Peer Lyndsay. - Multilingualism, literacy and dyslexia: breaking down barriers for education

Lindsay Peer CBE is an educational and chartered psychologist, international speaker, author and expert witness; Lindsay is widely recognised as an expert in the range of specific learning difficulties, special educational needs and mainstream education. In 2002 she was appointed CBE for services to education and dyslexia. In 2011 she was awarded the Outstanding Lifetime Academic Achievement Award by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA). She is Patron of GroOops, a charity dedicated to creating an emotionally healthy dyslexia-aware world. She has lectured extensively as a keynote speaker internationally since the late 1980s and advises governments, trade unions, policy makers, lawyers, adults, schools, psychologists, therapists and parents. She is an Associate Fellow and Chartered Scientist of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of both the International Academy of Research in Learning Disabilities and the Royal Society of Arts. She is a member of the Association of Child Psychologists in Private Practice and of the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH). She is registered to practise with the UK Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). She has been a keynote speaker in the UK, the USA, India, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Israel, Iceland, Norway, Italy, Spain, Majorca, Greece, South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Cyprus, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. She held the posts of Education Director and Deputy CEO of the BDA until 2003. She has many years experience as a teacher, teacher trainer and SENCo. She has published a considerable body of both theoretical and practical material, and published the first ground-breaking book linking Glue Ear with dyslexia. She assesses children, students and adults facing challenges in learning. Her email is lindsay@peergordonassociates.co.uk and her website is www.peergordonassociates.co.uk.

Gavin Reid is an international consultant and psychologist with consultancies in Canada, the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia. He was Visiting Professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada in the Department of Education and Counseling Psychology and Special Education in 2007 and 2010. He is Chair of the BDA accreditation board and an ambassador for the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre in the UK. He is also a consultant for the Child Enrichment Medical Centre in Dubai, the Centre for Child Evaluation and Teaching (CCET) in Kuwait and for the Institute of Child Education and Psychology Europe (ICEPE). He is a director of the Red Rose School for children with specific learning difficulties in St Annes on Sea, Lancashire, UK, and is a visiting educational psychologist to organisations and schools in Switzerland, the UK, the Middle East, Egypt and Canada. He was Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies (formerly Department of Special Education), Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh from 1991 to 2007. He has written 30 books on learning, motivation and dyslexia and lectured to thousands of professionals and parents in 80 countries. He has also had books published in Polish, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, French, Chinese and Slovak. He is an experienced teacher with over 10 years experience in the classroom and has held external examiner appointments at 18 universities worldwide for PhD and masters courses.

His email is gavinreid66@gmail.com and his website is www.drgavinreid.com.

Gilda Palti

This chapter will:

1. Review dyslexia in first and other languages
2. Review specific cognitive and linguistic advantages of bilingualism or multilingualism
3. Suggest introduction of these cognitive advantages in the educational provision for dyslexic pupils