STUDENTS VOICES
Students voices: a report of the student view of
dyslexia study skills tuition
BERNADETTE KIRWAN and CAROL LEATHER
This article reports research using case studies of 22
university students receiving study skills development
funded by the Disabled Students Allowance at an inde-
pendent dyslexia consultancy. In-depth semi-structured
interviews were conducted. The students identify the
primary benefits of the tuition as: developing an under-
standing of dyslexia and specific learning difficulty as
part of the process of self-development; normalising
their experiences; and developing their critical analysis
and problem-solving techniques to support the skills
needed for studying. The implications for good practice
in supporting university students with dyslexia are
considered. sufl_1472 33..41
Key words: dyslexia, students, coaching, self-advocacy.
Introduction
Socrates did not write a word. He resisted the move from
oral learning to reading and the written word. His method of
teaching involved critical questioning of his students about
what they knew and how they arrived at their understanding,
and his dialogues were recorded by his student, Plato. We
could view Socrates as an ally of the dyslexic student
because the facet of the learning process that they have most
need of the opportunity to analyse critically what they are
learning, how they think and what they understand in dia-
logue with teachers and other learners is increasingly less
available to students. Critical analysis and questioning in
dialogue is present in every study skills support session for
dyslexic students: it is a fundamental skill required for
studying.
In the United Kingdom we seem to have arrived at a moment
when dyslexic students and the support they receive at uni-
versity are under intense scrutiny by funding providers,
university lecturers and other students. Proper monitoring of
how taxpayers money is spent is appropriate; study skills
tutors should be qualified and able to address students
needs; lecturers are right to be concerned about maintaining
assessment standards; students need to be assured that stan-
dards are consistent and fair. However, students with
specific learning difficulties, which include dyslexia and
2011 The Authors. Support for Learning 2011 NASEN. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA, MA 02148, USA.
dyspraxia, need to be assured that their disability will be
understood precisely as such: it can be disabling and it is
also hidden. There are many factors that are contributing to
a generally negative climate for dyslexic students. These
include a continued misunderstanding over what dyslexia/
dyspraxia is; an unwarranted charge that dyslexia cannot be
accurately diagnosed; an unsubstantiated fear that students
who are disabled by difficulties in learning are given unfair
advantage over student colleagues by the mechanism of
reasonable adjustments; and a reluctance to accept the
impact of emotional and social difficulties that dyslexic/
dyspraxic individuals experience arising from lack of
knowledge and understanding of themselves and a lack of
sympathetic feeling from others.
Riddell and Weedon (2006, p. 63) refer to dyslexia as the
product of historically contingent social constructions that
grew out of the development of the educational psychology
profession and draw attention to the continued debate about
definition. The British Dyslexia Associations most recent
definition acknowledges that dyslexia is much more than a
reading difficulty, describing it as:
a specific learning difficulty that mainly affects the
development of literacy skills. It is likely to be present at
birth and to be life-long in its effects. It is characterised
by difficulties with phonological processing, rapid
naming, working memory, processing speed and the
automatic development of skills that may not match up to
an individuals other cognitive abilities. It tends to be
resistant to conventional teaching methods, but its effects
can be mitigated by appropriately specific intervention,
including the application of information technology and
supportive counselling (BDA, 2008, p. 5).
This definition is all encompassing and reflects differing
theoretical perspectives and research findings. Definitions
are best understood as hypotheses that endeavour to explain
a phenomenon. McLoughlin et al. (2002, p. 19) suggest that
understanding dyslexia as an inefficiency in working
memory . . . [that] has a particular impact on verbal and
written communication as well as on organisation, planning
and adaptation to change can best account for all the diffi-
culties experienced by adults with dyslexia. In terms of
understanding what dyslexia is and how it affects students,
probably the working memory model is the most helpful.
Recent research using experimental and neuro-imaging
studies reveals the differences in the way the dyslexic brain
receives, co-ordinates and integrates information in current
thought. These differences suggest deficits in components of
working memory, especially the phonological loop but also
executive functioning, that is, the management control pro-
cesses that are carried out in the prefrontal cortex of the
brain. This indicates a likely supervisory attentional
system deficit in dyslexia (Smith-Spark and Fisk, 2007).
