Letters
The dyslexia debate
I WRITE regarding the Channel 4 programme The Dyslexia Myth, and the
comments of Professor Julian Elliott of Durham University. I was most
surprised, not by the ideas expressed in the documentary – which in the
case of the ‘bubble vs. continuum’ notion of dyslexia and use of
individual programmes such as Reading Recovery were not new – but
rather to hear these ideas being aired so long after my own paper
(‘Dyslexia:
a wider view: The contribution of an ecological paradigm to current
issues’) published in Educational Research in 2003 said exactly the
same things, only without the unnecessarily vitriolic attacks on
non-literary remediations.
It was even more astonishing to hear Margaret Snowling giving the view
that leading academics (by which she means, I think, cognitive
psychologists) have known for ages that the development of phonological
skills is crucial to later reading development. Having just completed a
six-year-long PhD on the subject and read just about everything I could
by these ‘leading academics’ nowhere have I seen anything but a
biological determinist theory of dyslexia. This certainly stresses the
importance of phonological approaches in remediation, but not how the
infant acquires them in the first place as discussed on the
documentary. On the contrary, because of the current insistence on
perceiving the brain as ‘malfunctioning’ or genetically ‘faulty’
(Snowling’s own philosophy) the concept that dyslexia is a
developmental problem dependent upon early years experience – together
with an understanding of the brain as plastic, which therefore reflects
that experience – has been completely missing in dyslexia research for
at least three decades.
In my view, this is why educational practice, rather than being aimed
at enabling all children to acquire the necessary precursors to
literacy in the early years, has been so neglected, emphasising early
formal literacy instead and thus resulting in ‘failures’ at seven years
old as with the child in the programme. We do not need the term
dyslexia. We only need to understand how important infancy and early
years experiences of language are.
The ‘brain fault’/cognitive perception of dyslexia itself is therefore
largely responsible for the current situation, and for failing to
stress the importance of non-literacy solutions which would make the
term dyslexia redundant. Only with this change of paradigm and a
breaking out of the current biological/cognitive straitjacket,
(something merely hinted at in the documentary) is it possible to see
not only how problems have developed but how to solve them. Rather than
wait to single out children who have failed (a problem with any
intervention, even the Cumbria one featured in the programme) children
can development all the pre-literacy skills they need well before
formal literacy begins. In this way the whole school becomes literate
and nobody ‘fails’.
Jennifer Poole
48 Winchester Road
Romsey
Hampshire
THE topic of dyslexia has reared its head many times
both in this publication and in the media, over the last few decades.
Most of the articles on dyslexia in professional publications have
contributed to an increased knowledge of this complex subject and so
have been welcomed. Sad to say, many reports on the subject in the
media appear to have been motivated by the need for a sensational
story. The latest pronouncement reported in the media – Professor
Elliott saying that dyslexia does not exist – is a perfect example.
Elliott’s conclusions will probably be refuted within professional
circles in the face of the ever-mounting evidence for the existence of
this specific learning difficulty. However, the press and television
reporting of Elliott’s pronouncement has so far remained unchallenged
in the media. In my experience with assessing adult students with
dyslexia there are many people who are now experiencing emotional
distress as a result of the publicity given to Elliott’s unfortunate
conclusions.
Is it not time that the BPS challenged views such as this that are given publicity in the media?
A sufficient body of knowledge has accrued over the last couple of
decades regarding the existence of this syndrome to be able to refute
Elliott’s conclusions. The evidence for the existence of dyslexia is
now incontrovertible. Admittedly, there are some professionals who
continue to debate the most appropriate methods of helping people with
dyslexia, but research evidence for the biological and genetic origins
of dyslexia is now fairly well established.
So why does the BPS remain silent in the media in the face of the
obvious distress caused by Elliott’s latest pronouncement? There are
thousands of dyslexic children and adults in the community who at the
moment have been left feeling anxious and confused. Surely, an aim of
the BPS is to reassure and protect the public.
Denis Lawrence
3 Towan Blystra Road
Newquay
Editor’s note: I am told that a press release (see tinyurl.com/834gv)
from the Division of Educational and Child Psychology, based on their
recently updated report, was issued the day after the programme.
Unfortunately, no media outlets subsequently used the DECP’s comments.
However, we contribute to the ongoing debate with the article on p.658.
