Article: Health: A wobble now means less work later: Dyslexia often goes undiagnosed in children until they are nine or ten. A new test could enable them to get help earlier, says Nigel Howard

Ellie Nicolson, aged nearly five, bites her lip in concentration as she stands blindfolded, one foot in front of the other, her arms outstretched. She balances for 30 seconds in front of a video camera which records the number and size of her wobbles.

It may look odd but Ellie's future, and that of thousands of other children, could be at stake. For this, exercise, in conjunction with several other simple tasks, can reveal whether a child is dyslexic and will need special help in the early years at school.

The balancing act was developed by a team of research psychologists, Angela Fawcett, Paul Dean, and Ellie's father Rod Nicolson, senior lecturer and head of the department at Sheffield ...

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