Eiko Todo says there are "thousands of children in Japan suffering from unrecognized dyslexia. Even after it is recognized, the children have practically no support from teachers, nor local education authorities."
She speaks with feeling, as her own son is dyslexic, and went without recognition of his condition for 16 years. In primary school, he had difficulty following orders and keeping rules. "These are the most important things in Japan," his mother said. "The other children told him he was weird; the teachers said he was lazy. He was really very bright, and used to come up with good ideas that he could not express well. We could not understand why he had so much difficulty acquiring writing skills, and later why he made so many mistakes in simple calculation when he could understand complex mathematical theories. We had a lot of trouble."
Two years ago, Eiko and her husband sent their son, then 16, to school in England. "He was then found to be dyslexic. Teachers there are expected to recognize dyslexia very early, in first-grade children. Parents can sue them if they miss any cases. Teachers are trained to give support through subtle intervention. My son has become very confident, is now in the second year of the sixth form preparing for his A-level exams, and is looking forward to going to one of the good universities. He is very artistic, and wants perhaps to work in design and environmental architecture."