Academic Experiences of Adults With Dyslexia in Tertiary Institutions in the Eastern Caribbean

• In Event: Moving Toward Complexity: Examining Constructions of Diverse Identities Within African, Caribbean, and U.S. Academic Institutions

Abstract

Globally, many persons with disabilities possess talents and skills which go unnoticed by the general population. When their talents are nurtured there are huge benefits in fields such as science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Too often, school officials use indicators, assessments, and plans that evolve around children’s perceived incapability. This deficit orientation amasses detrimental social and financial costs to students and to societies, such as academic failure and welfare dependency. To understand how these outcomes can be changed researchers utilized ethnographic methods to interrogate prior and present academic experiences of adults with dyslexia at four tertiary institutions in Barbados. Findings reveal, despite their talents, many of these students remain educationally under-developed in these settings.

Authors

• Felicity A. Crawford, Wheelock College

• Leah Desiree Garner-O'Neale, The University of the West Indies - Cave Hill

• Colin A. Depradine, University of the West Indies

• Chesterfield Browne, Ministry of Education - Barbados

• Wendy Champagnie-Williams, Wheelock College

• Patrick Rowe, Ministry of Education, Barbados