Social work students and dyslexia: outcomes from an empirical study and some implications for practice

ABSTRACT

Dyslexia is likely one of the most misunderstood conditions impacting on educational outcomes at all levels, in and across all practice and intellectual domains. This paper discusses a project carried out by two qualified social workers, one an academic involved in teaching and assessing social work students, the other a doctoral student with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia and dyspraxia. The research involved nine social work students from three different universities who identified as having dyslexia. Semi-structured interviews were held in order to identify challenges experienced by participants as well as any strategies they used to ameliorate them. The data from the interviews were coded and analyzed, and the findings indicated a range and variety of experiences. Participants described feeling anxious and questioned their ability to study social work, both at university and on placement. Feelings of exhaustion were noted, which indicated the need to examine and potentially to rebalance educators’ expectations across academic and practical roles, and to provide support for students to meet workload requirements particularly when on placement. Findings from the interviews were shared with academic staff and practice educators. Additionally, a ”good practice” guide was produced to support educators in placement as well as in universities

KEYWORDS:

• Social work
• dyslexia
• practice placements
• education

Introduction

Dyslexia is defined as a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling (British Dyslexia Associatio [BDA], 2018), and according to Fuller et al. (2004) it is the most common self-reported disability among undergraduates in the UK accounting for 35% of all disabled students.

Dyslexia is a form of ‘neurodiversity’, the prevalence of dyslexia is about 10% in the UK (British Dyslexia Association [BDA], 2017). Acknowledged as a specific learning difficulty, dyslexia can impact on everyone, including of course, academics, social workers and students, as well as people with lived experience of using social work services and carers. In addition to being the most common self-reported disability among undergraduates, dyslexia is also the most common disability that will be encountered in the workplace, meaning for a program such as social work leading to a professional qualification, support for students is key to enable a successful completion of the programme and future longevity of career. A diagnosis of dyslexia is highly significant for a variety of reasons not least the fact that social work students with such a ‘self-declared disability’ are more likely to fail or to be delayed in completing their studies (Hussein, 2018).

In England, students with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia are able to access support services in university such as disabled students’ allowance (DSA) 1:1 advice, guidance, and support from an advisor with study skills in addition to reasonable adjustments, discussed later, to their learning environment. As well as significant periods of time studying in university, in England, it is a requirement for undergraduate and postgraduate social work students to spend at least 170 days in direct, assessed practice placements, across two separate settings (1x70 days and 1 × 100 days). These settings are in private, voluntary, independent, or statutory agencies. Students are assessed against the requirements of the Professional Capabilities Framework (BASW, 2018) focusing on both practical and academic skills and abilities, and are required to critically reflect and report on their own practice experiences. In placement settings, it is less clear what support may be available (particularly for placements within smaller agencies) and anecdotal reports indicate that there are few resources available. It is significant that DSA support is only accessible to students who have a formal diagnosis of dyslexia, and obtaining a formal diagnosis comes at a price (currently in the region of £540). There is also the dilemma regarding students being diagnosed with dyslexia or other specific learning disabilities. For some students, it is seen as an unnecessary and unwanted label and for others a gateway to resources, however regardless of one’s preference it is clear that obtaining a dyslexia diagnosis as an adult comes at a financial cost and students are responsible for obtaining and paying for any tests to establish their eligibility for DSA that for many is an insurmountable barrier.

This paper reports on a recent study carried out in the North West of England and involving social work students from three universities. The researchers were keen to hear the experiences of current social work students who identify as having dyslexia and acknowledge the support of the local teaching partnership in so doing. Social work teaching partnerships were developed by two UK government departments (the Department for Education and the Department for Health and Social Care) in order to formalize collaborative working and bring together educators and employers. The aims of social work teaching partnerships are to make education more relevant to practice, raise standards and drive up quality for students and practitioners in children and adults’ social work, and research such as this project is encouraged.

Social work is a challenging profession to be a part of and often through placement student social workers are inducted into a world of pressures with rising caseloads, limited time for reflection, and cuts to services all impact on the day-to-day activities of social work practitioners (de Ruyter et al., 2008; Ferguson, 2017). For student social workers who have dyslexia (whether that be formally diagnosed or otherwise) the pressures of academic work and placement can be immense, by investigating what students report as the challenges they face and strategies they use, the researchers hope to both raise the profile of dyslexia as an area worthy of attention and highlight factors that may be generalizable to other students and also be useful for educators and students alike.

