

“Funding we receive from the National Lottery also went towards restructuring the organisation to enable us to provide governance which builds on our capacity to provide support to our members throughout our nationwide network of 26 workshops.”

Approximately 30 cent of every €1 spent on National Lottery games go back to funding for Good Causes in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts and heritage. In total, more than €5 Billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery was established 30 years ago. In 2016 alone, the National Lottery raised over €210 million for such good causes