About LAT : Dyspel

"Since my first meeting with a tutor from the Dyspel unit, my life has changed so much. Now I go to college and have begun voluntary work for adults with learning difficulties."

Quote from a Dyspel client.

Overview

The Dyspel Project was created to reduce crime by helping the large number of offenders who are dyslexic overcome their difficulties. By identifying dyslexia and teaching coping skills and strategies, offenders can learn to live without the need for offending. Those offenders who are diagnosed as dyslexic are offered one to one specialist tuition with Dyspel tutors to improve opportunities for further education, employment and training, and increase their self-esteem.

Client Group

Dyspel offers dyslexia awareness training to staff and specialist assessment and tuition to dyslexic probation clients on community sentences, young people at risk of offending and people with multiple dependency issues.

Delivery Area

Dyspel is delivered in North East, South West and Central London to meet the rising demand for our specialist one-to-one tuition.

Partners

Dyspel works with agencies related to support, education, training and employment, including Mentoring Plus, Princes Trust Foundation, Action Team for Jobs, Big Issue and DrugLink.

Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) funding has made it possible for Dyspel to expand its work to include:

• Young people at risk of offending
• The development of a LOCN accredited programme offering basic level qualifications as part of ongoing tuition support, which is an important first step in assisting clients to move on to further training and / or employment options

Provision

Dyspel offers one-to-one tuition and typical provision would include the following:

• Initial appointment - the client will generally discuss their experiences and be told about Dyslexia and Dyspel aims
• Full diagnostic assessment will be undertaken if the client is a relevant referral
• Full diagnostic report is written by the tutor and a copy is given to the client. Also to any other relevant parties ie probation officers, counsellors, partnership agencies, college tutors etc with the clients knowledge
• On-going tuition - Tuition will cover a variety of aspects such as computer skills, life/organisational techniques, language development (written, spoken and reading), phonetics, mind mapping, life focused development in line with goals ie driving tests, course related support & career development

Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) funding has made it possible for Dyspel to expand its work to include:

• Young people at risk of offending.The development of a LOCN accredited programme offering basic level qualifications as part of ongoing tuition support, which is an important first step in assisting clients to move on to further training and / or employment options
• Dyspel also works with staff from the London Probation Area education, training and employment programmes, teaching them to screen clients for dyslexia

Achievements

Highlights during 2001 include:

• 350 clients accessing Dyspel tuition
• Launching the Phase 2 Dyspel Report - which showed our intervention had a positive impact on reducing re-offending and is also designed to act as a blue-print for those who wish to set up similar projects elsewhere
• Starting a full Project evaluation with Community Fund support
• Extending delivery into several new boroughs as part of the From Dependency to Work Programme and European Social Fund Basic Skills project
• Producing a spoken word CD called 'Dyspelling The Myth' where clients tell how the project has helped them
• Presenting a workshop on dyslexic / offender provision at the International Dyslexia Conference in New York
• Providing dyslexia awareness training for a range of agencies across London as part of the Learning Initiative Fund Project.

Future

Some Project developments in the next 12 months (in addition to existing provision) include:

• Extending provision to more boroughs as part of partnership programmes
• Providing futher Music Technology and Drama Therapy courses
• Womens video course in partnership with probation

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is not just an educational problem, although dyslexic people often have unhappy and frustrating school experiences, resulting in persistent truanting and even exclusion. Dyslexia is commonly perceived as a problem with reading and spelling, but the disabling effects of dyslexia can be more numerous - eg confusion of dates and times, misunderstanding instructions, difficulty with numbers, calculations or questions, poor organising or sequencing skills and a poor sense of direction linked to confusing left and right.

Contact Details

For further information on the Dyspel project please call 020 7793 0842.