Listen to me! the voices of some students with dyslexia

This research paper, undertaken by an academic skills tutor and lecturer in youth and community work, is based on interviews undertaken with a group of part time dyslexic mature FdA students. The group could be seen to be ‘emotionally vulnerable’ (Ecclestone and Hayes, 2009:86), but these students have responsible roles in youth work and are very capable and confident practitioners. Most of the mature students do not know they are dyslexic until they join the University and have very mixed feeling about seeking help. Writers such as Chapman and Turner (2003), Reid and Kirk (2001) along with McNulty, have suggested that “for individuals with dyslexia, self narratives tend to be characterized by low self esteem” (McNulty, 2003:364). We undertook 10 in-depth interviews with students in different years of their studies with the aim of developing more understanding of how students perceive themselves in their studies and the effect that the introduction of a broader range of assessment styles (including timed tests and presentations) has had on students with dyslexia. This paper examines the correlation between students’ perceptions of themselves as students and their achievements in different types of assessment.