Joanne Jacobs points us to a couple of authors who believe that dyslexia is rapidly becoming trivialized by people who don't want to work hard - or who are handicapped only by ineffective educational programs.
First up is James Panton, who insists that our lowered standards for academic excellence and increased tolerance of disability labels go hand-in-hand:
In secondary education and at many universities, we place decreasing emphasis on reading books or writing essays, so perhaps we should not be surprised that a number of even the brightest students display weak literacy skills. But the tendency to label these students 'dyslexic' trivialises the experience of those who really suffer from a serious learning disability, and leads to excessive demands on special recourses.
However, the expansive use of the dyslexic label has a far more serious impact upon the educational climate within the university. Our preparedness to define a broad range of students as having special needs encourages a climate of special pleading, and lowers students' expectations of themselves. The hours spent reading books in the library, and the effort required to organise thoughts and ideas into a written argument, can be difficult, but struggling with these difficulties is an essential part of higher education. By labelling students who find such challenges particularly onerous as 'dyslexic', we encourage them to understand these challenges as beyond them. Rather than learning from their mistakes, and being encouraged to overcome their weaknesses, the label 'dyslexia' provides a readymade excuse for poor work.
This commentary at first upset Liz Ditz, until she reconsidered:
At first I raised my hackles, and then I reconsidered. I think he's on to something. There's something about "special" and "victim" running around both American and British culture that is undefinably there.
And let us not, in the American case, overlook the damage caused by whole language reading instruction. I believe that there are a lot of borderline cases--kids who need explicit, direct, structured instruction in the relationship between sound and symbol--but who are not truly dyslexic and don't need nine yards.
All I know is that the number of examinees (on tests such as the SAT) requesting testing accommodations has skyrocketed lately, and that's not because there's a whole lot more examinees in wheelchairs showing up. The most popular request for accommodations is extra time for a learning disability, and there's evidence to suggest that affluent parents are more likely to push for these "boutique diagnoses."
I don't think I've ever encouraged readers to go back and read everything I've written on a topic, but if you've never read anything of mine that concerns test time, accommodated tests, and bias, I urge you to start with the link above and do so (and don't skip the comments). I think it will be well worth your time.
Posted by kswygert at August 10, 2004 12:59 PM