WELSH rugby legend Scott Quinnell has visited a Sale school to talk about his battle with dyslexia.

The 19-stone former British Lion and Welsh captain held a conference at Ashton-on-Mersey School to explain how the radical DORE programme helped him to tackle his dyslexia.

The 34-year-old has suffered with the condition since school, his two children Lucy, 11, and Steele, nine, are also dyslexic and have joined their dad on the programme which is a drug free treatment that uses simple exercises to stimulate an area of the brain called the cerebellum.

The Mighty Quinn said: "I hated school, I wasn't into the educational side of life, my teachers would call me thick, lazy and stupid. The education system gave up on me and I gave up on it.

"I spent all my time in the gym and fell back on rugby, but I had very low esteem - it throws you really. I struggled with my reading and writing, I had to get my wife Nicola to do my autographs.

"I signed up to DORE after a recommendation from fellow rugby star and dyslexic sufferer Kenny Logan. I didn't want my children to suffer at school like I did and they came on the programme with me, the change has been enormous.

"My confidence and esteem has shot up. My children who were struggling at school before are now doing incredibly well, their reading ages have shot up, they don't need nagging to do their homework, they just love doing it now and enjoy school which they should do at that age."

Scott hopes talking to people will inspire confidence in those who suffer from the condition.

He added: "It would be wonderful to go out there and make a difference to someone's life, to tell people who suffer realise they are not the only ones with a learning difficulty and that they should stand up to the problem and be honest with themselves."

Dyslexia affects up to a million British school children and 1.2 million adult workers.