Dyslexia debated, then and now: a historical perspective on the dyslexia debate

• Published in: Oxford review of education Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 472 - 486
• Main Author: Kirby, Philip
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 03.07.2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Debates; Dyslexia; dyslexia debate; Educational Change; Educational History; Educational Policy; Educational psychologists; Educational Psychology; Efficacy; Foreign Countries; history of education; Intelligence; learning difficulty; Learning Problems; Medical diagnosis; Parent Attitudes; Psychologists; Psychology; Reading Difficulties; Resilience (Psychology); Resistance (Psychology); Section 3: Dyslexia debated; Socioeconomic Status; word blindness; United Kingdom; history of education; Dyslexia; dyslexia debate; learning difficulty; word blindness

The 'dyslexia debate' is resilient. In the media, a key component of the debate is the notion that dyslexia does not exist, popularised by a series of vociferous commentators. For them, dyslexia is an invention of overly-concerned parents, supported by a clique of private educational psych...