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lazy, defiant, no boundaries at home. These labels can become internalised, self-fulfilling prophecies, and arguably lead to even greater negative outcomes, both practical and perceptual, than those whose struggle is translated into dyslexia. Furthermore, they are less likely to receive the support they need.
Efforts to understand how dyslexics differ from others who struggle in similar areas reinforce the difficulty in untangling a complex interplay of factors. As the 2019 All Parliamentary Group for Dyslexia and Specific Learning Difficulties reported, “Whilst there may be some commonalities associated with dyslexia, each individual is likely to be different.” (Hodgson, Addington & Smith, 2019, p.7.) This understanding represents an important paradigm shift, a recognition of the inherent variability within all people – our unity in our diversity – and a move away from binary representations of normal/abnormal. This position was brought to public awareness as a result of the neurodiversity movement.
In academia, transdiagnostic (i.e. human) approaches are recognised as a better way of understanding strengths and needs (Astle, Holmes, Kievit & Gathercole, 2021). They embrace the complexities around interactive biopsychosocial development. In light of this, single diagnostic pathways founded upon a binary divide between The Norm and The Different, are understandably unstable, with increasing uncertainties around validity affecting diagnostic confidence.
“Consider whether it is ethically acceptable to sort students into differently labelled jars”
Inconsistent practices relating to diagnosis, including evidence that contextual factors such as socio-economic status can strongly influence the likelihood of receiving a diagnosis (Macdonald & Deacon, 2019) call the viability and utility of differential diagnoses into question.
In the current educational context, where access to support is often predicated on diagnosis, we must consider whether it is ethically acceptable to sort students into differently labelled jars – particularly if the goal we are striving for is the advancement of equity for all.
The question is: where do we go from here? In a blog post on a similar topic, written over a decade ago, developmental neuropsychologist Professor Dorothy Bishop noted that we seem to be “stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place”. What has perhaps shifted in the last decade is our faith in the norm. The proliferation of labels, and greater awareness of inherent variability, has brought ‘normal’ into the spotlight. As more children and young people are situated outside it, normal becomes the outlier.
Rather than highlighting how certain groups differ, we should recognise that we are all different. Support does not have to be better for any one group: it must be better for everyone. It is by ending our current concept of normal that we end the name game.
It is not in doubt that there are children and young people who have significant difficulties with certain ways of learning, but this should be recognised as normal. That is not to trivialise their needs, but bring them back into the realm of universals. From this position we see that “dyslexia is an experience that arises out of natural human diversity” (Cooper, 2006, p.24).
If we understand and appreciate “the vast natural differences that exist from one brain to another” (Armstrong, 2010, p.3), then no child requires a label to legitimise their unique strengths and needs. We can progress from focusing on the piecemeal adoption of isolated interventions. We can change how we conceptualise and deliver education to allow every child and young person to flourish. Then debates around “what’s in a name” can fade, replaced by a focus on how to ensure that the starting point for everyone’s education is an understanding of the individual.
A good place to start: “What’s your name?”
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