Dear Kim and list,
Quick: what to Leonardo daVinci, Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham
Bell, Thomas Edison, and -- just for fun -- Hans Christian Anderson
all have in common? They're all dyslexics, of course.
It's no wonder that these days, architecture, design, and the natural
sciences are the disciplines where we find dyslexics disproportionaly
represented in universities.
So, what a great question! The advantages that dyslexics bring to a
classroom and a profession are so great that the little bit of extra
effort it takes to accommodate their disabilities is well worth it.
Accommodations for tests:
You can administer any test orally. Read the questions to them as
many times as they need and allow them to answer verbally after having
time to outline their responses.
Dyslexics tend to be especially gifted in spatial relations and mental
modelling. If you allow them to diagram or sketch in addition to
using words, they may well convey their thoughts much more effectively
than if you limit them to words.
If they want to take the test and respond in written form, it is
customary to make it an untimed test, making arrangements ahead of
time that do not inconvenience anyone, and definitely not to count
spelling or punctuation errors. Many dyslexics also have grapho-motor
issues (dysgraphia) and may also need to use a keyboard/computer to
write their answers instead of writing longhand. The advantage of the
latter is they can also use a spell-check to make it easier to read
their work.
Accommodations for reports:
Written reports should have the same standards as anyone else.
Dyslexic students should be advised to start early and use a writing
center/tutor in addition to any graphic writing program and spell-
checker that they normally use.
Accommodations for reading:
If the test or report is based on extensive reading, they will want to
use their usual compensatory measures: a friend who reads material
for them, an audio recording of the books or articles (these may be
read for them by a friend or by a service such as Readings for the
Blind and Dyslexic, or the university's disabilities services office,
or obtained via purchased audio downloads or CDs if the public
library's free audio downloads don't have it), or a Kurzweil program
(uses optical character recognition to read scanned-in or digital
texts.)
You can help them plan best by giving them reading assignments as far
in advance as possible. This allows them to proceed at their much
slower pace, if possible, and/or to get the materials recorded and
returned to them in time to listen to them at the same time that
everyone else engages the text.
One qualifier:
Many dyslexics have been taught to be ashamed of their hard-wiring and
will do their best to avoid doing work rather than confess the nature
of their problem. They will do poorly, rather than let a professor
know why, for fear that the professor will think this means they are
stupid. These are the ones who are least likely to even know how to
compensate for their difficulties with the written language, too. The
only way around this is to discuss openly and matter-of-factly the
possibility that some students in the class may well have dyslexia and
if so, they should let you know so that you can do your best to help
them plan their semester and any assignment that might pose difficulty
for them. Well-prepared dyslexics may present themselves to you, too,
but they may have such a great system in place to compensate for their
problems, you wouldn't even notice this part of their identity if they
didn't tell you.
Also, dyslexia is a syndrome -- a collection of symptomatic behaviors
that may be very different in each dyslexic. Cases present in milder
and much more severe terms. Different students need different
accommodations depending on the nature of their disability.
Cheers!
Christena
Christena Nippert-Eng, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology
Associate Chair, Department of Social Sciences
Illinois Institute of Technology
312-567-6812 (office)
312-567-6821 (fax)
http://www.iit.edu/~socsci/faculty/nippert-eng.html
----- Original Message -----
From: Kim Jeoung-Ah <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, March 8, 2008 12:36 pm
Subject: dyslexic students
To: [log in to unmask]
> Dear PhD Design members,
> I would be grateful if you could give me advice from your
> educational
> experience.
> I have some dyslexic students both in BFA and MFA levels. I wonder
> if there
> are good methods to assess their study results equally with
> ordinary
> students in a fair way when the students have to write a report or
> take an
> examination.
> Thank you in advance,
> Kim
> ___________________________________________________
> Kim Jeoung-Ah, Ph.D
> Post doctoral researcher
> HDK, University of Gothenburg
> Box 131, SE-40530, Gothenburg, Sweden
> Tel: +46 31-7864771
> Mobile: + 46-739849906
> http://www.hdk.gu.se/fou/forskning/kim/index_e.html
> http://www.hdk.gu.se/forskarutbildning/kim/index_e.html
>
|
