Dore has arrived in South Africa

Well, it's arrived, as I knew it would (well, it's actually been here since 2006, just did not know about it). It's the Dore therapy programme for developmental disabilities. I've no personal experience of it, but I can read and I've also followed the exposés about it in several blogs, especially Ben Goldacre's Bad Science. Its rationale is unproven and there is no plausible evidence for its effectiveness.

Educational fads from America and Britain inevitably land up in South Africa (and it seems Australia). With every successive unproven fad the education system becomes more dysfunctional and more learners need therapy. We seem to have a symbiotic relationship between imported educational fads on the one hand and imported bullshit therapies on the other. Maybe the one causes the other. And yes, I know about correlation and causation.

Well, having got that off my chest, let's get back to Dore.

The Dore programme purports to treat dyslexia and other developmental disorders. It was founded by paint tycoon Wynford Dore and is based on theories on the involvement of the cerebellum in the learning process. Note that the independence of the authors of this article linked to, Nicolson and Fawcett, have been questioned - see the second link at the end of this post.

In Britain Dore was characterised by aggressive, celebrity based marketing and the bad habit of threatening critics with legal action. It was very expensive and typically required upfront payment from parents. I'm using the past tense because Dore has gone into legal administration in Britain, Australia and the USA.

Strangely enough, the South African Dore website is silent about the problems its international partners are experiencing. Where does that leave desperate parents in South Africa who may wish to consider Dore? I would suggest doing the following:

First, check the evidence, or rather lack thereof.

Should you still wish to continue, ask about their future in South Africa.

Do not agree to make upfront payments (it costs R23 000,00 for a treatment course). Let the risk be theirs, not yours.

Hold them responsible for progress, don't fall the age old scam: "Its not working because you do not have faith or are not working hard enough at it".

Here are links from various blogs and newspaper articles on Dore:

South Africa: Learning Disorder 'Miracle Cure' in Spotlight
Scientists quit in dyslexia "cure" row
Dore - The miracle cure for dyslexia
Dore - The media's miracle cure for dyslexia
Blogs vs mainstream media
Dore - The vultures start to circle
Dore shut