Dyslexia Diagnosis Functions “Like a Horoscope”
This statement was made by Professor Julian Elliott, of Durham University, who argues that the dyslexia diagnosis functions “like a horoscope” with people picking and choosing symptoms that fit.
Self-educated dyslexic personal development blogger Lloyd Christie says Professor Julian Elliott’s remarks show that there is still work to be done in understanding Dyslexia and exploring the processing and learning style associated with it as well as identifying the difficulties students may encounter.
Many of the factors that can affect reading are overlooked in place of phonic’s and little to no attention is given to the inconsistencies, in our spelling system and how different readers mentally process “our not so phonetic spelling code.”
The processing style that is so often associated with and observed in dyslexic students has not been fully explored and defined within the spectrum of normal cognitive diversity and learning.
This processing style that is associated with dyslexia is hidden behind the word dyslexia,
We say things like The positive aspects of dyslexia, The gifts of dyslexic students, The dyslexic learning style etc, these references refer to aspects of cognition not actual dyslexia or difficulty with words.
Our problem now is that the word dyslexia has outgrown its usefulness, the word dyslexia was designed to refer to reading it means difficulty with words
The word dyslexia works when referring to general reading difficulty, but the term does not give us any additional information, The word dyslexia doesn’t tell us what the student’s individual difficulty is
Reading difficulties can range from an incomplete knowledge of phonics and a miss understanding of the phonetic code known as ( code confusion) to a difference in the students learning and processing style.
When referring to the students learning and processing style we leave the boundaries of the word dyslexia and we enter into the territory of the student’s cognitive processing style.
Our collective failure in dyslexia research has been our slowness in merging over 100 years of psychological cognitive observations with our knowledge of learning, literacy development and dyslexia. The psychological science is sound it just needs to be applied in a comparative manner, with dyslexia research.
We can understand Professor Julian Elliott’s, “Horoscope” comment, as an outsider, he is confused by how bloated the word dyslexia has become. What does it mean, and who does it apply to? Many people such as Julian see that the word dyslexia is being stretched outside of its definition.
Rudolf Berlin, one of the early originators of the term dyslexia, stated that if someone could find a more suitable term, one which might be more satisfactory from a physiological standpoint, then he would gladly agree to the change.
An alternative term such as ‘global processing’ does have educational value because the term refers to cognition, the student’s actual processing style
The term Global Processing is responsible for the higher critical thinking and creativity that surrounds and encapsulates dyslexia also known as analogical thinking
When we understand this analogic processing style we will better understand the difference and difficulties some students encounter in Literacy.
The Dyslexia Association and others allude to this global/analogic processing style in the descriptions and characteristics of dyslexic students:
. Big-picture thinking (holistic thinking)
. Problem-solving (thinking outside the box)
. Lateral thinking abilities
. An instinctive understanding of how things work (an aspect of holistic thinking)
. Originality
. Visual-spatial skills
Moving forward what we need now is a big p icture view of how the above characteristics express themselves in literacy and literacy development
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“Dyslexia Awareness: The Secret Phonic Lottery” is a creative masterpiece in dyslexia and neurodiversity research, not just a book but a catalyst for students, aiding dyslexic readers, educators, parents, and advocates alike.
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