Recently identified university students navigate dyslexia
Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education
ISSN: 2050-7003
Article publication date: 9 April 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to capture students’ understandings of dyslexia as a component of identity. Specifically, the journey that students embarked on in order to contribute to self-understanding of learning and how dyslexia contributes to these experiences was examined.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative case study explored concepts of social identity theory, how students understood their dyslexia and whether or not labelling theory informed students’ identities through an arts-based phenomenological lens. Eight university students participated in a brief survey, a semi-structured interview and created artefacts representing their dyslexia, which facilitated dialogue about their individual experiences in a higher education context.
Findings
Interpretive phenomenological analysis revealed that student participants associated strongly with the identity of dyslexia; however they did not consider themselves to be part of a dyslexic group. They also discussed different routes that informed their decisions to undergo diagnostic assessments for dyslexia. Students did not report dyslexia identity as a label. Nonetheless, the students expressed that creating an artefact supported them to better understand and communicate their dyslexia.
Originality/value
Although visual methods are increasingly prevalent in educational research, they are not typical in the field of dyslexia in higher education. This research therefore engaged students in active self-reflection which provided valuable insight into the nature and diversity of the experiences that can emerge from identification of dyslexia at university.
Keywords
Citation
Loveland-Armour, L.A. (2018), "Recently identified university students navigate dyslexia", Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 170-181. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-04-2017-0033
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited