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Talk;Higher Ed

Friday stream 6 Session 11.35 - 12.50 Length 25 minutes

Assessment of the functional needs of dyslexic students in Higher Education

Marion Farmer , Barbara Riddick and Christopher Sterling

(1) University of Northumbria (2) University of Sunderland, (3) University of the South Bank. marion.farmer@unn.ac.uk

Abstract

Currently there is little research into the functioning of dyslexic students in higher education and there is little knowledge of the ways in which their profiles of strengths and weaknesses in relation to the functional demands of their courses can be determined. This study aimed to investigate a key aspect of functioning for many students : the ability to produce written work. Several aspects of the skills and processes involved in the production of written work were assessed in a group of university students with dyslexia from a variety of disciplines and a control group of students, in order to clarify the nature of the functional difficulties of dyslexic students when performing academic tasks. Writing speed , written reproduction of sentences, spelling, punctuation, sentence construction, vocabulary use, proof-reading, and essay writing by hand or using a word processor were compared. The strengths and weaknesses of the two groups are identified and compared and related to assessments of severity of dyslexia, writing self-efficacy and writing self concept. The results of these comparisons will be discussed in relation the assessment of the needs of dyslexic students.