WHEN she first opened the Swindon Dyslexia Centre, Maria Chivers' main aim was to help people.

In the past 10 years, she has helped countless numbers of children and adults in the town to combat the problems of dyslexia.

But when she started getting phone calls from people further afield, she was worried she could not do anything to help others outside Swindon.

Now, with the widespread use of the internet, Mrs Chivers has the answer. She has founded a website, DyslexiaA2Z, to give people access to the kind of information which can help them cope with the condition.

"We have helped thousands of people over the years come to terms with the problems they face because of dyslexia," said Mrs Chivers.

"But lots of people were ringing us up from all over the country asking us where they could find a teacher to help their children learn to cope with dyslexia.

"I was spending a lot of time answering the phone to these people and then not knowing what to tell them. I felt as though I wasn't doing anything to help."

The final straw came when Mrs Chivers received a call from someone from the Isle of Wight whose daughter seemed to be suffering with dyslexia.

"The mother of this girl just didn't know what to do," she said.

"She suspected she was dyslexic but had no idea where to get a teacher or have her daughter tested. She was so desperate that she was willing to come to Swindon to get help.

"I went home that night and said to my husband that there had to be someway we could help these people."

Mrs Chivers, of Haydon Wick, knows well the frustration people face when they or their children have dyslexia. She decided to set up the Dyslexia Centre after struggling to find adequate help for her two sons, Mark and Jeremy, who both suffer from the problem.

"The website has been hugely successful since it was set up a couple of months ago," she said. "It has had thousands of hits and hopefully people are using it to find information.

"Already I have had lots of feedback from parents who have used the website to try and find the answer to their children's dyslexia."

For many years, children who suffered from dyslexia were branded as stupid and lazy.

Although it has now been recognised as an actual medical condition, there are still those who refuse to accept it as a problem.

Research into the problem is still in its infancy. As a result of this, there are many different ideas on how it is best treated, and controversy over the different treatments.

Mrs Chivers knows that parents who are desperate to help their children are willing to try anything.

She said: "The website has information about things like vitamins and supplements which have been known to work in some cases.

"There is also information on things such as psychologists, development therapists, and other ways of combating dyslexia.

"Not all of these treatments will work for everyone, which is why some organisations might be less willing to suggest them as treatments until more research has been done."

Information on the Net for parents and sufferers

THE dyslexia website has been immensely popular during its short history.

The site www.dyslexiaa2z.com features a variety of information on dyslexia and methods of treatment.

One of the links on the website explains what dyslexia is. Founder Maria Chivers said: "One of the best definitions of dyslexia I have heard is by a Dr Cullis. He said 'Dyslexia means having difficulty with words in reading, spelling and writing in spite of having normal intelligence and ability'."

This is one of the main features of the website. It stresses the fact that people with dyslexia are neither stupid nor slow.

Mrs Chivers explains that while dyslexics may have problems with reading, writing, number work, or short term memory, it does not mean they are below average intelligence.

She said: "These difficulties often result in great frustration, bearing in mind that dyslexics are of high or above average intelligence.

"Many children with dyslexia are extremely bright in lots of ways, always talking and asking questions and yet they do not seem to reach their full potential."

Designed on a blue background, with purple and white writing, the website has also been designed to be 'friendly to the eyes' a concept which dyslexics will be familiar with.

"Often children use different coloured overlays on top of a piece of black writing on a white background. Once they use the coloured overlays, they say the words stop jumping around," said Mrs Chivers. "Because of this we decided to design the website with this in mind and created it with colours which would make it easier for dyslexics to read."

Young film maker wins top prize in animation contest

ASPIRING film maker Dominic Juggins won first prize in a national competition for an animated film he made about the letter D.

King William Street Church of England School pupil Dominic, 10, won the As I See It competition, which has been staged for 20 years and is run exclusively for people who suffer from dyslexia.

Although he is dyslexic, which causes him a number of problems, Dominic delighted the judges with a two-minute animated film he created using his digital camera and his father's computer.

He collected his prize of £200 from olympic swimmer Duncan Goodhew and novelist Ken Follet who are both dyslexic themselves.

His dad Mike, who is also dyslexic, said he was incredibly proud to see his son collect his award at the Special Needs Exhibition at the London Business Design Centre.

"I used to work for a multi-media unit, so I have some idea about films and the kind of thing which Dominic decided to make," he said.

"When I saw his film I could see it was pretty good and I had a fair idea that it was going to do well, but I obviously didn't tell him that.

"When he finally found out that he had won the first prize his face lit up.

"He was absolutely overjoyed."

Dominic's film, based around the letter D, is described by his father as complete visual mayhem.

It starts off with the camera zooming in on a Plasticine model of the letter D.

It is then picked up and taken away with a truck and circled with pool balls.

"The effect is brilliant," said Mr Juggins.

"There is no real narrative to the story, but it is a really good piece of film."