Motivating Students With Dyslexia: The Debilitating Effects of Normative Performance Goals on Their Physiological Arousal

Abstract

The present study tested the hypothesis that normative vs. non-normative performance goals would be associated with significantly divergent pathways in relation to both cognitive and emotional regulation. Participants were 16 college students with a diagnosis of dyslexia. Students were subjected to an experimental induction of normative and non-normative performance goals while engaged in reading pseudowords. Students’ EEG activation, EMG, and BVP were assessed during baseline, relaxation, and experimental conditions. Results indicated that the normative goal condition was associated with lower amplitudes in alpha and beta waves, suggesting the presence of a slow cortical disorder. Furthermore, EMG and HR variability were at higher levels during the normative goal condition, suggesting elevated levels of anxiety and stress. It is concluded that normative performance goals are associated with divergent regulatory mechanisms compared to non-normative performance goals, which are quite stressful for individuals with dyslexia.

Academic Coverage of Social Stressors Experienced by Disabled People: A Scoping Review

“…Other phrases used were: visually impaired people [184]; in the blind [185]; blind patient [186]; going blind [187]; people with disabilities [4,188,189]; individuals with disabilities [145,190]; wheelchair bound people [188]; those confined to wheelchairs [188]; wheelchair user [191,192]; persons with incomplete spinal cord injury [193]; children and adolescents with sickle cell [194,195]; students with dyslexia [196]; athletes with a disability [197]; working disabled population [198]; youth with chronic pain [199]; chronic disability [200]; the physically disabled [201]; persons with physical disabilities [202]; ado-lescents with intellectual disability [203]; people with mild intellectual disabilities [204]; and people with intellectual disabilities [205] and learning disabilities [206].…”

“…As to the origin of the stressor, the disability being the stressor was flagged in 14 abstracts [159,161,164,166,170,174,177,187,193,195,199,203,205,206], the social environment being the stressor in 17 abstracts [4,155,156,163,164,[178][179][180][181][182]186,188,189,192,[196][197][198], and the environment and the disability as stressors in four [168,172,190,191]. In 14 abstracts, it is not clear whether the stress was seen to be caused by the disability or the social environment or both [157,158,160,162,164,165,167,169,173,175,183,185,…”

“…As to the abstracts mentioning social stressors, the following were found: deaf acculturation stress [178,181]; normative performance goals [196]; less participation in leisure [198] and recreation [188]; psychological stress due to an inaccessible environment or too much traffic for a wheelchair user [192]; women with autism [155] and autistic individuals [156] camouflaging during dental care [189]; and treatment stress (retina implant) [186]. Highstress jobs with high demand and low control were seen as a big problem for hearingimpaired workers [182].…”

“…Only 52 of the 1809 abstracts with strategies 1a-d covered stressors experienced by disabled people. Within these 52 abstracts, the 'disability' was identified in 14 abstracts as the stressor [159,161,164,166,170,174,177,187,193,195,199,203,205,206] and the social environment in 17 abstracts [4,155,156,163,164,[178][179][180][181][182]186,188,189,192,[196][197][198]. Four studies flagged the social environment and the 'disability' as stressors [168,172,190,191].…”

Increasing the reading ability of a student with dyslexia in elementary school: an explanatory case study by using family support, remedial teaching, and multisensory method

“…One of the methods is the use of assessments based on the Diagnostic Statistical Manual V (DSM V) criteria. This approach can aid in determining the presence and severity of dyslexia, as well as help inform appropriate interventions and support (Lazzaro et al, 2021;Sümer Dodur and Altindağ Kumaş, 2021;Alkhadim, 2022). Dyslexia is a term used to describe a pattern of learning difficulties that includes challenges with reading, poor decoding skills, and weak spelling abilities.…”