“What’s wrong with you, are you stupid?”: Listening to the biographical narratives of adults with dyslexia in an age of ‘inclusivity’ and ‘anti-discriminatory’ practice

Deacon, Lesley, Macdonald, Stephen J and Donaghue, Jacob (2020) “What’s wrong with you, are you stupid?”: Listening to the biographical narratives of adults with dyslexia in an age of ‘inclusivity’ and ‘anti-discriminatory’ practice. Disability & Society. ISSN 0968-7599

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Abstract

Official URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/096875...

Abstract

Little research has been conducted, understanding the impact of educational-inclusion and workplace anti-discriminatory policies on lived experiences of people with dyslexia. This paper consequently analyses qualitative-biographical accounts of 15 adults with dyslexia; applying the social relational model of disability to conceptualise these. Findings illustrate, the embodied-experiences of dyslexia defined within a disabling-educational system and discriminatory-workplace; culminating in psycho-emotional impact on participant’s self-esteem leading them to pathologise experiences of failure through an individualistic deficit explanation of self. The article concludes suggesting these lived experiences must be acknowledged in education to develop inclusive practices adequately preparing individuals for adulthood, not just for the workplace.