ad1281logodefinitions of dyslexia

Part of my PhD research project - about dyslexia and academic confidence - is interested in your definition of dyslexia in a contemporary contextlink to more information
'contemporary context' - what does this mean?

My intention is for your 'ideal' definition to be framed according to your domain of functioning - that is, in terms of the way you apply your 'working' definition of dyslexia into your professional context. This is why there is an opportunity later in the questionnaire to describe your primary role.

My conjecture is that because dyslexia may have different, detail meanings depending on the domain of the user of the term, this may account for much of the difficulty in pinning down what dyslexia really means for the researcher.

For example, if you are an academic researcher, your 'working definition' of dyslexia may be different in detail from that of a primary school teacher or a disability needs assessor.


The idea is to choose definitions of dyslexia from the 'pot' on the right and drag them into the space on the left, to form an ordered list that indicates your view of them from 'most' to 'least' appropriate in the contemporary context (which for me, is in Higher Education). You can drag as many as you like although more than one would be helpful! As you drag definitions into your list, the space expands to accommodate them. Once in your list, you can drag the definitions up or down into higher or lower positions to match your professional judgment, or even back to the 'pot' if you change your mind about including them.

If you think that even the definition you place at the top of your list isn't exactly right, or perhaps you want to pick aspects of several definitions to blend together, there is a space below to write out a definition of your own if you wish. Forgive the definitions being absent of citations but I felt that knowing who wrote what, may influence your choices. When you send your list, this page will be replaced with a link to a full reference list to reveal the sources.
  • DYSLEXIA IS: a neuro-developmental disorder with a biological origin and behavioural signs which extend far beyond problems with the written language
  • DYSLEXIA IS: commonly understood as a myth, and may be regarded as merely a middleclass excuse for laziness
  • DYSLEXIA IS: a disorder manifested by difficulty in learning to read, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence and sociocultural opportunity, and is dependent on fundamental cognitive disabilities, frequently constitutional in origin
  • DYSLEXIA IS: a specific condition of primary constitutional reading difficulty which may occur electively and which, in its pure form, differs distinctively from other reading difficulties
  • DYSLEXIA IS: a combination of abilities and difficulties that affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling or writing and may have accompanying weaknesses in processing speed, short-term memory, organization and sequencing
  • DYSLEXIA IS: a developmental language disorder that involves deficits in phonological processing
  • DYSLEXIA IS: an experience that arises out of natural human diversity in a world where the early learning of literacy, of good personal organization and of fast working memory are mistakenly used as markers of intelligence
  • DYSLEXIA IS: a processing difference experienced by people of all ages, often characterized by difficulties in literacy, it can affect other cognitive areas such as memory, processing speed, time management, co-ordination and directional aspects
  • DYSLEXIA IS: a specific learning disability, neurological in origin, characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition, poor spelling and decoding abilities, typically resulting from a deficit in the phonological component of language
  • DYSLEXIA IS: a disturbance in certain linguistic functions when written language is decoded. It is expressed as difficulties in achieving an automized word recognition during reading, includes poor spelling, often runs in families and tends to persist

If you would like to provide a definition of dyslexia that you think is more appropriate than any of those above, here is the space to write it:

About you:
To help to contextualize your answers in terms of your professional or research interest in dyslexia, it would be helpful to know a little about you.
So from the list below, please choose a primary role that most closely matches your own:





Your location
It would also be very useful to know where you are based so please select a location from the list:





Thank you for your opinions and answers.

The page that replaces this one when you SEND your response will provide more information about this PhD project if you are interested,
including how to become involved.


phd research project: exploring the impact of dyslexia on academic confidence in a higher education context: middlesex university london
www.ad1281.uk