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Dyslexia in coloured letters
Dyslexia

On reading, reflex and research

Could a simple exercise routine significantly improve the reading of dyslexic children? Angus Smyth caught up with Martin McPhillips to find out more about the technique.

18 February 2001

There is gentleness about Martin McPhillips. He leads me into his office where the pale-green walls are lined with photographs of children performing their routine of primary reflex movements. ‘They love it because it’s different from the cognitive tests to assess dyslexia,’ Martin smiles. His interest in dyslexia developed when he became a special needs teacher in 1980, and in the following years he studied for a BSc (Hons) in psychology at Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB). Nowadays he works for the Dyslexia Project, a joint study between QUB and the Fetal Behaviour Research Centre at the Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast.

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