"Apparently, some researchers believe that dyslexia may not even be a distinct disorder. They believe that that there is no marker that sets individuals with dyslexia entirely apart from others who are merely average readers. One the researchers, Sally Shaywitz argues that dyslexia is simply the diagnosis we give to an arbitrarily defined group of people occupying the lower end of the reading abilities spectrum."Personally, I think that what Shaywitz said does have its merit. The fact that when we label these children as 'dyslexics', we will see them as distinctly different from the rest of the merely average readers.
We would then tend to end up treating the afflicted individuals as if the 
labels explained their whole personalities. The 'dyslexic' label would stigimatize these individuals and we end up using these labels as a form of stereotype.
For instance, when I was younger, I used to naively think that all dyslexics are not only unable to read, but they are also unable to excel in other subjects.
But this is not true as dyslexics are defined as having a reading disability. In fact, they are able to excel in Science as it is a subject that mostly requires acquisition and application of knowledge and literary skills are not of a prime concern.
As a result of labelling these individuals as 'dyslexics', depersonalisation can occur. Depersonalisation deprives them of their identity and individuality by treating them as objects rather than as individuals.
Hence, I agree to Shaywitz's opinion to some extent. I mean, what if these dyslexics are just simply not so good at reading? What if they are no different from the rest? These labels we stick onto them would do them not much good. These individuals would be seen as simply being 'different', which is also illustrated in Sandra's post where she mentioned that her dyslexic friend said that he felt 'different.'
However, I still think that despite the whole issue about 'labels, these individuals do deserve our help. They are genuinely suffering from a problem that they cannot cope with on their own. We should not just simply dismiss dyslexia as being a problem that the individuals can cure on their own, or a problem that will go away in time.
So what are you thoughts about Sally Shaywitz's opinions about dyslexia not being a distinct disorder? Anyone who strongly disagrees with it?
It will be nice to hear your opinions on your future blog posts or comments! :)
Extra Information & Links
Sally Shaywitz has written a book called "Overcoming Dyslexia."
If you like to read more about the relationship between Dyslexics and their learning of Science subjects, please download this pdf file: http://scotens.org/sen/articles/dyslexiaandscience.pdf
- Sharlene
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