he 6th conference of the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) was held in March 2004 on the campus of Warwick University. Over 900 delegates from 35 different countries met for 4 days to discuss advances in research and practice pertaining to all aspects of dyslexia, including how policy and best practice should be guided as a result of this increased scientific understanding.
Unlike most academic conferences, the BDA meeting provides a unique forum for interdisciplinary cross-talk between the different stakeholders within the dyslexia community rather than focusing exclusively on findings from empirical research. For the traditional special issues of the journal, I have therefore chosen articles that provide the most representative cross-section possible of the work presented at the conference. In practice, it is an impossible task to sample adequately from the 12 different conference themes in the space provided so I apologise in advance for the resultant gaps in the content of these two issues.
Special thanks should be given to everyone who offered their valuable time to review manuscripts for these issues, often under severe time constraints, and also to Angela Fawcett who provided editorial advice whenever it was needed.