Old age and life satisfaction
I HAVE been recently involved with interviewing research
participants of all ages who were not recruited through health and
mental health services but rather through voluntary groups and further
education colleges. The question posed to them was ‘What constitutes a
successful retirement?’ The responses that I have received both agree
and disagree in part with Patrick Rabbit’s implied assertion that there
is a link between happiness and money (News, September 2005). Whilst
financial stability is enormously important, the presence of money is
in itself maybe necessary but not sufficient for life satisfaction in
old age. Far more critical appears to be the opportunities for
individuals to exercise their minds and bodies, to be engaged in
activities that confer a sense of purpose to their lives. In this
respect, older subjects are no different to the entire population and
maybe should not be thought of as somehow separate in their needs.
Stéphane Duckett
Royal Free Hospital
London
Applying developments in neuroscience
WITH reference to ‘2025: A drugs odyssey’ (News, September 2005), I
would like to share some exciting news presented at a meeting of the
newly formed Society of Applied Neuroscience in Istanbul recently.
The keynote speaker, Professor Roy John (New York University, School of
Medicine) presented brain-imaging data that could revolutionise the
prescription of psychoactive medication and put a stop to the
potentially damaging trial-and-error approach that currently prevails.
Professor John’s data allows us to see which brains will respond to
which medications, which brains will be non-responders, and which
brains will be adversely affected by seemingly appropriate symptom-led
decisions on medication. The disorders discussed were schizophrenia,
bipolar affective disorder and attention deficit disorder. Therapeutic
psychological approaches often go hand in hand with the pharmacological
route. The total ‘package’ will be much more cost-effective
(financially and psychologically) if patients can avoid the
demoralising process of trial and error.
Anyone interested in dementia would also be advised to take note of
Professor John’s work, which demonstrated that at-risk patients can be
accurately predicted 10 years prior to onset of symptoms. This means a
programme of prevention can now be developed, rather than waiting for
the illness to manifest itself.
We psychologists would do well to make use of the advances in
quantitative analysis of brain electrical activity to guide our work.
Melissa Foks
Learning With Neurofeedback
44 Burntwood Grange Road
London SW1
While we’re waiting for statutory regulation…
I WOULD like to add my voice in support of John Spector’s (Letters,
September 2005) on the issue of VAT on income from private practice.
I wrote to the Society’s then President on the same issue last year and received
a reply in similar terms to those expressed by Graham Powell, viz. that
statutory regulation under the HPC should make it easier to sort out
the anomaly. Now that statutory regulation has once again become
something of an imponderable, at least in terms of its timescale, I do
not think that this is a sufficiently helpful or satisfactory position
to adopt. I also have had to register for VAT on all of the independent
work I do as a chartered educational psychologist, and it simply is not
feasible – nor right – to charge an extra 17.5 per cent to private
clients who have no means of reclaiming it.
Surely, when directly comparable colleagues, including psychiatrists
and therapists of various kinds, are exempt of VAT, this constitutes
restraint of trade, and should be more robustly challenged (if
necessary through the courts). I cannot imagine that any individual
psychologist would have the capacity to mount such a challenge, but a
professional society could at least take legal opinion on the matter
(possibly in relation to what guidance European legislation may provide
on such an issue).
I have spent more than 20 years building up a service which, based on
feedback and word-of-mouth recommendations, is valued by clients, many
of whom cannot access publicly provided services for a number of
reasons. It has also, indirectly, promoted the benefits of psychology
in general, and educational psychology in particular, in the region
where I am based.
If it comes to a straight choice between handing almost 60 per cent of
my income to the government in taxes, or ceasing to provide the
services I do, then I will probably be forced to choose the second
course of action.
John G. Eakin
The Fort
171 Clay Road
Derryboy
Crossgar
Northern Ireland
…why don’t we pressure COREC?
I WAS very perturbed to discover that, unlike nurses, pharmacists
and medics, clinical psychologists are not considered to be ‘expert’
members of ethics committees, but are classified as lay members by the
Central Office for Research Ethics Committees (COREC).
A recent meeting of a local ethics committee became inquorate following
the departure of a psychiatrist, despite the presence of three highly
qualified and experienced clinical psychologists on the panel.
