Inclusion for adults with dyslexia: examining the transition periods of a group of adults in England: ‘Clever is when you come to a brick wall and you have got to get over it without a ladder.’

Abstract

This paper draws on a naturalistic research study into the experiences of six adults with dyslexia, to examine issues arising from their past transitions from the context of compulsory and post‐16 education to the world of work and within their career trajectories. A discussion of literature and documentation in relation to dyslexia in adults is discussed, to place the findings in a theoretical background. The emerging themes discussed in this paper were extracted from the analysis of transcripts from in‐depth interviews, which illuminated the experiences of these individuals. The traditional English board game ‘Snakes and Ladders’ is proposed as a metaphor to illustrate how dyslexia has affected employment stability in the lives of these individuals and their employers. The implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations made, which inform stakeholders and policy‐makers in the inclusion and employment of adults with disabilities.

Professional development for specialist teachers and assessors of students with literacy difficulties/dyslexia: ‘to learn how to assess and support children with dyslexia’

“…Post‐educational support is particularly crucial as progression through employment is often problematic and support is often non‐existent. There is evidence that promotion is sometimes refused because of unsupported dyslexic difficulties (Bell, 2010; Griffiths, 2012). Specialist training is available in England at degree and postgraduate levels through public providers such as universities.…”

Participation and experiences of students with dyslexia in higher education: a literature review with an Australian focus

“…There is growing evidence that current identification practices are allowing some children to fall through the gaps and arrive in higher education without diagnosis or appropriate support strategies (Bell, 2010;Kirk, McLoughlin, & Reid, 2001;Madriaga, 2007;McLoughlin, 2001;Shapiro & Rich, 1999;Tanner, 2009). For example, Madriaga (2007) noted that of the 16 higher education students with dyslexia they interviewed for their study, only 3 had received a diagnosis prior to entry into further or higher education.…”

“…Most of these studies invited volunteers through the institution's disability service (Erskine & Seymour, 2005;Fuller et al, 2004Fuller et al, , 2010Griffin & Pollak, 2009), and one study (Bell, 2010) used a small convenience sample. None used a validated screening test to select the study sample from the broader student body.…”

“…Most of the student experience research in this area has been done in the UK and Europe (Bell, 2010;Griffin & Pollak, 2009;Madriaga, 2007;Mortimore & Crozier, 2006;Oga & Haron, 2012). Only one small Australian study (Tanner, 2009) was found, which did not look closely at higher education experiences.…”

Resilience strategies employed by teachers with dyslexia working at tertiary education

“…Data used from England were collected from an opportunist sample of adults with dyslexia. They comprised, in part, two transcriptions of interviews collected from interviews carried out as part of a parallel study of a group of adults with dyslexia who were no longer taking part in formal education (Bell, 2010). These two tertiary teachers were approached again and one extra interview was carried out in order to elucidate the format used in the Finnish study.…”