The effects of a deficit in processing and storing information
in working memory carry on throughout adulthood. The
impact for individuals is that they find it hard to manage
their thought processes efficiently when required to plan,
solve problems, perform a new activity and learn, since all
of these activities require mental self-management of mul-
tiple memory resources.
Nicholson and Fawcetts recent discussions offer a reclas-
sification of developmental difficulties at the neural systems
level, and hypothesise a specific procedural learning diffi-
culty. This explanation distinguishes the declarative learning
system, which deals with explicit skill learning and facts,
from the procedural learning system, which comprises
language-related and motor skill learning. While the
declarative learning system remains intact, the language-
related procedural learning skills are impaired in the
dyslexic person and motor-related procedural learning skills
are impaired in the person with dyspraxia/developmental
co-ordination disorder (DCD) (Nicholson and Fawcett,
2008).
Rationale for the research
In the early days of service provision for dyslexic students at
university and college, Miles and Gilroy published their
account of the in-house service they had established at the
University of North Wales, Bangor. Their way of working
with dyslexic students emphasised dealing with the whole
person rather than focusing simply on the specific deficient
study skills the students displayed (Miles and Gilroy, 1986).
In a similar vein, research carried out in the United States in
the early 1990s (Gerber et al., 1992) on adults with learning
disabilities who were successful identified certain intrinsic
and extrinsic motivational factors that contributed to their
success. These included learned creativity, the practice of
developing problem-solving strategies as alternatives to
conventional learning methods and social ecologies, the
personal support networks that the dyslexic person draws
upon in various contexts. Translated into a learning context,
these are coaching and skills development strategies and the
dyslexia tutor/coach who acts as a facilitator to encourage
success (McLoughlin and Kirwan, 2007).
Since 2009 provision of funding has been centralised and
Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) expenditure is more
closely monitored. Monitoring is to be welcomed as there is
a need for dyslexia tutors to be seen to be accountable in
their work and for the students to use the funding appropri-
ately. In a centralised system there is a risk that
standardisation will eliminate individualised support. The
34 Support for Learning Volume 26 Number 1 2011
drive towards accountability has already led to a diminution
of the tutors professional judgement and decision making
in their work with students, while the underlying motivation
of disability discrimination legislation is that each indi-
vidual case should be considered on its own merits as every
individual will have different needs in differing circum-
stances, and the disabled individuals views should be taken
into account. In the present climate when many voices are
raised, both in criticism or defence of dyslexic students, the
significant absent voice is that of the students themselves.
This study was developed to give voice to the individuals
who are the subjects of study skills support; the aim of the
interviews was to give university students themselves the
opportunity to speak out about their experience of being
dyslexic at university and of managing the planning,
problem solving, performance and learning on their course.
Method
This research was undertaken at an independent dyslexia
consultancy which was established in 1993 to provide a
specialist service for dyslexic adults. In the present day, the
consultancy offers diagnostic assessments for adults; indi-
vidual tuition and coaching to adults in higher education and
in the workplace; awareness training and consultancy to
employers, training organisations, education institutions and
dyslexia organisations; and conducts evidence-based
research on dyslexia in the adult years. Located in central
London, the organisation is conveniently and accessibly
placed for students from many London universities and
other higher education centres of learning. When first estab-
lished, much of the assistance provided for dyslexic students
in higher education was delivered external to the university.
This is no longer the case as disability discrimination legis-
lation such as the Special Educational Needs and Disability
Act, 2001 (HMSO, 2001) has placed duties on higher edu-
cation institutions to not treat disabled people less
favourably owing to their disability, and to anticipate for and
make reasonable adjustments to prevent the disabled person
being placed at a substantial disadvantage. This has led to
the development of in-house disability and dyslexia ser-
vices. While many students opt to use the dyslexia service
provided by their university, others prefer to receive skills
development tuition separate from their place of learning
because they want a confidential and fully private service
that is not incorporated into the university structure. Yet
others are not accommodated at their university either
because there is no in-house provision or because what is
available does not fit with their timetable.
Students make contact with the organisation either as a
result of direction from their university disability depart-
ment, or from it being a listed, recommended organisation in
their needs assessment report or through independent
research on their part. From the first tuition session onwards,
the tutor and student arrange appointments together, and
since the organisation is small and each tutor maintains their
own diary, tuition sessions can be arranged in a very flexible
2011 The Authors. Support for Learning 2011 NASEN
manner without the requirement to attend appointments at
the same time every week. Such flexibility seems to encour-
age a high attendance rate as the service offered suits the
students timetabling needs and other work and life com-
mitments.
