Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome this opportunity to speak on this important motion. It is very much something that is in the background, that a lot of people do not have a great knowledge of but which is debilitating as a disability for so many people. I am actually aware of a state member of parliament in Western Australia who is dyslexic and, from what I hear, that person is probably not the only one in the country who is in a parliament and is also dyslexic. I can only imagine what it must be like to struggle with it. So much of what we do is about reading and communicating and it must really be difficult for a person to have to work through the bread and butter of our profession, of our calling here, and to struggle with a disability such as dyslexia. To his credit, he is a most remarkable and excellent representative of his area, and so I really do pay tribute to him.

Dyslexia is something that I have heard of. Unfortunately I do not think that I have ever been approached by someone from the electorate who has said, 'I am dyslexic,' and has given me a personal perspective. But at least through this other member of parliament in the WA state parliament I have come to have a bit of an appreciation of just how difficult it can be. When you see someone that has risen and has been successful despite that disability, it really does say something about the character of people who have to cope with it and work with it.

It is right that it is recognised as a disability. That is good. Sometimes we wonder what more can be done, and I think that it is important that the member for Dawson has properly highlighted this disability. We are used to hearing a lot about disabilities in this place. There are some severe disabilities, and we all certainly have contact with our constituents who have been dealt a difficult set of cards with their lives and who have managed to work with, or have to live with, that disability. Again, as I said before, dyslexia is not one of those that someone has specifically approached me to talk about, but through this state member of parliament I do appreciate what a difficult circumstance it really is for people.

It is important that when we look at NAPLAN and at those assessments for children that we remember that, whilst there is a lot to be said for national testing, there are certainly limitations with that national testing. With dyslexia there are some supports provided. As I understand, readers are provided for those with dyslexia under NAPLAN. But at the same time there are challenges with those results, and I wonder whether they are properly appreciated and considered when school tables are attributed to the results that have come out of NAPLAN.

Given the fact that dyslexia is much more common than we would normally think, it is important that we look at the opportunities to help with pre-service training for teachers so that there is a greater appreciation to help teachers identify that maybe this is the problem with young Johnny or young Sarah in the classroom—maybe it is just something that has not been detected yet. So it is a good thing for teachers, as they start teaching, to be able to appreciate and identify that this is a far too common problem and a challenge for so many children in our country and that it would really be better if they could be identified earlier on and given the proper support required. Again, I appreciate the member for Dawson bringing this important motion forward and having the opportunity to contribute tonight on a very important issue that undermines the learning of so many children. (Time expired)

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