LTSN Engineering Disability Event Loughborough University 24th June 2003 Understanding Dyslexia

1

• LTSN Engineering Disability EventLoughborough
  University24th June 2003Understanding
  Dyslexia
• Judith Waterfield
• University of Plymouth

2

• Dyslexia - Historical Factors
• 1944 Education Act
• 11 Categories of handicap
• No mention of dyslexia
• 1972 Tizard Report
• Children with Specific Reading Difficulties
• We are highly sceptical of the view that a
  syndrome of developmental dyslexia
• with a specific underlying cause and specific
  symptoms has been identified

3

• help during this time was only available under
  the category of Educationally Sub Normal i.e.
  those children who were unable to read were
  intellectually subnormal
• Children with dyslexia were misplaced into
  special schools
• 1975 Bullock Report
• Still failed to name dyslexia as a condition
  requiring support
• Terminology specific reading retardation

4

• 1978 Warnock Report
• Authored the term Special Educational Needs
• Early identification
• Assessment
• Remediation
• Instead of the word dyslexia (categorisation) it
  recommended children with specific learning
  difficulties.

5

• 1978 Warnock Report
• Definition of a special need as a provision
• For help over those obstacles not
  encountered by everyone
• Warnock report was the principle behind 1981
  Education Act and profoundly changed the view of
  LEAs and the Government towards dyslexia
• Each LEA had to provide support for special
  educational needs

6

• 1981 Educational Reform Act
• The support based on psychological medical
  teaching and parental reports was and still is
  outlined in a Statement of Need
• varying levels of support across the country
• quality varied
• varying interpretations of the act

7

• 1988 Education Reform Act
• National Curriculum
• Now all children with a statement follow the same
  programme of study in core subjects
• Substantiates Warnocks beliefs of inclusion
  rather than exclusion
• Help provided in class but not necessarily
  specialist support

8

• Mature students will not have been screened at
  school and often do not realise they have
  dyslexia. This can be a shock or a relief. The
  way they are received in the first few months by
  University staff and peers can have a high impact
  on whether they complete their course of study
  and make the most of their time at University

9

• In the Minds Eye Visual Thinkers, Gifted People
  with Learning Difficulties, Computer Images and
  the Ironies of CreativityBy Thomas G. West
• Some of the most original thinkers in the
• physical sciences, engineering,
• mathematics, politics, literature and
• other areas, rely heavily on visual
• modes of thought, employing images
• instead of words or numbers.

10

• Some of these same thinkers have shown
• evidence of a striking range of learning
• problems including difficulties with
• reading, spelling, writing, calculation,
• speaking and memory.

11

• Visual and spatial modes of thought seem well
  suited to dealing with certain complex problems
  and are often closely associated with major
  creative achievements in the sciences as well as
  the arts

12

• After some four hundred to five hundred years of
  growth in a highly verbally oriented system of
  education and knowledge, we may be seeing the
  beginning of a new phase in which, in reverse
  fashion, certain kinds of complex information
  will be increasingly handled visually rather than
  verbally.

13

• Positive Aspects of Dyslexia
• Some individuals with dyslexia show particular
  talents in the fields of art, science,
  architecture and engineering which demand high
  level creative and visual skills.

14

• Strengths of Dyslexic Students
• West (97) outlines the following aspects of
  dyslexia which when utilised in the learning
  process can benefit the student and their peers
  in group work or shared presentations
• Good powers of visualisation
• Creative thinking skills
• Visuo-spatial skills
• A holistic rather than analytical approach
• Good practical and problem solving skills

15

• Differences Experienced by People with
• Dyslexia
• Poor short term or working memory
• Thinking processes may become blocked when
  writing or speaking
• May experience problems following directions
• Try to avoid writing in front of other people
  (e.g. writing cheques, notes, information)
• Remembering and making sense of what people say
  often ask for things to be repeated because they
  hear words but cannot make the link to meaning

16

• Often say the wrong word, or confuse words
• Finding words in dictionaries to look up spelling
  and meaning also memorising the alphabet an
  alphabet arc is a useful aid
• Miss small words when reading or listening to
  conversation therefore often do the opposite of
  what is expected or required
• Forget instructions

17

• May need to complete tasks in small stages too
  much information processing causes blocks
• Maintaining concentration become stressed,
  exhausted
• Feel frustrations which are worsened by the life
  story of their experiences i.e. you may
  experience the anger from others repeated action
  and response towards the dyslexic