The research is an ethnographic case study using in-depth
interviews that were conducted by the research team, who
are three tutors working at the organisation. Students were
recruited by the convenience sampling method. All of the
participants in the research were either current students
attending the centre or they had graduated in the previous
academic year. The case study gives a detailed description
of the views of 22 student recipients on the effectiveness of
various study skills strategies. It adopts a naturalistic
approach and shows patterns and trends in the evaluated
responses. There were 17 undergraduates and five post-
graduates involved in the study; seven were male and 15
were female; 17 were full-time students and five were study-
ing part-time alongside a full-time career. Participants were
studying a broad range of subjects covering the arts, sci-
ences, social sciences and subjects allied to medicine and
some were following professional training courses such as
teacher training and legal practice training.
Interviews were conducted at the organisations offices,
each tutor interviewing students with whom they had
worked. Interviews lasted between 45 and 80 minutes and
followed a semi-structured format. The questions asked
were based on an understanding of students expectations
and needs, gathered from 15 years of working with this
client group. There have been occasions in the past when
students have provided negative accounts of some of the
specialist support received previously at their university and
such views provided the basis for some of the questions that
were included in interview. Questions were grouped into
five broad categories: the extent to which participants exer-
cised choice in arranging where and when tuition happened;
whether they knew in advance of their tuition what they
needed; how they evaluated the content of the tuition; the
extent to which they were involved in shaping the tuition
programme; and whether the tuition or coaching had an
impact on other areas of life. Each interview was recorded
and downloaded into Audio Notetaker for transcription.
Once transcribed, the interview texts were analysed using
the phenomenological analysis method. The intention was
to allow the students to analyse their learning and self-
development experience, which was then refracted through
one researchers interpretation of those experiences.
The emerging themes referred to the quality of the felt
experience of learning and showed that emotional factors
were inseparable from learning strategies. The reported
experiences revealed that an environment which enables
learning was essential; participants reported that working in
a partnership role rather than a teacherstudent hierarchy
permitted the body of work and strategies to develop in an
organic and logical way, and that they felt empowered to
take control of their learning and exercise greater indepen-
2011 The Authors. Support for Learning 2011 NASEN Support for Learning Volume 26 Number 1 2011
dence in the learning process. The important themes
indicating the benefits to students of the skills development
tuition were:
finding the right environment;
developing a partnership role;
exploring a multiplicity of useful strategies;
explanation and understanding of dyslexia;
increasing self-confidence;
working independently;
self-advocacy; and
unforeseen benefits.
These themes were grouped under the superordinate themes
of the environment, the role of the tutor and the self-
development of the individual.
Findings: the students views of the nature
of effective one-to-one skills development
tuition and coaching
The environment
This superordinate theme encompassed the nature of the
real environment where skills tuition is offered along with
flexibility in the organisation and content of the tuition.
Many students do not choose where they have study skills
tuition, often because their university is the only place in the
area offering a service, or time considerations restrict the
possibility of going elsewhere. In London students have
more choice because there are a number of independent
dyslexia organisations offering tuition and a greater number
of independent tutors available. Despite this availability of
tuition, students had in the past reported that they were not
aware they had a choice. The needs assessment report the
report written at a technology assessment centre by an asses-
sor who takes account of the educational psychologists
recommendations and matches these to the students dis-
ability and course requirements is now required to identify
alternative services available in addition to the university
dyslexia service.
In the interviews students remarked on the value of choice
and flexibility of service provision:
I was able to do it [study skills tuition] during the
summer holidays, between year one and year two as the
local education authority approved this. I think a lot of
students would appreciate keeping things separate.
Another stated clearly how flexibility served her purposes:
I fitted in the sessions around my diary, my commitments,
my business and my course. A number of students
expressed the view that confidentiality was more likely to be
preserved when they had tuition off the university site. One
person did not want others to know that he was dyslexic and
wanted to keep private the fact that he was getting extra
tuition. Many others said that it was important that they felt
35
they were in the right place for what they needed. The
comment from one participant was:
Here it was different. I felt I was dealt with as an indi-
vidual. Its that special needs thing I didnt experience
being special needs here. . . . It is comfortable
working here for a number of reasons: being able to
arrive a bit late and it not matter; whatever state Im in,
thats ok; that youre available regularly; and I have a
continuing relationship with you.