Believing it is important to consider how we define ourselves as researchers and how our own subjectivities bring us to the topic in the first place it is noteworthy that both researchers are qualified social workers, one an academic and one a doctoral student who has a formal diagnosis of dyslexia and dyspraxia. Both researchers are keen to obtain the voices of people who may otherwise be silenced or excluded and hope to shine a light on the topic of dyslexia within social work education. This interest is informed by one author (×X) having a formal diagnosis of dyslexia and dyspraxia and both authors having witnessed how some students have had to adapt their learning and on occasions extend their practice placements to allow them to assimilate their learning and apply it in practical terms. We acknowledged the ‘insider status’ of (×X) being diagnosed as having dyslexia and dyspraxia, recognizing advantages this may bring, for example a shared identity, and language with the participants (Dwyer & Buckle, 2009) and potentially being accepted and seen as a more ‘legitimate’ researcher by participants. As researchers we also noted how this would invariably bring about differences in our approach to the project and resolved to be open and honest in our regular communications. Having worked together on previous research projects (XXXX) we felt relatively confident that recognizing these issues at an early stage would enhance this research and that we both had a lot to learn from each other as well as from the participants.

Materials and method

After obtaining full ethical approval from the University Ethics Committee, the project was advertised in newsletters and websites and through general e-mails to student cohorts sent via colleagues. The project was briefly explained and students were asked to contact the researchers if they wished to be involved. The invitation was open to all social work students, postgraduate and undergraduate at any stage of their programme who either had a formal diagnosis or self-identified as having dyslexia. Mindful of the costs associated with obtaining a formal diagnosis we wanted to ensure equality of opportunity to all students. Information regarding the research project highlighted that we hoped to examine challenges faced and strategies students used to manage their dyslexia. The criteria therefore were that students needed to be studying social work and identify as having dyslexia. From the overall student cohort, a small sample (n = 10) of social work students approached the researchers for further information. Ultimately nine students agreed to be interviewed, approximately 4% of the available student population from across the three universities participating, this figure resembles that highlighted in previous work carried out by Byrne (2018) who noted that the proportion of UK university students who are dyslexic is approximately 5%. Participants provided written and verbal consent to become involved in the project.

An inductive frame of reference (Belgrave & Seide, 2019) underpinned the research with the topic guide relating to participants experiences of being a social work student with dyslexia. The methodological approach of this qualitative research was inductive, the project was designed to enable to gain understanding from the perspective of those with first-hand experience of dyslexia. Data was obtained from in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Although other methods of data collection were considered (for example, focus groups and case studies), semi-structured interviews were selected as the preferred method of data collection as the researchers believed that given the sensitivity of the topics these would elicit rich data in a relatively supported environment. These were carried out online due to restrictions brought about by the global pandemic, and with the student’s consent were audio recorded. The interviews provided a framework within which students could express their thoughts and share their experiences. Interviews were carried out by one researcher, the nature of semi-structured interviews also allowed the researcher the opportunity to ask for clarification, ask follow-up, and at times spontaneous questions, recognizing and responding to the situation and the participants need for free expression. The questions were formulated for the interview schedule by drawing on both academic literature, particularly Griggs (2021) and by reference to the lived experience (Brannick & Coghlan, 2007) of one of the researchers.

Analysis

All recordings were transcribed verbatim and then read through several times by both researchers. Analysis was undertaken thematically. Recognizing that there are several versions and adaptations of thematic analysis this project was guided in part by the process outlined by Nowell et al. (2017) as this offered a useful step-by-step approach to transparency and trustworthiness of data and noted the reflective and iterative process that occurred.

Starting the process of familiarizing ourselves with the data and recognizing the prior knowledge that we brought to the process, we documented our thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Sharing our growing insights with each other, and noting meanings and patterns with each re-reading was significant and added to our understanding of the transcribed accounts. Nowell et al. (2017)’s five-stage process involved:

• Stage 1 familiarization with the data.

• Stage 2 generalizing initial codes.

• Stage 3 searching for themes.

• Stage 4 reviewing themes.

• Stage 5 defining and naming themes.

Stage 1: The recorded semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim. Reading and re-reading the transcripts alongside listening to the recordings again assisted in familiarizing ourselves with the data.

