Page 28 - SEN114 September/October 2021

Dyslexia
Time to stop playing
the name game?
Dr Jamie Galpin considers the issues around diagnosis, labels and being ‘normal’.
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Debates around the validity of diagnoses are not new, and few diagnoses have been more fiercely contested than dyslexia. Over fifty years ago, Davis and Cashdan highlighted why the term provides such potent fuel:
“where aetiologies [causes] are but imperfectly understood, and where methods of treatment are still a matter of argument, it is not surprising that controversy should rage over appropriate groupings of symptoms and the terminology most suitable for them.”
Despite improvements in methodology, and undoubted progress in our understanding of different needs, the causes for dyslexia are still imperfectly understood – and so debates continue. Typically, the focus is on the extent to which dyslexic individuals differ from non-dyslexics; whether their difficulties are discreet and sit within a clear category apart from other needs, or whether they represent an arbitrarily-defined section of continuously distributed skills.
“Few diagnoses have been more fiercely contested than dyslexia”
Unsurprisingly, such considerations are highly emotive. As they spill over from research into practice, participants become people. Findings have real-world implications in terms of access to support and self-esteem. However, the fevered focus on terminology may take attention away from what would be a far greater prize: systemic change that ensures all educational environments support students to flourish.
Advocacy groups work tirelessly to stand up for pupils who do not receive the support they require. A solid label provides a strong focal point. A soundly constructed, medically-defined
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