In this description, a high value is placed on a very person-
alised service, and indeed more than half of those
interviewed identified the benefits of flexibility within the
tuition sessions which were led by student needs and not by
a prescribed skill or task. This point is discussed in more
detail below in the context of developing a good working
relationship and a bespoke service for each person.
The tutor
The second superordinate theme, the role of the tutor, is
centred on the creation of a good working relationship and
developing a rapport with the individual student which
facilitates skills development. The centre has established
working relationships with many university disability ser-
vices in London. This facilitates speed of access and
continuity of service for students and these features were
identified by one student as important in contributing to
feelings of being successful, simply because she felt that a
support service was available when she needed it. Most of
the participants identified the one-to-one nature of learning
as the key to promoting their skills development. There were
many differing explanations of why this type of relationship
worked for their learning. One students evaluation was as
follows:
Its something about relationship . . . and about learn-
ing in relationship which is a very different way of doing
things. If you like fighting with yourself maybe you can
learn on your own. But its very marked when Im here
how much easier it is to get myself organised and to think
and do this and that and then I leave and it wears off over
a period of time.
Students reflected on the way they had worked with tutors
variously as:
You are looking at the person as a whole. You are not
kind of judging that person. Here you have time for me
and its like a partnership.
Another said:
It stimulates me to think about things; its about getting
me to evaluate things and think about whats the best bit
to suit me. And I think it is important that it is done in this
way that you ask or I tell you what I think I need to look
36 Support for Learning Volume 26 Number 1 2011
at. Its not teaching. The making of the programme that
we work with happens week to week or whenever we
meet; it is not set out at the beginning. It develops.
Giving the student or client the right to develop the direction
of skills development in conjunction with the tutor leads to
their working in a more independent way within tuition
sessions. This in itself acts as a model for working indepen-
dently and for working with others in employment contexts:
Ive been taught strategies to be able to cope and to
make life easier for myself in terms of my learning. I
think that people here are very motivational in terms of
my doing the work and studying and succeeding and
being successful.
Another participant described the learning experience as
one where the methods of working were modelled for her:
You allowed me to lead the sessions . . . it was almost like I
was working on my own and I had this personal assistant
who just keeps me on track. A good working relationship
sets the conditions for the capacity to work independently,
and that derives from being assured that ones understand-
ing of what needs to be done is accurate, from taking risks
and from being confident enough, for example, to produce
written work without feeling that it has to be perfect. One
participant identified how critical self-awareness grows in
this relationship:
You get me! You are able to articulate exactly what I
mean and even if you werent you would say maybe this
. . . And that throws something out there for me to think
about. And I can be honest and open . . . and Id say, do
you know what, maybe I wasnt really that professional
. . . I can now admit all of that because you make me
feel comfortable to do that whereas I couldnt do that out
there!
The interviews show that many of the participants benefited
from the opportunity to reflect on their experience of learn-
ing and the nature of specialised one-to-one tuition provides
the occasion to do that, making it a vital complement to
academic lectures and seminars.
A variety of strategies
The quality of relationship between tutor and student pre-
figures the best programme of skills development strategies
for any individual student because the student is encouraged
to take a role in designing their learning. The data show that
a wide variety of different strategies met students needs,
and that everyones needs differed:
Being able to verbalise my thoughts because my
struggle is getting it from my head to the paper . . . And
whats great is I sit and talk and somebody else sits and
takes little notes, and so Ive got a summary of it and Ive
got a recording of it.
2011 The Authors. Support for Learning 2011 NASEN
In this instance, the notes constitute part of the thinking
process and, because they are an external record of the
students thoughts, are used as a visual aid in the develop-
ment of the discussion; once the thoughts are made
concrete, the student can develop them through interaction
with the tutor and in independent work. Discussion and
exploring ideas aloud was frequently identified as an impor-
tant feature in the way that people with specific learning
difficulties studied.
Another student provided a theoretically informed under-
standing of what dyslexia is and what is needed in a tuition
session:
dyslexia is a collection of skills or deficits within execu-
tive functions. What I have experienced with you is that
you have provided those . . . you know, you have made
your own executive functions available to me to use in the
sessions. And in a way that nurtures the development of
those abilities in me, but also creates the bridge so that I
can get across and do what I need to do. But its very
much about keeping the motivation going, emotional
regulation so that I dont feel completely overwhelmed
by the task, holding things in mind at a systemic level.
