‘’It takes me half a bottle of whisky to get through one of your assignments’’: Exploring one teacher educators personal experiences of dyslexia’

This article uses a life history approach to explore personal experiences of dyslexia of one higher education lecturer and its impact on her professional identity. The informant is currently employed as a lecturer of initial teacher training in a UK university. She worked as a primary school teacher for over a decade prior to embarking on an academic career in teacher education. The informant draws on her own experiences as a pupil, teacher and lecturer and additionally she presents accounts of student teachers with dyslexia drawn from her current professional context. Although the data is not generalisable, the account nevertheless illustrates the positive impact of the social model of disability for the informant and her students who had been identified as dyslexic during their in initial training as teachers. Additionally, the account also illustrates the ways in which teachers’ personal experiences of dyslexia can shape professional identities in very positive ways. Implications for both teacher training and pedagogic approaches in schools to support learners with dyslexia are drawn out of the narrative

Genetic structure of IQ, phonemic decoding skill, and academic achievement

The aim of this study was to examine whether phonemic decoding skill (deficits of which characterize dyslexia) shares genetic and/or environmental covariance with scholastic abilities independent of general intelligence. Non-word reading ability, verbal and non-verbal IQ, and standardized academic achievement (Queensland Core Skills Test; QCST) were measured in Australian twins (up to 876 twin pairs and 80 singleton twins). Multivariate genetic analysis showed the presence of a general genetic factor, likely reflecting crystallized ability, which accounted for 45-76% of phenotypic variance in QCST scores, 62% of variance in Verbal IQ, 23% of variance in Performance IQ, and 19% of variance in phonological reading ability. The phonemic decoding genetic factor (explaining 48% of variance in phonemic decoding) was negatively associated with mathematical achievement scores (0.4%). Shared effects of common environment did not explain the relationship between reading ability and academic achievement beyond those also influencing IQ. The unique environmental reading factor (accounting for 26% of variance) influenced academic abilities related to written expression. Future research will need to address whether these reading-specific genetic and unique environment relationships arise from causal effects of reading on scholastic abilities, or whether both share a common influence, such as pleiotropic genes/environmental factors

Radioimmunoassay for Immunoreactive Non-Collagenous Domain of Type IV Collagen (NC1) in Serum: Normal Pregnancy and Preeclampsia

Peer Reviewe

Coloured filters show gender differences and poor repeatability

The Irlen Institute claim to have treated more than a million people with individualised, precision‐coloured lenses to improve vision‐related symptoms and reading. However, the evidence for this treatment is lacking and the Irlen approach sits under ‘Other unproved methods’ alongside Iridology and the Bates Method of curing myopia on the ‘Eye‐related quackery’ page of the US‐based health fraud website Quackwatch. Other coloured lens treatments are available including the Harris lenses (using the ChromaGen lenses developed for the treatment of congenital colour vision deficiencies; different coloured lenses are often prescribed for each eye) and the Dyslexia Research Trust system that provides just blue and yellow lenses. The issue is important to optometry given that a similar treatment is provided by optometrists for the condition Visual Stress (occasionally known as pattern‐related visual stress and at one time described as Meares‐Irlen syndrome), typically using the Intuitive system and Precision‐tinted lenses. Although the issue of the underlying evidence‐base for this treatment has been recently debated, new evidence that calls into question the suitability of the approach has become available and will be reviewed in this editorial alongside a critique of other relevant studies

The impact of dyslexia on pupils' self-esteem

This study investigates the factors that affect the self-esteem of learners with dyslexia. It provides a brief overview of some of the key literature in this area and then describes a small-scale study conducted in two mainstream secondary schools in the north of England. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with secondary-aged pupils who had received an official diagnosis of dyslexia. Nine pupils volunteered to be interviewed. The study considers the impact of factors such as comparisons made against other students and the impact of teachers, peers and family on pupils' self-esteem. The results of the study indicate that these factors contribute significantly to self-esteem for pupils with dyslexia. However, the study found that the most significant factor that contributed to students' self-esteem was a positive diagnosis of 'dyslexia' and ownership of the label. The study concludes that an early diagnosis of dyslexia is essential for creating a positive self-image and recommends that further research is necessary into the significance of the diagnosis for these learners

Trainee teachers with dyslexia: personal narratives of resilience

This paper tells the stories of two trainee teachers and their personal experiences of dyslexia. Both informants were English and training to be primary school teachers in England. Through drawing on their own experiences of education, the stories illustrate how dyslexia has shaped the self-concept, self-esteem and resilience of each informant. The narratives presented in this paper illustrate powerfully the ways in which teachers can have a positive or negative impact on the self-concepts of students with dyslexia. Both had been inspired by teachers they had met, and these positive role models had given them the confidence to pursue their own ambitions. However, both had encountered teachers who lacked empathy and patience, and these teachers had a detrimental impact on their self-concepts. For both of these trainee teachers, personal experiences of dyslexia also shaped their professional identities as teachers. Both trainees described themselves as caring and empathic teachers, suggesting that personal experiences of dyslexia had a positive impact on teacher professional identity