18

• Need far more time to learn in the first place in
  order to achieve routine tasks with minimum
  attention to sub-skills
• May have weakness in visual, motor or auditory
  skills or processing difficulties in all these
  areas
• Experience lack of confidence, self worth
• Often non-assertive or over-assertive
• Miscue what people say.
• Often do not connect visual and verbal cues

19

• Key Features of Dyslexia in the
• Context of Higher Education
• What is meant by dyslexia?
• Dyslexia is a difficulty related to the
  understanding and usage of symbolic written
  language
• People with dyslexia people have problems with
  short term memory, sequencing and ordering

20

• In the study process it can invade
• Reading
• Word recognition, retrieval
• Difficulty with scanning
• Need to re-read over and over to make sense of
  retain
• Misreading words and facts
• Missing lines, losing place, re-read the same
  line
• Problems in finding facts, extracting relevant
  sections
• Rate of reading

21

• In the study process it can invade
• Memory
• Retaining information long enough to record
• Following instructions in practical sessions
• Forgetting information learnt (especially under
  stress and time constraint)
• Forgetting time, place, day for appointments
• Word retrieval in group/individual oral
  presentation

22

• In the study process it can invade
• Written Assignments
• Poor syntax
• Unable to see corrections
• Poor links in ideas, planning and structure
• Word retrieval
• Remembering and using specialist words
• Write less than their knowledge and understanding
• Immature expression

23

• In the study process it can invade
• Mathematics
• Problems in reading problems solving questions
  whilst able to understand the mathematical
  problem
• Can read the words but cannot make the
  connections to what is required
• Attach different meanings to the words which may
  have another meaning in a different context

24

• In the study process it can invade
• Mathematics
• Memory overload when the task is complex or in
  stages
• Sequencing is an important feature of any
  mathematical process
• Holding concepts in short term memory

25

• In the study process it can invade
• Spelling
• May restrain writing of creative thoughts
• Simple word use as a defence
• May affect how the tutor perceives the student
  and evaluates work
• Basic spelling rules forgotten or not applied
• Reversals, substitution, foreshortening, addition
  to words
• Dictionary problems

26

• In the study process it can invade
• Handwriting
• Letter slopes in different ways
• Slow, hampered by spelling and retention as well
  as motor difficulties
• May print to cover up
• Tire easily

27

• In the study process it can invade
• Vocabulary
• Take longer to acquire subject words and use in
  context
• High verbal skills and ideas which belie the
  quality of written work

28

• In the study process it can invade
• Examination
• All the above exacerbated under stress and timed
  conditions
• Memory problems affect performance
• Misread questions
• Poor presentation and spelling - often made worse
  by the withdrawal of use of word processors which
  causes handwriting to deteriorate

29

• In the study process it can invade
• Relationships
• Students forget meeting places, directions and
  time
• Take longer to write assignments, needing to do
  more rough drafts
• Spend long hours on the computer to finalise
  assignment
• Need more time to revise
• Get frustrated
• Feel worthless
• Lose confidence

30

• Exam Provision
• There is little research on the effects of extra
  time on the ability of university students with
  or without dyslexia, resulting in scepticism and
  anxiety regarding standards.
• Runyan (91) highlighted the controversy that
  still exists

31

• Exam Provision
• There are professors who believe that the
  accommodation of extra examination time for
  students with learning disabilities is unfair to
  normally achieving students. Others believe that
  students with learning disabilities need extra
  time only if the test requires a large amount of
  reading and that extra time is not necessary for
  math or other tests requiring limited reading.

32

• Exam Provision
• The research carried out by Runyan (91) offered
  evidence that
• Students with learning disabilities score
  significantly lower than their normally achieving
  peers under time constraints, but that there is
  not a significant difference between students
  with learning disabilities and normally achieving
  students under untimed conditions.
• Such evidence highlights the positive aspects of
  assessment by course work rather than examination

33

• Dyslexia .... Does raise questions about
  literacy and ability which are uncomfortable for
  a system devoted to the development and
  recognition of literacy skills and which often
  assess ability through written work

34

• Meares-Irlen Syndrome
• What to look for
• General Reading Characteristics
• Reads in dim light
• Skips words or lines
• Reading is slow and hesitant
• Reading deteriorates
• Poor reading comprehension
• Slow reading rate
• Inability to read continuously
• Misreads words
• Trouble tracking
• Avoids reading

35
Implications for Higher Education

• Are we assessing ability or the effects of
  disability
• Are the verbal skills the only ones to be valued
  highly - are we rewarding the wrong kinds of
  learning

36
Implications for Higher Education

• Some people who are best attuned to understanding
  complex problems may have difficulties at the
  lower levels of achievement
• Are conventional practices weeding out those who
  may have skills to offer our changing society and
  economy