Dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties (SpLDs)

1. Dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties (SpLDs) How SpLDs affect students in HE

2. Overview • What are specific learning difficulties? • How do SpLDs affect students in HE? • What support is available? • Disabled Students’ Allowance • Contact details

3. What are specific learning difficulties? • Dyslexia • Dyspraxia • Dyscalculia • ADHD

4. Dyslexia • Working Memory Difficulties • Sequencing Difficulties • Differences between oral and written abilities • Difficulties processing language • Poor general organisation • Lack of automaticity

5. Strengths • Different way of thinking • Different set of skills (West) • Good powers of visualisation • Creative thinking • Range of artistic skills • Holistic rather than analytical approaches

6. Dyspraxia • Motor co-ordination difficulties • Poorly formed, slow handwriting • Organisation and concentration difficulties • Perception and spatial difficulties

7. Dyscalculia • Difficulty in understanding simple number concepts • Difficulty learning number facts and procedures • Telling the time, calculating prices, handling change.

8. ADD • Attention Deficit Disorder • Affects attention and concentration • Hyperactivity • Impulsivity • 67% children diagnosed with ADD continue to experience some symptoms in adulthood

9. Challenges in HE • Reading – speed and comprehension • Writing – poor organisation of ideas; weak sentence structure; weak punctuation, and grammar; poor handwriting

10. Challenges in HE (2) • Spelling – mixing up letters; homophone confusion; lack of sound/symbol correspondence • Slow speed of processing – all aspects of study can be very time consuming; lack of concentration • Memory – affects reading comprehension; structuring ideas; learning new terminology; need for over learning

11. Challenges in HE (3) • Sequencing – words/letters; ideas; numbers; images • Speech – word retrieval; pronunciation of multi-syllable words • Organisational difficulties; personal organisation; time management; direction • Emotional effects - low self-esteem; lack of confidence; history of criticism

12. Reading and Vision • Visual perceptual difficulties; blurring of text; distortions; black and white • Often co-exist with dyslexia and/or other SpLDs • Coloured overlays and lenses

13. How academic schools can help • Photocopies of lecture notes/presentations in advance or notes or on blackboard • Allowing students to record lectures • Prioritised reading lists • Key words to help with note-taking and web searches • ‘Dyslexia friendly’ handouts – colour/font/size • Written instructions as well as oral

14. How LDC can help • Screening – interview and computer assessment • Full assessment – test battery • Overlay assessments • Recommendations for special examination arrangements such as extra time

15. How LDC can help (2) • Individual academic study skills tutorials • Reading students’ work aloud; help with editing skills • Help with application for the Disabled Students’ Allowance

16. Disabled Students Allowance • Many UK undergraduates and postgraduates are eligible to apply • NHS Student Grants Unit or Local Authorities • Funding for academic skills tutorials • Specialised software and other technological aids

17. Contact details Learning Differences Centre 11-12 University Crescent Moving to 45 University Road, Highfield 023 8059 2759 (internal 22759) dyslexia@soton.ac.uk www.soton.ac.uk/studentsupport/ldc