“I’m not Stupid” - Attitudes Towards Adaptation Among People with Dyslexia

Berget, Gerd; Fagernes, Siri

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-91238-7_20

Cited by 7 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Gambrell [2] suggests avoiding labelling books as "easy", since such labels will negatively affect the choice of books. This finding is consistent with Berget and Fagernes [9], who reported that adults with dyslexia "felt stupid" if they were given books that were clearly modified for a smaller cohort and not targeted at the general population. Consequently, there is a need to consider how to develop and promote books that will ensure everyone access to age-appropriate and accessible literature, while at the same time not interfere with the intrinsic motivation to read.…”

Section: The Importance Of Reading "The Right Books"supporting

confidence: 90%

“…Further, they appear similar to other books since they are published at regular, well known publishing houses. Consequently, people will probably not feel stigmatized when reading these books, which is also an important motivational factor [1,2,9]. Further, the readers will find familiar authors and illustrators among these books, in which several have received recognized prizes.…”

Section: Rq2 Can Adapted Books Be Motivating To Read For All Types Of Readers?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accessible design typically appeals to a much smaller user group. In some cases, such books might not appeal to the intended user groups either, because people do not want to read the "special books" [2,9]. Nevertheless, the answer to RQ 3 seems to be that in a few cases, there might be a need for "special books" to ensure everyone access to literature.…”

Section: Rqmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Only as Special as Necessary: Adapted Books in a Universal Design Perspective

Berget

2021

Universal Design 2021: From Special to Mainstream Solutions

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Providing access to high quality books for all types of readers is a premise for cultural democracy. Many people, however, have challenges reading mainstream books. There might be diverse reasons why people find reading challenging. Some examples are reading impairments, reduced vision, cognitive impairments, learning a new language, or due to stress, fatigue or illness. To ensure everyone access to literature, it is therefore vital to produce books that can (and will) be read by a wide range of users. This case study addresses the following research questions: Do adapted books represent accessible or universal design? Can adapted books be perceived as motivating to read for all types of readers? Are “special books” necessary to ensure that all users have access to high quality literature? In Norway, the association Books for Everyone develops adapted, printed fictional books to accommodate various types of reading challenges. This paper examines the production of these books and uses this collection to investigate the research questions. The main finding is that most of the books by Books for Everyone can be considered examples of universal design, rather than “special books” directed at a very narrow user group. Moreover, there seems to be a limited need for “special books”, except for books targeting readers with severe cognitive or sensory impairments. By applying the universal design approach, fictional literature can potentially make books more accessible for all types of readers.

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Section: The Importance Of Reading "The Right Books"supporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Rq2 Can Adapted Books Be Motivating To Read For All Types Of Readers?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Rqmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Only as Special as Necessary: Adapted Books in a Universal Design Perspective

Berget

2021

Universal Design 2021: From Special to Mainstream Solutions

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“…Our participants mentioned being labelled as 'stupid', echoing Berget and Fagernes [5] and talked about negative experiences in school and in their personal lives due to their dyslexia. It was also clear that the global move online in 2020 had exacerbated the challenges they faced because they had even more passwords to deal with than usual.…”

Section: Reflection and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Accessible authentication: dyslexia and password strategies

Renaud

Johnson

Ophoff

2021

ICS

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reveal the lived experiences of dyslexics in engaging with all kinds of alphanumeric authentication mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach A significant proportion of the world’s population experiences some degree of dyslexia, which can lead to spelling, processing, sequencing and retention difficulties. Passwords, being essentially sequences of alphanumeric characters, make it likely that dyslexics will struggle with these, even more so than the rest of the population. Here, this study explores the difficulties people with dyslexia face, their general experiences with passwords, the coping strategies they use and the advice they can provide to developers and others who struggle with passwords. This paper collects empirical data through semi-structured interviews with 13 participants. Thematic analysis was used to provide an in-depth view of each participant’s experience. Findings The main contribution of this paper is to provide evidence related to the inaccessibility dimensions of passwords as an authentication mechanism, especially for dyslexics and to recommend a solution direction. Research limitations/implications There is a possible volunteer bias, as this study is dealing with self-reported data including historical and reflective elements and this paper is seeking information only from those with self-declared or diagnosed dyslexia. Furthermore, many expressed interest or curiosity in the relationship between dyslexia and password difficulties, for some a motivation for their participation. Finally, given that the participants told us that dyslexics might hide, it is possible that the experiences of those who do hide are different from those who chose to speak to us and thus were not hiding. Originality/value A few authors have written about the difficulties dyslexics face when it comes to passwords, but no one has asked dyslexics to tell them about their experiences. This paper fills that gap.

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“…It has been reported that people with disabilities might be sensitive to differential treatment from people without disabilities. For instance, students with dyslexia want to be perceived as reading books at the same level as others (Berget and Fagernes, 2018; Brante, 2013). Another issue relates to how to label and promote adapted books.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use and promotion of adapted books in Norwegian public libraries

Berget

2021

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

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Public libraries offer a large selection of books. For many library users, one of the highlights of the library visit is to explore this collection in search of interesting books that will provide enriching literary experiences. For some people, however, mainstream books might not be motivating to read, for instance, due to reading impairments, language challenges or inaccessible content. Consequently, most libraries also hold a collection of ‘special books’. In Norway, one example of such a collection is the books developed by the association Books for Everyone. This article explores the organization and promotion of adapted books in Norwegian libraries and is based on two datasets. The first dataset comprises the complete production by Books for Everyone, consisting of 232 titles. These books were examined to get an overview of the material commonly found in Norwegian public libraries, with a focus on the allocation of adaptation types and target groups. This dataset showed a diverse collection of books in six different categories. The majority was in the category ‘Easy to Read’, targeted at a broad variety of user groups. The second dataset consisted of survey data from 178 libraries regarding their organization and promotion of the Books for Everyone collection. The data revealed differences in how public libraries utilize these books, due to, for instance, a lack of knowledge about adapted books and potential target groups. Moreover, for many libraries, these books were regarded as ‘special books’ and were consequently not included in exhibitions or book talks. It may be necessary to pay more attention towards adapted literature in the library community and provide more knowledge about this literature among librarians. The overall purpose of this article is to provide some advice to librarians and other practitioners on how to deal with adapted books in a public library context.

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“I’m not Stupid” - Attitudes Towards Adaptation Among People with Dyslexia

Cited by 7 publications

References 26 publications

Only as Special as Necessary: Adapted Books in a Universal Design Perspective

Only as Special as Necessary: Adapted Books in a Universal Design Perspective

Accessible authentication: dyslexia and password strategies

The use and promotion of adapted books in Norwegian public libraries

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