Responding to the specific needs of this student is entirely
different from dealing with writing skills, which more than
half of the participants had wanted help with, as the follow-
ing remarks reveal:
I learnt a lot from listening to you and asking questions.
And just going through some of the proofreading, learn-
ing how to set out paragraphs and all the mechanics of
writing such as sentence structure . . ..
It is clearly essential that the tutor adapts to students
varying demands, which is precisely what one-to-one tuition
is intended to do.
Most of the participants identified working on memory strat-
egies as really important for them: you did puzzle things
and games to find different ways for remembering things like
for my Biology exam. Visualisation was another much
valued strategy mentioned by one-third of those inter-
viewed: highlighting the use of visualisation and speaking/
verbal processing, and showing me what I can remember
was remarked on by one student and another said: visuali-
sation was amazing and in fact I memorised most of the
biochemical pathways.
An issue that was raised by a student when talking generally
about the way in which he worked is that of not being aware
of what skills he needed to develop:
I didnt really have a strategy and I used to read every-
thing and wasted a lot of time . . . all those things I
wasnt really aware of suddenly became apparent when I
started here.
2011 The Authors. Support for Learning 2011 NASEN Support for Learning Volume 26 Number 1 2011
This point was reported by a number of the participants.
They expressed discomfort about their lack of awareness of
what skills they needed; one-to-one tuition enabled them to
explore the gaps in their knowledge in a supportive environ-
ment.
The interviews show that working independently cannot be
ordained. Some students need less support than others; other
students discover what they need to work for them and they
interpret independence in a variety of ways. If independent
working is translated as working in isolation, the reality is
that many students with specific learning difficulties do not
work in this way. Instead they rely on a sympathetic inter-
locutor who can help them hold in mind their critical ideas,
thus allowing them to extend, crystallise and articulate their
argument. The sympathetic interlocutor can also provide the
assurance that their interpretation and course of action is in
line with the requirements of their assignments.
Working in isolation doesnt work for me because verbal
communication is my best, my first and best form of
working. Independence would mean I would be able to
meet my learning needs for myself. It doesnt mean Ill be
an island. It means Im still going to need the help but Ill
be able to go and find it.
This is the confident voice of someone who works hard on
their own, but also knows that learning through talking is an
important part of their process of understanding. Many stu-
dents view the tuition as an opportunity to help them break
through a problem: if they had been able to solve it on their
own, they would not have spent their time in seeking out
help.
Unfortunately I dont think there is anything you can do
that is going to cure my dyslexia . . . you can help me find
ways to work with it rather than against it. But I think I
need support to do academic work, particularly at higher
levels. I still maintain that I work independently but I get
support to do that.
The individual
The third superordinate theme encompasses the individual
self-development that occurs when a specific learning diffi-
culty is explored in the context of higher education study
and adult life. The experience of working with dyslexic
adults over many years provides evidence that they, like
many students, prefer not to talk about or disclose dyslexia:
they can feel anxious, frustrated and even angry about not
being able to perform to a standard that in their heads they
feel they can achieve; and they might not understand its
impact on themselves, which is why returning to the topic of
self-understanding is important. All of the participants in the
study talked about the benefits of developing their knowl-
edge of dyslexia and understanding of themselves, including
the four participants who have successful professional or
business careers. In contrast to those four was one person
37
who had started university immediately after school years
and had been diagnosed as dyslexic only ten weeks prior to
the commencement of study skills tuition. All five of these
participants were reluctant to describe themselves as dys-
lexic because of the negative responses it brings forth in
others. Quite often in the interviews, participants reflected
on the discomfort and feelings of shame or inferiority that
they had been required to confront within study skills tuition
sessions:
I had to confront my disability at 46, and that was a
huge thing in itself. It has extended my awareness of the
problems that I do have, which isnt very nice always.
Three people talked about dealing with the shame of having
difficulties. As one remarked:
I have a better understanding and it helps me to take
away the shame that I felt for many, many years
and . . . mm . . . yes, and come to terms with a learning
disability. With that came loss of confidence and loss of
ability which I didnt really think that I had, but since I
have found out that I have.
