3 ms·

The debate seems to be around whether the word dyslexia should be used, but the condition --- however named --- exists anyway. The proposed phrase "struggling w

• topkai22 6y ago
  The article is talking about two things simultaneously that really need should be talked about separately, or at least in order- the technical criteria for diagnosing an learning disability and the policy response to it. It might be that any reading difficulty, whether it is someone who test to a high IQ reading below expectation or just generalized below grade level, has the same cause/treatment. It doesn't make it any less important to identify, treat, and accommodate it. This article talks about some specific, strong policy responses that sound unique to the UK and are very expensive. In the US, a family member was diagnosed with dyslexia in early high school and all that was provided was 30% more time on tests. And you know what? It was enough to let him significantly increase his grades. In his advanced classes he'd consistently been the only person in his class to not finish timed tests, not because he didn't know the material but because he was a slower reader (and writer) than the rest of the class. The article seems to want to do away with the diagnosis of "dyslexia" entirely, because it has lead to inequities in the past, rather than revamp it to be more inclusive of general reading comprehension issues. That seems wrong to me. Dyslexia and other educational disability diagnoses provide a "cheat sheet" for more individualized education and have value. That it is more a symptom than a disease in and of itself doesn't make it any less real for people afflicted. The exact policy response (special schools, extra tutoring, or just extra time on tests) are far more debatable, especially given the limited resources of any educational system. I wish the article had given more thought to it not being an all or nothing change. I really like powersnail's comparisons to physical ailments. We understand that many causes may lead to a single symptom- for example, being wheelchair bound. Yet that symptom is real and worthy of accommodation.
• betterunix2 6y ago
  "the condition --- however named --- exists anyway" "Even words he had to write daily (being a teacher and all), he couldn't spell with high accuracy." It is not clear to me what that "condition" would mean in China, where "spelling" is not an issue (or at least has a completely different meaning than it does in English) and where it is relatively common for people to be able to read characters but fail to remember how to write them. It is also unclear to me how anyone could have a "condition" in which they struggle to spell if we did not have arbitrary spelling conventions i.e. if we used a purely phonetic writing system. None of this is to say that there is no truly "universal" concept of dyslexia i.e. a neurological difficulty involving difficulty connecting symbols to meaning. In fact this article suggests that such a thing does exist and can be observed across various writing systems: https://dyslexiaida.org/the-myths-and-truths-of-dyslexia/ https://dyslexiaida.org/the-myths-and-truths-of-dyslexia/ A telling sentence from the conclusion: "It is important to note, however, that prevalence rate is highly sensitive to the criteria used to define dyslexia..." I would argue that a "true" medical/psychological condition should not be so dependent on specific cultural practices like spelling rules.
  • powersnail 6y ago
    > It is not clear to me what that "condition" would mean in China If you said so because I'm Chinese and you wonder what I meant, in this specific example, I'm talking about a British person writing English. You know, a good number of people in China also write English all the time. ;) With regards to Chinese characters, not only do people forget how to write characters sometimes, but also some people do have problems recognizing mis-written characters, e.g. a missing stroke, an extra stroke, etc. > It is also unclear to me how anyone could have a "condition" in which they struggle to spell if we did not have arbitrary spelling conventions. I agree, if hypothetically there is only one way to pronounce words, and only one way to spell a syllable, this would be less of a problem, as the person can deduce the correct spelling if memory fails. There are still other factors, like speed and error rate, that the hypothetical language might not solve. Although, I imagine it would be hard to replace the natural languages in human society at this point. > I would argue that a "true" medical/psychological condition should not be so dependent on specific cultural practices like spelling rules. If the actual cause of the condition is triggered by a specific cultural practice, I don't see why the condition cannot be referring to such practice. It would be similar to how when a condition is caused by occupational practices, its medical description will refer to the occupational practices. At this point, we don't have a universal definition dyslexia, and I don't think that's because the is cultural specific, but simply that we don't know what's happening. Our recognition of the condition is quite superficial, and even within a single language, a universal and precise definition has not yet been contrived.
• Clownfused 6y ago
  Dyslexia is in part difficulty in decoding (reading) words. Dysgraphia is difficulty in encoding (spelling) words. They aren't mutually exclusive.