Is there anything that can’t be put down to a ‘condition’?

I suppose it is overstating the case to suggest that dyslexia is simply a term coined to assuage the disappointment of middle-class parents faced with offspring who are considerably thicker than they fondly imagined them to be. There was an interesting report a few years ago by Professor Joe Elliott of Durham University. He wrote: ‘On the basis of current research, there are no meaningful grounds to differentiate between so-called dyslexic and non-dyslexic poor readers. Genetics, neuroscience and cognitive science can help us better understand the underlying nature of reading disability, but they do not offer means to make a dyslexic/poor reader distinction.’

Well, quite. The dyslexia industry — by now substantial — is angry that a new emphasis on spelling, punctuation and syntax in exam marking is discriminating against this vulnerable, and I daresay vibrant, section of the school population. Perhaps it is. But simply to define a condition is not remotely to alter it.