Sunday 2 March 2014

Durham University and Dyslexia

Prospective students visiting the website of Durham University are at present faced by a series of articles about the research of Professor Julian Elliot, calling for an end to the use of the word 'dyslexia'.

I have written to the university asking if they have considered the potential for this front page to have an unintentional effect discouraging dyslexic students from applying to study there.

 

If they respond, I will report back.

2 comments:

  1. ... and if it does put off dyslexic students, how will this effect their research results, given that the most likely source of subjects for their research will be their own students?

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  2. I believe Professor Elliot's research concerns young children just learning to read. I don't think there would be any impact from a bias in recruiting students.

    Having said that, several dyslexics have now told me that they would not have considered applying to Durham University if the front page of their website had been this way. So I have no doubt that it will be altering the balance of applications they receive.

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