Dyslexic children who get help when they are young can make dramatic progress in learning to read and write, according to a new study.

The report's authors warn that children who are left to cope alone fall further behind their classmates.

And it says parents can play a big part in helping their children.

A three-year-study by the Dyslexia Institute says it is easy to identify children with literacy difficulties at the age of seven and that they will benefit greatly from specialised teaching.

The institute is calling for more early intervention to help children with dyslexia and other literacy problems.

Poor provision

The research, which the organisation calls Spellit, involved comparing the success of different learning programmes.

Shirley Cramer, the chief executive of the Dyslexia Institute, said: "Surveys such as the Audit Commission have shown that the existing provision for children with special educational needs is poor.

"Education policy and practice need to be built on solid scientific evidence and the Spellit research shows that early, specialist intervention for children together with support and guidance for parents can make an important difference."

Dyslexic children experience difficulties reading and writing

One of the learning programmes tested was a system for parents to use at home with their children.

The researchers said this was effective, especially among those with less severe problems, and that it helped to improve children's self esteem too.

The mother of 10-year-old Oliver Waugh-Swain from Sheffield says the home support programme helped her son's reading a lot.

Gillian Waugh said: "Oliver has received great confidence and a mature understanding about himself and the world around.

"He now grabs words by the horns and goes for it! He attempts books and written pieces that before he would simply pass up."

The study said different approaches were successful with different children.

It compared the benefits of children having structured lessons twice a week for six months, to those from home lessons five nights a week for seven months, and then a combination of the two approaches.