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Postsecondary Dyslexia Research and Training: Where are we now and where do we need to be?

By Manju Banerjee, Ph.D., and Linda Hecker, M.Ed.

Recent legislation at the state and federal level has revived attention on dyslexia, a specific language-based difficulty in acquiring and using language for reading and writing. The term “dyslexia” has come a long way since its early association with “word blindness,” a phrase coined by the German neurologist Adolf Kussamaul. This article highlights new legislation and research on dyslexia and its implications for postsecondary students with dyslexia. While early identification and intervention are critical (Snowling, 2013), it is equally important to recognize that many college-aged students with dyslexia will be left behind unless new legislation and research funding for dyslexia takes a life-span approach.

A brief historical overview sets the stage for the central argument of this article. Dyslexia is a sub-category under the umbrella term "learning disability" (LD), which was first coined by Samuel Kirk (1963) to describe students who seemed to be otherwise bright and intelligent, yet had tremendous difficulty in learning to read and write. Later, legal mandates in education (ESEA, 2001; IDEA, 2004) and advocacy by parents and disability groups led to increased awareness and understanding, and paved the way for special education services for students with dyslexia in public schools. In the early 1990s, dyslexia was the most common and widely recognized of all the categories of specific learning disabilities, and the largest subgroup among individuals with disabilities receiving services in public schools (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2015). Then a report on the State of LD by the National Center for Learning Disabilities (Cortiella & Horowitz, 2014) noted that starting in 2002, and later in 2006 in particular, the number of students with LD showed a sharp decline. The decline was estimated to be as high as 45 percent in some states. Reasons for this decrease in numbers are many (see 2014 NCLD report), but what is heartening is the renewed interest, coupled with groundbreaking discoveries in dyslexia research (e.g., Eicher & Gruen, 2013). These are helping to redefine our understanding of reading and writing challenges among students with dyslexia.

Today, dyslexia is identified as a "Specific Learning Disorder with Impairment in Reading" by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Undergirding this new focus on dyslexia are recent state laws recognizing dyslexia as a “unique disorder” (Youman & Mather, 2016), but unfortunately, the definition of a reading disorder continues to be vary across the states. So far, 28 states have adopted legislation, which ranges from responsibility for identifying and educating public school students with dyslexia to screening and teacher training.

Impetus at the federal level came on February 18, 2016, when President Obama signed into law the Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia Act (READ Act, H.R. 3033), earmarking five million dollars of National Science Foundation (NSF) funds for “ the early identification of children and students with dyslexia, professional development for teachers and administrators of students with dyslexia, curricula and educational tools needed for children with dyslexia, and implementation and scaling of successful models of dyslexia intervention.” A few years earlier, in 2014, the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology hosted a hearing on The Science of Dyslexia, sponsored by Lamar Smith, Chair, and Eddie Johnson, ranking member in House, both from Texas. Testifying presenters included neuroscientists Dr. Sally Shaywitz, Co-director, Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, and Dr. Guinevere Eden, Director, Center for the Study of Learning at Georgetown University, as well as, Dr. Peter Eden, President, Landmark College. Landmark College is internationally recognized as one of only two colleges in the U.S. exclusively serving students with LD (including dyslexia), ADHD, and college-capable ASD. These events are testimony to the growing attention now being directed to dyslexia legislation and research.

Dyslexia research addressing the needs of postsecondary students is still sparse, though recently NSF has funded several projects aimed at understanding the interaction of reading difficulties and access in online learning platforms (for example: DRL 1420198 - "Social Presence During Instructor Mediated Synchronous vs. Asynchronous On-line Course Discussions: A Study of Undergraduate Students with Disabilities Learning Statistics"). Given new and emerging understanding of neurodiversity and the neuroplasticity of the human brain, the spotlight on dyslexia must be addressed at multiple levels. However, individuals with dyslexia themselves must be at the center, guiding the inquiry. College students with dyslexia and their experiences with online learning, social media and social networks, and emerging mobile technologies are still misunderstood. The need for both discovery and applied dyslexia research with the college population is significant and important.

In a recent (2014) pilot study on adaptive online/blended learning at Landmark College, instructors/researchers learned that strategies for personalizing the reading experience by providing students with options (multiple means of representation) may be good in theory, but can pose a barrier in practice. Too many options create a barrier (information overload), with students feeling overwhelmed, experiencing multiple options for access as burdensome. As is evident from the neuroscience literature, information processing in the brain is both specialized and distributed, and individual variations in the way information is processed is too networked and complex to be defined by simple computer algorithms. The juxtaposition of technology with human instructor is still the preferred pedagogical practice. The key is to identify the best balance between technology and human facilitator.

Clearly, results from one small pilot should not be overgeneralized, but preliminary observations point to the need for greater understanding and research in these areas, with students of all ages (click here for more research findings on college students with LD). The Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT) is spearheading innovative research and professional training of educators and related professionals in LD research, based on the participatory design approach that puts college students at the center of focus on dyslexia. For instance, the Student Research Apprenticeship program at the college is an opportunity for college students with dyslexia to both participate in research and "job shadow" professional researchers at LCIRT. This semester-long program, initiated in Spring 2016, invites college students to be a part of a research team, share ideas, and be mentored in the research process.

Find out more (in the embedded links), if you and/or your students are interested in any of the research projects at LCIRT, participating in our webinar series, or in our online/blended courses on Universal Design: Technology Integration. The upcoming fourth course in the series, Applying Universal Design in eLearning Environments (April 23 – June 18) has been recently re-designed as a model of interactive engagement in online/blended learning. This course is different from in the past and includes five recognized educators who will share their individual and unique perspectives on universal design, emerging technologies, and online learning for students who learn differently

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References

Cortiella, C., & Horowitz, S. H. (2014). The state of learning disabilities: Facts, trends and emerging issues. New York: National Center for Learning Disabilities. 

Eicher, J. D., & Gruen, J. R. (2013). Imaging-genetics in dyslexia: Connecting risk genetic variants to brain neuroimaging and ultimately to reading impairments. Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, 110(3), 201–212. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymgme.2013.07.001

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known as the No Child Left Behind Act. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, (2001). Pub. L. No. 107-110, § 115, Stat. 1425 (2002).

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004).

Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia Act (READ Act). H.R. 3033 (2016).

Snowling, M. J. (2013). Early Identification and Interventions for Dyslexia: A Contemporary View. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 13(1), 7–14.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2015). Digest of Education Statistics, 2013 (No. NCES 2015-011).

Youman, M., & Mather, N. (2015). Dyslexia Laws in the USA: An Update. Perspectives on Language and Literacy. Retrieved from https://www.mspaonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Dyslexia_Laws_in_the_USA_An_Update-1.pdf

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