The Impact of the Dyslexia Label on Academic Outlook and Aspirations

• In Event: Reading and Writing: Literacy Instruction and Impacts

Abstract

There is current debate over the reliability of the dyslexia label. Using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, this paper objectively explores the impact of the dyslexia label on academic outlook. Propensity score matching was used to compare children with dyslexia with a nondyslexic group. The results show that those labelled with dyslexia hold lower beliefs about their academic ability. The children labelled with dyslexia were also less likely to say that they would go to university. Furthermore, teachers and parents held lower aspirations for children labelled with dyslexia. The paper concludes that caution is needed when labelling with dyslexia and that further research is needed in order establish whether labelling with dyslexia is beneficial in the current system.

Author

• Cathryn Knight, Swansea University