Neurodiversity and Neoliberalism: Talking with University Academic Advisors about Students with Dyslexia

Abstract

This case study explores how dyslexia is discursively constructed in relation to higher education by Academic Advisors at a UK university in terms of the forms of support offered. Modern understanding of dyslexia has shifted from the view that it is a disability or deficiency to considering the condition as a form neurodiversity. However, there is some uncertainty in higher education concerning practical support implications and therefore this study examines issues surrounding reasonable adjustments for these students. A discourse analysis approach to was used to examine interview transcript material resulting in three contrasting themes. First, diagnosis was set in contrast to disposition where dyslexia is professionally confirmed as condition but then undermined through references to student agency and resilience. Second, dyslexia was discussed in terms of support for coursework submission but was set in contrast to a meritocratic notion of fairness for all students. Third, there was recognition for reasonable adjustment under the terms of the Equality Act, but this was set in contrast to resource pressures. The net result of these discursive constructions is to maintain the status quo whereby dyslexia is recognised as a diagnosed condition but set within a neoliberal ideology of individual coping and adjustment rather than aligning with the principles of universal design for learning associated with neurodiversity.