Experts are calling on more training for teaching staff to identify and help youngsters with the reading disorder across Wearside and Durham.
It would cost up to £36million to train a teacher in each of Britain's primary schools to pick up the tell-tale signs of the condition that affects about 10 per cent of the population.
But cash shortages mean that youngsters are still being ignored.
Joyce Bee, senior teacher with the North East-based Dyslexia Institute, said: "There isn't the staff and it is really a funding issue. The level of training that is needed is expensive, but our view is that it is money well spent.
"If you can identify dyslexia earlier, you are giving a child a chance to be successful. That child may go on to have behavioural problems, fail to achieve and the cost to the nation of an undiagnosed dyslexic is much higher.
" Most authorities have someone in support services, but not in each school and it's not really followed up with effective teaching."
Elaine Bell's son, Matthew, was assessed as having profound dyslexia five years ago when he was seven.
Mum-of-four Elaine, a primary school teacher, has had to battle to get him support.
The 43-year-old, of Woodstone Village, near Fence Houses, waited years for Matthew to be assessed by Durham's education psychologists, before taking matters into her own hands.
She said: "A lot of the time these children are just bracketed as thick. His junior school did everything they could to help him, but I ended up waiting and waiting for the educational psychologists to see him."
She eventually took Matthew to be assessed at the Dyslexia Institute in Newcastle .
She said: "We had to fight all the way down the line to get this far. It shouldn't be like that."
Now at Park View School in Chester-le-Street, Matthew, whose dyslexia affects his short-term memory and basic maths, has come on.
His mum said: "His confidence has grown, he has got a lot better now. He has come on emotionally and they are catering to his needs."
She added: "I believe teachers coming through now are getting more training than the older generation. There is light at the end of the tunnel and there is help and support for parents."
Mrs Bee added: " It is so important that teachers have the information, support and resources to not only be able to recognise a child with dyslexia in the early years, but also how to support these children in the classroom."
The Dyslexia Institute is holding an open day at 6 Lambton Road, Jesmond, Newcastle, on Saturday, from 10am. For more details, tel. 291 8381.


Matthew's not alone in his battle

THESE celebrities have battled dyslexia to climb to the top of their profession.
Jamie Oliver – TV chef.
Albert Einstein – scientist.
Winston Churchill – Prime Minister.
Leonardo da Vinci – Renaissance artist.
John Lennon – Beatles.
Keira Knightley – British actress.
Richard Branson – entrepreneur.
Tom Cruise – actor.
Quentin Tarantino – film director.
Gwen Stefani – American singer.