In contrast, others reported being able to exercise greater
control over their actions because they understood the ben-
efits to themselves of so doing:
What that [understanding] does for me is to allow me to
not put myself in situations where I am going to find it
impossible, or where I am in a situation where it is
impossible, for me not to get too upset about it, and
accept the fact that this situation, like taking notes in a
lecture, thats beyond me.
Another participant talked about managing himself differ-
ently with the benefit of self-knowledge:
I am not so hard on myself. And funnily enough, not
being so hard on myself has been very helpful because it
reduces a lot of the stress, which allows me to work a lot
better.
Yet another participant who was completing a teacher train-
ing course spoke of being able to cope better with work
placement and course demands:
With knowledge and understanding of dyslexia and dys-
praxia, I in turn am able to separate what I think are
stupid mistakes and errors . . . from whats really going
on. I can sit and think, now, ah, that is probably dyslexia
and that is dyspraxia. And I can stop. And that means its
actually starting to minimise my levels of stress.
Many of the participants spoke of beneficial personal
change and reduction in their perceived levels of anxiety and
stress that flowed from knowing themselves better. The
person reported below was reflecting on self-understanding
in the light of a significant promotion at work:
38 Support for Learning Volume 26 Number 1 2011
I realise that no matter where we come from in life we
can achieve our goals as long as we set our mind and set
our focus to it. Im quite proud now that I have dyslexia.
And the reason why I say that is Im not ashamed of who
I am now; before I was.
For all participants, the relationship between self-
understanding and an increase in motivation and
achievement is a common thread in their evaluations of the
benefits of tuition. Many reported being inspired to work
harder because they had developed a better knowledge of
themselves, of how they think and work, and this contrib-
uted to acquisition of more effective study skills which in
turn produced better results.
Increasing self-confidence to promote self-advocacy
Most of the participants identified improved self-
understanding and being able to explain themselves better as
positive attributes deriving from tuition. An increase in self-
confidence is the bridge between self-understanding and
self-advocacy. One student explained this: I am a lot more
confident about explaining it . . . in a me way rather than
a dyslexia way and another identified the product of under-
standing and confidence as follows:
I am now able to go on to forecast what might go wrong
and then work out ways to overcome that, and to do so
legitimately as well. By that I mean doing so under the
recognition of being dyslexic is a lot easier than doing it
when somebody for example considers you to be lazy.
And that includes myself really.
This student is talking about the benefit of rejecting a nega-
tive attribution for his performance on a particular task and,
alternatively, by adopting a positive attribution that there is
an identifiable reason, rather than lack of effort, for mis-
takes, he can explore ways of tackling his difficulties.
Many of the participants have experienced negative
responses when they tell people that they are dyslexic and
are reluctant to talk about their difficulties because they
know they will be misunderstood. Many have had this ex-
perience throughout their school years from teachers and it
can continue in higher education from tutors and peers. I
feel now that I can ask for help and I am no longer in that
dead end of before . . . coaching leads to development and
to successes. For this student, having been diagnosed as
dyslexic at the start of his third year, he was able to work on
developing effective studying strategies over the course of
six sessions, turn around third- and lower second-level
examination grades of previous years to upper second-level
grades, and in the academic year following graduation will
commence a prestigious, scientific research PhD.
Students have different requirements from tuition and some
will need more continuous skills development/coaching to
reach their target. The common thread is finding what works
2011 The Authors. Support for Learning 2011 NASEN
for the individual, and creating the circumstances that will
enable them to work effectively and get things right in their
interactions with other people:
I cant imagine what it would be like to study in isola-
tion; Id love to be able to do it, I see people doing it and
I just cant. . . . I now understand what it is I
need . . . and I can tell people very specifically what I
would like them to do without imposing anything on
them.
A participant working in a profession allied to medicine
explained how she manages self-advocacy:
Dealing with dyslexia and writing in the workplace now
is about managing pride and finding a trustworthy
person at work to ask for help . . . I have to find someone
who wont belittle me and suggest Im stupid. My devel-
opment in the future in a work context would be to
employ people who will help me get to my goal.
These three experiences show that there is not a single
prescription that can be imposed on all.
Working independently
In the interviews participants expressed very precise and
varied views about the nature of working as an independent
learner. One participant who also runs her own business
said:
I dont think I can work completely independently and
thats why I am suggesting ongoing coaching. Unfortu-
nately its not a short-term problem; its a life
problem . . . an ongoing disability . . . that I struggle
with all the time.
