{"id":42726,"date":"2018-03-06T12:28:16","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T20:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=42726"},"modified":"2018-03-06T12:28:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T20:28:16","slug":"brief-history-dyslexia-role-women-played-getting-recognised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/brief-history-dyslexia-role-women-played-getting-recognised\/","title":{"rendered":"A brief history of dyslexia and the role women played in getting it recognised"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nDyslexia affects up to\u00a010% of the population<\/a>\u00a0and is widely accepted as a learning difficulty that can cause problems with (among other things) reading, writing and spelling. But it hasn\u2019t always been this way.<\/p>\n

In fact, it wasn\u2019t until quite recently \u2013 in 1987 \u2013 that the UK government announced that they were dispelling \u201ca myth\u201d \u2013 the myth that they did not believe in dyslexia.\u00a0The government said that it:<\/a><\/p>\n

Recognises dyslexia and the importance to the education progress of dyslexic children \u2026 that they should have their needs identified at an early stage. Once the assessment has been made, the appropriate treatment should be forthcoming.<\/em><\/p>\n

The story of how dyslexia came to be recognised in the UK is a story in which women were at the forefront \u2013 as advocates, teachers and researchers. And it\u2019s also one that\u2019s largely yet to be told.<\/p>\n

Word blindness<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The earliest references to (what we would now call) dyslexia came in the late Victorian period, when several doctors first identified \u201cword blindness<\/a>\u201d. Otherwise able children were showing pronounced reading difficulties.<\/p>\n

Today, reading and spelling difficulties are\u00a0still considered<\/a>\u00a0central to dyslexia, but other skills are believed to be affected, too. These includes motor coordination, concentration and personal organisation. The \u201clink\u201d to intelligence has also been lost. It\u2019s now recognised that dyslexia can occur across the spectrum of intellectual abilities.<\/p>\n

Interest in dyslexia waned between the world wars, but emerged again in the early 1960s, with the creation of the\u00a0Word Blind Centre<\/a>\u00a0in 1962. The centre brought together several researchers, including the neurologist Macdonald Critchley and the psychologist Tim Miles, who had encountered dyslexic children in their work.<\/p>\n

The centre closed after a decade, but its principal director, Sandhya Naidoo, published one of the first major studies into the condition, Specific Dyslexia in 1972. Her book, along with Critchley\u2019s The Dyslexic Child (1970), were landmarks in\u00a0early research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During the same period, larger organisations were being founded to help dyslexic children. In 1972, the British Dyslexia Association was formed, principally by the efforts of Marion Welchman. This brought together several smaller regional associations, leading to Marion being dubbed the \u201cneedle and thread of the dyslexia world\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the same year, the Dyslexia Institute was created by Kathleen Hickey and Wendy Fisher. And in 1971, the\u00a0Helen Arkell Centre<\/a>\u00a0also opened. Bev\u00e9 Hornsby, the \u201cgrande dame\u201d of dyslexia, became head of the Word Blind (later Dyslexia) Clinic at Barts Hospital the same year. Dyslexia was now on the map.<\/p>\n

A mother\u2019s motivation<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The motivation for these pioneers was often personal. Marion Welchman had observed the lack of provision (and sympathy) at school for her dyslexic son, Howard. For Wendy Fisher, it was the similar experience of her dyslexic daughter, Sophy. Helen Arkell grew up with dyslexia, and was first diagnosed by the Danish dyslexia pioneer, Edith Norrie.<\/p>\n

After moving to the UK, Helen was asked to help the child of a friend with similar difficulties, and from there it continued. As\u00a0she explained<\/a>:<\/p>\n

More and more people came, and before I knew it I was teaching quite a lot of people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This somewhat ad-hoc, but also highly effective approach was shared in schooling and research. In the late 1970s, for example, Daphne Hamilton-Fairley, a speech therapist, was increasingly encountering dyslexic children. As numbers grew, the children\u2019s parents offered to support Daphne in founding a specialist school.\u00a0Fairley House<\/a>\u00a0became (and remains) one of Britain\u2019s few specialist dyslexia schools.<\/p>\n

Daphne\u00a0said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

It was magic from the point of view of parent power, and how they\u2019ll fight for their children.<\/em><\/p>\n

Growing evidence base<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The 1970s also saw research on the condition expand. The Language Development Unit at Aston University opened in 1973, under Margaret Newton. And the Bangor Dyslexia Unit at Bangor University was officially opened in 1977, by Tim Miles and his wife, Elaine.<\/p>\n

Again, achievements were predicated on improvisation. Ann Cooke, later director of teaching at Bangor, recalls that part time workers, mostly women, \u201cwere all paid on pinkies\u201d \u2013 claim forms that you put in either every month, or every half term. Together with others, they built an evidence base for the existence and diagnosis of dyslexia.<\/p>\n

Driven by parents and those with direct personal experience of the condition, the history of dyslexia mirrors that of other conditions, like\u00a0autism<\/a>. Against an often antagonistic political atmosphere, these women, together with male counterparts, drove progress. They did so through a unique intersection of care and emotional engagement, alongside formal research, advocacy and study.<\/p>\n

At the University of Oxford, a team is\u00a0charting<\/a>\u00a0a comprehensive history of the condition, uncovering the stories of these women, who helped to get dyslexia recognised. And in the current climate, where there are\u00a0challenges to funding<\/a>\u00a0for special educational needs, the story of dyslexia\u2019s pioneers serves as a warning against the gains that could be lost.<\/p>\n

It also shows how women \u2013 during a period when they were largely excluded from formal political spheres \u2013 found other ways to achieve support and recognition for children with dyslexia.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Philip Kirby is a Research Associate in the Faculty of History at the University of Oxford<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dyslexia affects up to\u00a010% of the population\u00a0and is widely accepted as a learning difficulty that can cause problems with (among other things) reading, writing and spelling. But it hasn\u2019t always been this way. In fact, it wasn\u2019t until quite recently \u2013 in 1987 \u2013 that the UK government announced that they were dispelling \u201ca myth\u201d […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":42727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[185073],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-42726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-dyslexia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA brief history of dyslexia and the role women played in getting it recognised - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/brief-history-dyslexia-role-women-played-getting-recognised\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A brief history of dyslexia and the role women played in getting it recognised - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dyslexia affects up to\u00a010% of the population\u00a0and is widely accepted as a learning difficulty that can cause problems with (among other things) reading, writing and spelling. 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