Wendy Cunnah University of Wales Swansea

The last twenty years have seen an unprecedented rise in the educationalopportunities available to students with special educational needs. Suchstudents who, until quite recently, were regarded as unsuitable for coursesin higher education are now finding their way into universities andcolleges in ever increasing numbers. Indeed, Gilroy and Miles (1996 : 27)comment that :

What is good news is that the whole scene for dyslexic students has alteredbeyond recognition over the last twenty years...There were about onehundred dyslexic students identified in British universities in 1981; in1995 about five thousand.

This paper examines the changes that have led to such an increase andevaluates their impact with reference to a case study which involved adyslexic PGCE history student. It further analyses the implications of suchchanges for history teaching and ITT in the future.