**1. Introduction**

Icelandic legislation places emphasis on equal opportunities for all. Equal opportunities include equal access to education that is supported by an emphasis on inclusive education that was legalised in Iceland in 2008. The Act of Elementary Schools, from 2008, [1] states that all students have the right to receive suitable teaching and support. The 17th article of the act addresses students with special needs. The article states that students have the right to equal treatment and that their educational needs are to be met in public elementary schools, without exclusion, regardless of their physical or mental abilities. An inclusive school thereby addresses groups of students that in some way or the other may be at risk of not being able to participate fully in

learning, for example, due to lack of Icelandic language skills, disabilities, or poor social and economic conditions [2]. An inclusive school requires teachers and other staff to provide all students with the necessary support, to remove barriers in the learning environment, and thereby enable participation in education [3].

In this chapter, we present findings from a study that touches upon whether the objectives of providing suitable teaching and support, in accordance with inclusive education, have been achieved in the Icelandic school system in the case of dyslexic children. Dyslexia is a good example of a learning disability that has social and emotional consequences. According to international literature, poor academic performance and stigma associated with dyslexia may impact students' emotional well-being and have several social consequences that can in some cases follow the student into adulthood [4]. It is therefore important to identify the barriers that young people with dyslexia face, and to learn whether the provision of support at an early age can diminish the negative consequences of dyslexia on emotional well-being and educational attainment. In this study, special emphasis is placed on analysing the association between dyslexia and anxiety and learning whether dyslexic youth differ in their educational attainment compared to young people that have not been diagnosed with dyslexia. An emphasis is also placed on identifying differences in anxiety and educational attainment in those who were diagnosed with dyslexia at an early age and those who received a diagnostic after the age of 10.

The study will indicate how well the Icelandic school system conforms to the policy of inclusive education. It is of great importance to gain an increased understanding of how a dyslexia diagnostic is associated with anxiety and educational attainment, as the literature suggests that the way people cope with the learning difficulties, rather than the difficulties themselves, predicts how they will succeed in adult life [5].
