Indirect Dyslexia Learning (IDL), a tutored, multi-sensory, computer-aided method of helping people with learning difficulties, has five centres in Ireland but none in the south-east and the holders of the Irish franchise for the system are anxious to correct that situation.

Ann Fitzgerald and her partner Paul Eglington, both IDL tutors, operate a centre in Dingle, the success of which has led to the establishment of two others in Kerry, at Kilmoyley and Tralee. The remaining two in Ireland are in Mallow and Dublin.

Ms. Fitzgerald said that because of the number of enquiries received from this part of the country the time would appear to be ripe for a centre to be set up in Waterford to serve the area. For anyone interested, her address is at Cuilin Business Park in Dingle and the telephone number is 066-9150843.

She says the centres already operating have helped students of all ages -pre-school to adult – to measurably improve their reading and spelling.

“IDL works with one-to-one tutoring”, she says. “We assess for reading and spelling ages and use a colour test as, for certain students, some colour contrasts are easier to distinguish than others.

“Our results show at least six months of improvement in reading and spelling for three months’ attendance, which is one term, and sometimes there is up to twelve months’ improvement”.

The system also improves confidence and concentration and aims to develop students’ potential, so that reading and spelling are no longer a problem.

Typically, students attend for three or four terms to bring them to a level where they can cope.

Ann and Paul provide the necessary materials, software, training and support to get new centres up and running. Having purchased the franchise for the country, they charge a fee per centre, but their primary aim is not monetary gain but rather the provision of assistance for those coping with dyslexia.