Dyslexia and Academic Life

Abstract

This chapter intends to discuss the experiences of university students with dyslexia and academic learning and assessment. It intends to challenge the traditional access to and production of examinations and to separate the ability to retrieve and produce verbal visual print from academic learning and performance in order to propose a model where educational systems join the fourth revolution. The intention is to address the brain drain that communities experience when students with Dyslexia are not able to show what they really know, due to possibly archaic access to and production of academic learning and assessment. The use of technology and independent access to printed material will also be discussed. The framework of this chapter is the Kannangara model of dyslexia: from Languishing to Thriving with Dyslexia. When reading this chapter, one also needs to remember that, whilst I refer to dyslexia, this profile more often than not co-occurs with other learning challenges and is often grouped with populations of Specific Learning Difficulties or Learning Disabilities in research and national data.

Exploring the views of students with dyslexia attending a third level college in Ireland

“…The inability to keep up has been linked to a lack of confidence in these students and, by providing an environment where all students are set up for success, could have a positive impact on well‐being (Riddick, 2010; O'Brien, 2019; Falzon, 2020). This may be addressed by an increased emphasis on multi‐sensory learning (including technology), providing extra time for tasks (or assessments) and, as mentioned, having prior access to lecture notes (Falzon, 2020).…”

“…Access to technology has been positively reported to successfully include students with dyslexia at college (Falzon, 2020). While this is the case, and in a digital age, access to technology for all students may be something to consider as a means of meaningfully including all children in their own learning (O'Brien, 2020).…”

“…While much of the research on the experiences of students with dyslexia have focused on the school‐age population, there has been a growing number of studies considering the views of such students attending college (Madriaga, 2007; Glazzard and Dale, 2012; Evans, 2013; Cameron and Billington, 2015; Falzon, 2020). Regarding the contested label of dyslexia, it has been found that many students at college were quite happy with the label (Cameron and Billington, 2015), and for some, it conferred some level of advantage as it helped them to understand their specific challenges (Evans, 2013).…”

“…Issues relating to confidence and self‐esteem for school‐age students with dyslexia feature strongly in the literature (Riddick, 2010; Novita, 2016; O'Brien, 2019) and these lower levels of self‐image are also relevant to college‐going students (Glazzard and Dale, 2012; Falzon, 2020). Such issues often result in students not completing their degree or indeed qualifying with a lesser qualification than they deserve (Falzon, 2020). The impact of dyslexic identity and how this can sometimes negatively affect later outcomes in life has also been documented by Armstrong and Humphrey (2008).…”

“…Due to the negative experiences reported at school (Riddick, 2010; Glazzard and Dale, 2012; O'Brien, 2019) it is not surprising that students with dyslexia at college may be quite reluctant to disclose their identity to other students (Madriaga, 2007; Evans, 2013). Some students reported that other students and staff may not understand the associated challenges of dyslexia, resulting in a decision to keep their identity private (Falzon, 2020; Madriaga, 2007). This important issue of understanding dyslexia is sometimes reported as a factor in student success (O'Brien, 2019).…”