Sir Jackie Stewart, the president of the new charity

Dyslexia Scotland is being formed by the merger of the Scottish Dyslexia Trust and Dyslexia in Scotland.

The condition is usually associated with difficulties in reading, writing and spelling.

The charity's president, former F1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart, said he thought he was "thick" at school before discovering he was dyslexic.

Sir Jackie said "word blindness" meant he had to race to keep up with other pupils.

"The whole idea is to try and ensure we train our teachers in Scotland better and hopefully one day we will have a teacher who specialises in learning disabilities, or learning differences, in every primary school.

I thought I was just stupid, dumb or thick because I couldn't spell or read like other people Sir Jackie Stewart Dyslexia sufferer

"Early diagnosis is the biggest and most important thing you can get to help a young person."

He added: "In my particular case I didn't get diagnosed until I was 42. When our two sons went to a new school they announced the boys were not capable of keeping up with the rest of the pupils and we might have to move them.

"They had to be assessed and Paul and Mark were both assessed as dyslexics.

"At the same time I told them I didn't know what dyslexia was but I was sure they would be OK because I wasn't good at school either."

Money pledges

The racing hero continued: "That very day, at the age of 42, was like I was saved from drowning. I was told the reason for my stupidness.

"I thought I was just stupid, dumb or thick because I couldn't spell or read like other people. In those days dyslexia wasn't something that got identified in many schools."

Sir Jackie has pledged �50,000 to the new charity to help all youngsters and adults - thought to be about 500,000 - with dyslexia to develop their potential.

At the charity's launch at Holyrood, First Minister Jack McConnell pledged �100,000 funding over two years for the charity to work with schools to develop best practice on supporting dyslexic children.