Given the very extensive six-year formal training in research methodologies that
all clinical psychologists have undergone, together with the now
compulsory research component to CPD, I find it incredible that the BPS
has been unable to convince COREC of the relevance of our expertise in
this field, particularly given the psychological nature of many of the
research proposals considered by ethics committees every month.
At present COREC will recognise a nurse with three years’ clinical
training and no research experience as an ‘expert’ member whilst a
professor of clinical psychology with a PhD and multiple publications
and research grants to their name qualifies only as a lay member.
I appreciate that the current attempts to gain statutory regulation may
resolve this anomaly in the future; however, in the meantime may I
suggest that the BPS stop dabbling in horticultural niceties and
redirect their efforts to bring the maximum pressure to bear on COREC
to recognise our skills and expertise. Without sufficient recognition
of our expertise I fear that clinical psychologists will become
increasingly reluctant to volunteer their time for this important role
in assuring the rigour of clinical research.
Sallie Baxendale
Department of Clinical & Experimental Epilepsy
Institute of Neurology
London
Don’t forget the Home Counties
ILONA Boniwell refers throughout her letter (‘A Branch for London
and the Home Counties’, September 2005) to the proposal for the
formation of a London Branch and, in making the case for Branch
meetings to be held in London, seems to forget about the Home Counties!
Living in the Home Counties, I already feel deprived of membership of a Branch because of my proximity to London.
I shall feel doubly disadvantaged if a new Branch concentrates its
meetings, workshops, etc. within London, especially as I have trouble
using public transport and driving in and out of London can be a
nightmare. It may also be easier and cheaper to find meeting places
outside of London, so if we get our new Branch, may I make a plea that
the Home Counties get an equal share of the new Branch cake?
Dee Williams
West Herts College
Watford
Countering bi-invisibility
WE would like to respond to the editorial point regarding the letter
from Dickins et al. (‘Nothing to be sniffy about’, September, 2005)
about sexual orientation research. We welcome critical comment on any
type of research, but we are concerned that making references to the
‘uncertain status’ of ‘the category of bisexual’ denies the reality of
many people’s lived experiences.
As Dickens et al. suggest, recent research has claimed that
bisexual-identified men only respond sexually to one sex, and there has
been much press interest in this. There is not scope here to go into
the methodological problems in such studies (which will be discussed in
depth in a forthcoming issue of Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review).
However, we would like to briefly address the impact that such claims
may have.
Since Kinsey’s research in the 1940s, it has been apparent that many
men (and women) do not fit simply into heterosexuality or
homosexuality. There is a thriving bisexual community in the UK, not to
mention all those who identify as bisexual without being actively
involved in this community. The argument that bisexuality is of
‘uncertain status’ risks erasing or rendering invisible the identities
of these bisexual individuals, echoing, as it does, the common biphobic
stereotypes, already rife in our culture, that bisexuality does not
exist or is ‘just a phase’.
Martino and Pallotta-Chiarolli (2003) have found, in their research on
adolescent boys, that many feel hugely pressured by the dualism
inherent in the common notion that people can only be ‘gay’ or
‘straight’ and fear discrimination and bullying if they were to
identify openly as bisexual.
Also, recent studies point to higher rates of anxiety, depression and
other mental health concerns among bisexual people than others, and
this has been strongly linked to the underrepresentation and
misrepresentation of bisexuality (Petford, 2003).
We welcome further psychological research on sexualities generally. Whilst
we recognise the complexities inherent in the fact that bisexuality
challenges conventional understandings of sexuality, this is not a
legitimate reason for excluding people from research. Certainly
psychologists need to think carefully about how they do classify
people’s sexual identity, avoiding the trap of forcing people into
categories of ‘gay’ or ‘straight’. We also think that it is extremely
important for researchers to
be aware of the dangers of unwittingly reproducing biphobic
stereotypes. We would like to support Peter Hegarty’s (July, 2005) call
for the inclusion of the whole range of sexual identities in research
on sexuality since to perpetuate bi-invisibility is to risk colluding
with outmoded prejudicial practices.
Meg Barker
Alessandra Iantaffi
Camelia Gupta
On behalf of the UK bi research group (Bi-BLIO)
References
Martino, W. & Pallotta-Chiarolli, M. (2003). So what’s a boy?
Addressing issues of masculinity in education. London: Open University
Press.
Petford, B. (2003). Power in the darkness: Some thoughts on the
marginalisation of bisexuality in the psychological literature. Lesbian
and Gay Psychology Review, 4(2), 5–13.