At the other end of the scale was the student who was
adamant about working on his own, evident in such com-
ments as I am independent because there is only so much
you can cover and work on, and then it is down to me to do
it. By far the majority of the participants practise a way of
working that draws on the available social support networks
around them. A number of them expressed a more nuanced
view of being or becoming an independent learner than a
standard view of doing it all on your own: The tutoring
enlightens me enough to know what I need in a learning
environment so as I can go and seek it out. Is that not
independence?
Impact of tuition and strategy development on other
areas of life
By giving attention to how one thinks and processes infor-
mation, and exploring new ways of performing those
processes, students can alter their behaviour and change the
way they think about studying, work and themselves. A
2011 The Authors. Support for Learning 2011 NASEN Support for Learning Volume 26 Number 1 2011
number of students identified the unforeseen benefits of
tuition in other areas of their lives:
I think the service that I have had has improved my life,
my health and social aspects of my life. I say health
because the mental element of it and making you feel very
depressed, and the stress and anxiety has a knock-on
effect on many factors. And in social terms it has made
me feel very much more confident.
This is an expression of success whatever grade of degree
the individual had obtained: being more confident and not
feeling stressed and anxious will contribute to his being able
to find a job and work more effectively, not being a drain on
the health service and being personally more fulfilled. Some
participants described how they are able to put themselves at
the service of others because they now have an understand-
ing of themselves and the disability, and the confidence to
take action:
One thing I can do is Im able to show people who do
have dyslexia and maybe dont realise it, Im able to
show them that they do have potential and they can do
things. I am able to show them that they have to accept
positive criticism and that they have to work at it.
The reception class primary schoolteacher whose words are
reported below believes she has become far more effective
in her job because she can provide better quality advice and
teaching at the right stage of a pupils education:
Because I am really comfortable with myself now, I am
able to advise parents on what they can do to get help for
their children. I should know this as a teacher, but I
didnt before.
Discussion
People with specific learning difficulties have to adjust to
the challenge of new learning and work environments
throughout adult life. They face these challenges best when
they are able to take control and manage external and inter-
nal factors that contribute to success (Gerber et al., 1992).
The results of these interviews confirm that students are
capable of exercising good judgement and making wise
choices about what is appropriate tuition: the combination
of improving self-understanding, having access to a flexible
range of strategies in one-to-one tuition and establishing the
right social ecologies in their study environment are the keys
to their being successful.
The internal decision to take control of ones life is one of
the benefits of self-understanding. It is accompanied by the
practice of taking risks, experimenting with solutions and
the resilience that allows one to try again after failings or
disappointments. These factors were identified in research
by Gerber et al. (1992) as the underpinnings of success.
Having the belief that one can change and develop is a
39
concept of self that permits one to see intelligence as fluid
(Elliott and Dweck, 2005). This self-concept embraces a
belief in effort, hard work and tolerance of failings as ways
to help oneself increase the ability to attain goals, to build
confidence and to succeed. Recent research (Burden, 2008)
has proposed a link between this self-concept which under-
pins personal development and improved self-confidence
and self-esteem. The participants in this case study bear
witness to the benefits of tuition, giving them the chance to
understand themselves better, explain themselves more con-
fidently to others and discover how they work best. It is
particularly important for people with specific learning dif-
ficulties to be able to advocate for themselves because their
disability is hidden and is often misunderstood. The inter-
views show that self-advocacy can be developed by
modelling working practices with students, thereby allow-
ing them to explore strategies for study and ways of working
with others that will equip them for the independence of
student and working life.
Flexibility in the delivery of study skills strategies has to be
negotiated continually between the tutor and student. A
person-centred approach is used widely in coaching psy-
chology to facilitate the goal achievement and personal
development of clients because it is a coherent and respect-
ful way of acknowledging attainments and focusing on the
weaker abilities that need to be developed. This is an
approach that students with specific learning difficulties
value because they take the lead in the working relationship
and the tutor/coach follows, implementing the strategy
development and goal-setting plans (Joseph, 2005). The
success of any individual tutoring, coaching or therapeutic
relationship requires a sensitive response to client needs,
and implicit in this is flexibility, permitting negotiation
between practitioner and client so that targets and achieve-
ments in a tuition session are a shared responsibility.
