Dyslexia Consultancy Malvern specialises in providing people with Learning Difficulties (those who have Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Attention Deficit Disorder) with advice and support. The organisation offers training, resources and consultancy for professionals.

The organisation has released a new series of booklets that can be used as guides by people working with prisoners who have Learning Difficulties. They take into account changes brought about by the 2019 Prison Reforms.

Booklets included in the series:

1. Resources for Specific Learning Difficulties
2. Overview of Specific Learning Difficulties
3. Principles of Support for Specific Learning Difficulties
4. Support for English / Literacy and Maths / Numeracy
5. Support for ICT and Virtual Campus
6. Support for Foreign Nationals
7. The Contexts of Disability / Equality / Diversity / Accessibility
8. Work Preparation and Resettlement

Users can also download a self-assessment audit sheet to be completed by a work team, which ensures that important aspects of accessibility promotion in prisons is not forgotten. Questions are designed to check whether staff are aware of important policies within the prison, such as whether they know and understand Mental Health and Learning Disability initiatives and whether proper processes are in place to assess learners’ support needs.

A PowerPoint presentation covering issues for consideration can also be downloaded.

The resources will be of use to anyone working in prisons or prison education provision.

You might also be interested in:

• Tech for good - unlocking a ‘needs led’ approach to Learning Difficulties and Disabilities in prisoners (blog) - discusses the prevalence of LDDs among the prison population and introduces the Do-IT Profiler - software that enables prisoners with LDDs to reach their full learning potential 
• European Prison Education Association Conference June 2019 - Past, Present & Future of Education in Prison (blog) - written by EPALE UK Ambassador Jasmine Miller, this blog post covers talking points at the conference, including mental health, Special Education Needs and the experiences of prisoners from ethnic minority backgrounds
• The Hardman Directory for prisoners and those recently released (resource) - free to download, this resource will help prisoners and the staff working with them to find adequate supplementary support and other kinds of financial support, ensuring they have the best chance of success on release 
• How to look after a multigenerational workforce (resource) - Beneden Health and HRZone have partnered to produce a wellbeing guide that discusses the needs to different generations and supports companies to provide health and wellbeing packages that benefit everyone