Exposing bad psychology
HOW brilliant to see Valerie Yule’s letter (‘Let’s debunk some
myths’, October 2005): I would definitely be in favour of tracking down
the myth mongers. I used to waste my time tracking down ‘research
studies’ reported in a very matter-of-fact fashion in the media as
having shown ‘something’, only to find that
it was written for less than salubrious reasons or was actually a piece
of market research. Without doubt, the difficulties of recourse for the
reported against those who ‘manufacture’ findings could be redressed
with this sort of BPS column!
For example, I particularly like health psychology papers that focus on
cognitive effects of smoking and come out with positives for
media-worthy things such as nicotine. Wasn’t concentrated nicotine once
sold as a garden pesticide/weedkiller until its toxicity to humans
became apparent? Hmm, what does the science say?
Oh, another example: How does media reporting of the effects of global
warming impact on the day-to-day behaviour of individuals? Currently
there is a ‘we’re not sure if global warming is to blame’ slant being
allowed to stay in the reports, undoubtedly allowing a great deal of
cognitive dissonance to be alleviated for the very people with the
greatest global impact!
Perhaps the Society could fund a researcher to publish ‘state of myth’
peer reviews on the latest misrepresentation of research that applies
to currently influential media-induced hysteria. Sort of a quality
control that authors and ‘experts’ can verify.
Here’s hoping this idea is successful. I for one will take note of
things I hear from people who don’t know they didn’t know (cf. Don.
Rums.).
Fash Dastghaib
50 Boxberry Gardens
Walnut Tree, Berkshire
Teaching qualitative methods
ONE particular issue highlighted by Madill et al. (‘How should we
supervise qualitative projects?’, October 2005) is that many
supervisors find the task very demanding ‘due to the lack of prior
training students had in qualitative data collection and analysis’. The
Higher Education Academy Psychology Network (based in York) currently
has a working group looking into how best to support the teaching of
qualitative research methods at undergraduate level in the UK. As chair
of the working group
I am writing with the aim of eliciting responses, particularly from
psychologists working in clinical, applied, health and educational
areas, regarding what they consider to be the most useful and
appropriate methods undergraduates should be taught at undergraduate
level.
Our focus at the present time is on methods, and associated practicals,
that can be delivered at level II (typically the second year in English
and Welsh universities). Further details of the group’s activities can
be viewed at tinyurl.com/amuoo. Essentially, what we would very much
like to know is, of the whole range of qualitative methods typically
taught in the social sciences (e.g. grounded theory; discourse
analysis; IPA; conversation analysis, and others), which ones do
professional psychologists consider the most useful – for graduating
psychologists to have knowledge of, and practical experience applying.
We would welcome all suggestions, comments and observations.
Mike Forrester
Department of Psychology
University of Kent
Canterbury
[email protected]
Information
n WORKING primarily with black and ethnic minority groups in the
field of health psychology and counselling psychology, I am beginning
to explore a model for describing the parameters in which healthcare
provision can best be tailored to serve the needs of the whole
community. I would welcome the experiences of healthcare and mental
workers regarding this issue.
Qulsoom Inayat
6 Arlington Road, Woodford Green
Essex IG8 9DE
E-mail: [email protected]
n THE University of Leicester School of Psychology is trying to
set up a network of psychology graduates. If you have a psychology
degree from the university (including combined studies, joint degrees,
and higher degrees), then please join the network by filling in (very
minimal) details at www.psych.le.ac.uk/alumni/index.html.
We hope to have as many as possible of our graduates from 1965 to 2005
signed up. The benefits for us and for you might include reunions and
social events, collaboration with staff members in research and
writing, and advice about careers for our students. If you know any
other Leicester psychology graduates, especially ones who might not see
this notice, then please encourage them to sign up too.
Andrew M. Colman
E-mail [email protected]
n IN response to the debate raised by Stephen Reicher on behalf of the
Dialoguing Across Divisions Group on different perspectives in social
psychology (September 2005) I want to let readers know of research I’ve
done in South Africa. It involves research curricula for psychology,
qualitative and quantitative, and is published on CD-ROM. Please
contact me if you are interested,
Caitlin Evans
E-mail: [email protected]
(Please note that some pictures may have been removed for copyright reasons)
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