1. Questioning the concept ofDyslexiaOlga Svobodova

2. WILL BE DISCUSSED Historical context of dyslexia Results of one study on dyslexia Why dyslexia is not a clinical entity How it can be understood instead? 3. HISTORYBefore the 20th century, medicine had a stranglehold on the explanation of learning difficulties:1878 Kussmaul - word blindness1887 Berlin dyslexia1900 Hinshelwood - patients with learning disabilities had a congenital defect in brain related to eyesight1925 Orton - first to recognise letter inversion in children with reading difficulties term strephosymbolia and developmental alexia were used for the first timeIn mid 30s, transition from a medical to an educational perspective:Educational and psychological researchRefining concepts of child developmentChange in teaching strategies for children with learning difficulties1936 Gillingham & Stillman different teaching method for children with learning difficulties, including those with dyslexia1968 Doman & Delacato experimental method consisted in catching up on missed neurological developmental stageEarly 80s revolution of thinking about dyslexia not a deficit but a difference1983 Gardner theory of multiple intelligences1989 Galaburda right hemisphere bigger in dyslexic children, but a normal variation of brain development, not a disorderFreed (1997), West (1997), Silverman (2002) dyslexia as result of a different way of learning visual learning style1996 Solity origin of childrens difficulties are to be seek outside the children, in their environmentToday, dyslexia is officially accepted as a category of learning difficulties. 4. OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS Definition is criticised for containing only vague exclusion criteria and not enough specificReflecting the World Federation ofinclusion criteria.Neurology definition, Benton (1975)noted that criteria for dyslexia andQuestions on the usefulness ofother LDs were vague andthe concept, and its definitionexclusionary. Children and adultsremain debated.could be identified with dyslexia orLD based on a reading problem, aneuropsychological deficit, softneurological signs, clumsiness,electrophysiological deficits, andeven behavior problems, reflectingthe historical origin of the conceptof LD in neurologically basedbehavioral difficulties epitomizedby the hyperactive child. (Rutter,1982) 5. DYSLEXIC? 6. STUDY SHOWED:(1) NO DOUBLE DISSOCIATION All dyslexic children had also another Scientific literature does notspecific disorderreport an isolated case of16 dyslexia.1412 In our study (Svobodova, 2007, final year10 thesis), we report the cases of 8 dyslexic children (N: 35), who Number of underwent thorough 6 dyslexic children 4 neuropsychological assessments. Analysis 2 revealed for each child the 0 signs of another specific disorder. 7. (2) THE DYSLEXIC READING MODE WAS OF THE SAMENATURE AS THE MODE ADOPTED FOR OTHER TASKS Example Characteristic problemsReading ADHD Problems with Not paying attention of child concentrationwhat is written Impulsivity Making prematureconclusions Reading too quickly Apraxic Generally unable to make Able to recognise separate child the right sequence ofletters, but not able to movements: assemble them into Making shoe laceswords Button the shirt Make guess on what is Problems with writingwrittenand drawing 8. AN ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONADHD writing samenessDysphasiaproblemsDyspraxia echolalia concentration Autisticspectrum aggressiveness impulsivity disorderPsychopathystereotypysleeping problemsInfantilepsychosis Dyslexia Note: The list of disorders and manifestations is not exhaustive, serves only for illustration. 9. SUMMARYFor respecting the two fundamental scientific criteria for acceptance of a newdisorder, the latter has to be:(1) distinguished from other disorders has to occur without other disorders, and(2) a unique ensemble of features which will caracterise it.It seems that dyslexia does not demonstrate neither of these two fundamentalcondition, per consequence it cannot be considered and studied as a disorder.Instead, we suggest, that dyslexia is a phenomenon belonging to a sociologicalexplanation, and might be understood in the context of the academic success/ failure. 10. INSPIRED BY Bachelard, G., (1938) La formation de lesprit scientifique: contribution unepsychanalyse de la connaissance objective. Paris: Librairie philosophique J. Vrin. Gagnepain, J., (1994) Leons dintroduction la thorie de la mdiation, Anthropo-logiques 5. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for your attention! Olga Svobodova, stud. n. 11793171, MSc RM Cog. Neuropsy. 2012/2013