All interventions directed towards assisting dyslexic
people, regardless of the issues or skills addressed, should
contribute to their personal development (McLoughlin
et al., 2002, p. 97). This point needs reiteration at a time
when provision of services for students with specific diffi-
culties is being systematised. It would be damaging for
individual development if the tendency to believe that
merely delivering yet more reading, writing and grammar
tuition and technology will provide the missing link for the
individual with specific learning difficulties. Instead, these
skills and others need to be addressed in the context of
dealing with the whole person, thus helping them to take
more control of their learning, working and information
processing so that they increase the problem-solving strate-
gies that work for them. The other important factor is time;
self-development does not necessarily come in a flood in
one term or one year and it is important to recognise that
dyslexic students need different kinds of help at different
stages of their course (Miles and Gilroy, 1986, p. 36). This
observation made in 1986 is no less relevant today.
Being in control of ones life is a central factor contributing
to success. In Gerbers research control was deconstructed
40 Support for Learning Volume 26 Number 1 2011
into different constituent elements, one of which was social
ecologies, the access that people had to the naturally avail-
able social support systems in their environment (Gerber
et al., 1992). The process of working with a trained dyslexia
tutor provides a way for the student to use a social context to
their best advantage, for they are practising co-operative
learning to clarify their thinking and the requirements of the
task, and this enables them to work in an independent
manner in their academic work. Most students in this case
study view themselves as independent learners even though
they continue to use one-to-one study skills tuition. They
argue that the tuition supports them through their disability
precisely because verbalising their thought assists their
management and performance of higher order thinking
which directly supports a disability that is best understood
as working memory inefficiency and executive control dif-
ficulties.
The evidence of this study shows that dyslexic people do not
embrace their disability for the strategically advantageous
benefits they can obtain in study and employment (Riddell
and Weedon, 2006). Instead, even very successful individu-
als have to deal daily with difficulties and frustrations; these
can be alleviated in the right social (work, study, personal)
environment where the understanding of others and toler-
ance of self can be effectively integrated; however, the
hidden nature of the disability should not be imagined as its
absence or eradication.
Limitations of the research
The study set out to discover students views on what benefit
they received from study skills tuition. With such a specific
focus, it was not possible to address in depth which aspects
of the skills sessions did not work and why. Participants
were required to compose an account of their recollections
of tutorial sessions that had taken place in previous months
and years, and memory of those experiences will be selec-
tive and subjective. There is also the likelihood of the halo
effect when participants are reporting to their tutor on the
value of work done together. Additionally, it is highly
unlikely that participants would have consistently negative
reports of the study skills support delivered because of the
nature of the working relationship between the student and
the organisation: as it is an independent service, students
would choose simply not to return for further tutorials if
they were dissatisfied with what was on offer.
Implications for practice
The findings show that when students are included in nego-
tiating their own programme of skills development, when
self-understanding is central to the process, when access to
tuition and coaching is available to students according to
their needs in response to the differing demands of the
course, the result is achievement and success. The work
done in this single context is no doubt repeated throughout
2011 The Authors. Support for Learning 2011 NASEN
higher academic institutions of the country and it would be
beneficial if further research were conducted in universities
to provide additional evidence of what students with specific
learning difficulties want and what really works for them.
Owing to the diversity of impact of dyslexia it is often not
possible to determine in detail in advance what an individual
student requires, so flexibility about goals and timescales
needs to be permitted. If study skills tuition were withdrawn
or unreasonably restricted in terms of hours or content,
dyslexic students would be disadvantaged owing to their
disability. One-to-one study skills tuition for students with
specific learning difficulties constitutes the extra time
needed to allow students to clarify information, talk about it,
reprocess it, reread material, rewrite assignments,
re-practise revision techniques and reorganise and manage
themselves, all of which is the explicit learning practice
strength that supports their weaker learning skills.
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ELLIOTT, A. J. and DWECK, C. S. (eds) (2005) Handbook of Competence
and Motivation. New York: Guilford Press.
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GERBER, P. J., GINSBERG, R. and REIFF, H. B. (1992) Identifying
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Correspondence
Bernadette Kirwan and Carol Leather
Independent Dyslexia Consultants
17 Woburn Walk
London
WC1H 0JJ
Email: Bernadette@dyslexia-idc.org;
Carol@dyslexia-idc.org
Support for Learning Volume 26 Number 1 2011 41