Despite intense public debate about youth violence, a literacy specialist warned on Friday that one potential contributing factor is being overlooked – undiagnosed dyslexia.

Joy Sharon warned that failure to identify and support young people with dyslexia is contributing to an alarming trend in youth offending, with calls for urgent research and reform amid mounting evidence of a link between low literacy and crime.

Undiagnosed dyslexia is being overlooked, as no research has been conducted here to examine dyslexia as a risk factor for crime, said the reading tutor and trainer, even though international studies show a strong link between literacy challenges and incarceration.

But the government’s chief crime researcher co