Discourses of Difficulty, Difference, and Determination: a Case Study of Dyslexic Students in Higher Education

Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Teaching, Learning and Education

Year: 2025

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Discourses of Difficulty, Difference, and Determination: a Case Study of Dyslexic Students in Higher Education

James Moir

ABSTRACT:

This paper reports on a case study of the ways in which higher education students with dyslexia at a UK university discursively construct the condition in relation to their studies. The situation has improved for students with this condition in that there has been a recognition that it is not so much as disability or deficit but rather should be considered under the umbrella of neurodiversity. However, while this is the case, there is still some uncertainty in higher education about what this means in terms of practical support. Consequently, this study sought to examine some of the issues surrounding making reasonable adjustments for students with dyslexia and how these students view the support offered to them. Interviews were conducted with students as part of a wider study on the nature of support for those with dyslexia at a UK university. The data was analyzed through utilizing a discursive psychology approach in which three key inter-related themes emerged: (i) diagnoses and difficulties in which students provide narrative accounts of their dyslexia assessment; (ii) differences and deadlines in terms of seeking support but also of expressing a dilemma of not wishing to be considered as exploiting the condition with respect to assessment; and (iii) dissonance and determination in which students point to the dissonance between seeking support and being determined to succeed through their own determination

Keywords: Discursive, Dyslexia, Interviews, Psychology, Undergraduates