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The Struggles of Dyslexic Students Means Lower Grades

We have come a long way in the last couple of decades in recognising neurodiversity and invisible disabilities. However, students with dyslexia continue to experience problems. As a result, they are obtaining lower degree grades overall.

 

Dyslexic Students Increase, Grades Do Not

Around 5% of the present UK student body report having the invisible disability. This is not concerning in itself. What is concerning is the gap between their attainments and students who don’t have this particular type of neurodiversity. 40% of students achieve a first or a high second (2:1). Whereas for non-dyslexic students, that figure is 52%. Despite myths suggesting otherwise, dyslexia has no impact on a person’s intelligence.

 

Why Is This Happening?

It seems that despite several decades of advances in understanding the condition, too many faculty members don’t believe it even exists. It also seems that amongst those who accept the evidence for dyslexia, that students are making a false claim to the condition to gain an unfair advantage. While there may be some truth in false claims of dyslexia, there is no evidence that this is widespread. Even where universities are open to accepting diagnoses of dyslexia among students, the major problem and the reason for the gap between student grades is largely down to the concessions that are offered by each university department.

There is currently no set of standardised guidelines for teaching staff. There needs to be both awareness of the condition and education concerning specific needs for the students. Not that universities are fully to blame. It’s believed that many students begin university courses each year suspecting that they have dyslexia. Without the funding for an official diagnosis, some suggest that extra resources could be made available to universities to aid such students in understanding whether or not they have the condition including testing for neurodiversity.

 

What Concessions Do Dyslexic Students Receive?

Most universities offer extra time in exams and for coursework. Also, invigilators and those responsible for marking projects and essays are made aware and asked not to mark down the student for spelling, grammar, or poor presentation and formatting. These are helpful to most students, but it’s felt that such measures are inadequate – they focus too much on the outcomes and present no allowances for mitigation or before the work starts. Issues such as:

  • Allowing extra time for reading around a subject – perhaps in the form of worksheets ahead of lectures
  • Study notes either before or after a lecture as dyslexia also affects the ability to take notes and process information
  • Allowing tools for neurodiversity such as memory aids, as short-term memory is particularly problematic
  • Advice for self-organisation and assistance in structuring essays and projects. Dyslexics struggle to process such issues