Stage 2: Having become reasonably familiar with the recordings and transcription and shared our initial thoughts on coding the data, a simple coding matrix was devised. This entailed organizing sections of transcribed text and labeling them as they related to an area or theme in the data. Being ‘visual’ learners, we found it helpful to use highlighters and colored font to signify different areas of interest.

Stage 3: Recognizing as Lumsden (2018) notes themes are generated, identified, and/or constructed by the researcher from the qualitative data, they do not ‘emerge’ from the data, coupled with the belief that ‘messy qualitative data is re-organized and a story constructed’ we began to organize all the coded data into themes. Thematic networks in the style proposed by Attride-Stirling (2001) helped to make explicit our interpretation of the data.

Stage 4: Having devised our themes, meeting to discuss the research findings offered a rare opportunity for a face-to-face conversation and a chance to review and refine them. The variation in breadth and depth of our initial interpretation of themes was interesting and notably the intervening time that had passed since the identification of the themes offered a fresh perspective that was invigorating. Some themes had a lot of data to support them, whereas others with fewer supporting data were relegated to subthemes or were absorbed into a similar theme.

Working through the process in this way we believe captured some of the richness and depth of the transcribed data.

Stage 5. The benefits of naming themes are that they offer a story and a background for readers as well as providing the researchers with a conundrum of how to best fit the description of these together and form a coherent ‘whole’. Meeting online to debate and discuss the naming of the themes and ways they connected was important and reflection on this process helped to shape the research and the ways the results are reported that might otherwise have been missed.

Results

Following the process outlined above four major themes were decided upon, these were:

• Anxiety.

• Exhaustion.

• Tenacity.

• Perceptions of others.

Two of these themes ‘Exhaustion’ and ‘Perceptions of others’ are discussed in this paper. These were selected in the first instance as the researchers felt they offered a flavor of the research as a whole. The remaining themes, anxiety and tenacity related more broadly to students’ feelings about academic work and placement, for example there were several comments relating to failing assignments and having to re-submit work. Space restrictions mean that these themes will be presented for discussion at a later date.

Exhaustion

The theme of exhaustion includes sub themes formed by participant’s comments regarding their loss of concentration, being forgetful and in particular struggling with reading and processing. There is no denying that studying for a social work degree whether that be undergraduate or post graduate is hard work. Students on pre-qualifying programmes frequently comment how tired they were and how their degree seemed much more intense than they initially anticipated. This appeared to be compounded for students with dyslexia and/or other difficulties/disabilities, the majority of interview participants stated exhaustion was a common experience- ‘I’m physically and emotionally exhausted’, said one, whereas another participant commented ‘I can never frame my sentences and I find the mental strain of that exhausting’. During the interviews one participant recalled how she felt so stressed and tired that she had faked an illness to try and excuse herself from lessons. Such exhaustion was linked with difficulty in memory, this appeared to be particularly linked with reading for academic study, as one participant explained how she would read a page and then forget what it said by the time she was on the next page, whereas for another reading a chapter-a staple of directed study-within a week, was impossible as she felt this would ‘take at least a month’.

Exhaustion was compounded by balancing their studies with, necessary, paid work and was an ongoing challenge articulated by many of the participants, for one student the feeling of tiredness came about particularly when trying to articulate:

I work in a nursing home, when I’m at work and having conversations with people I sometimes have to think. I know you have to think before you speak anyway … but I sometimes have to think—am I going to say the right thing, am I going to say the right word? Then yeah, it’s just the way it is in my mind, sometimes it comes out differently when I actually do say it.

Clearly, we all need to think of how we are going to phrase a sentence however the exhaustion of always trying to say the ‘right thing’ or find the ‘right word’ is debilitating. For students with dyslexia it is perhaps another example of mental ‘gymnastics’ needed to avoid coming across to peers as ‘unintelligent and inarticulate’, as noted by one participant. Research participants described how they believed they worked much harder than their peers as one stated;

If I was reading a large text for example, I’d break it down into smaller pieces and I wouldn’t try to read it all on one day. I’d have to do it over maybe a few days or maybe even a week, just for it to process through, whereas say my friends or the other people on my course could read that actual article in one day.

For the research participants who were following a post-graduate route to social work qualification the step up from their undergraduate studies was viewed as immense, with one participant noting ‘for me I think I underestimated just how much work and reading was going to be involved’ it is noteworthy that this appeared to be compounded by restrictions on face to face teaching brought about by the global pandemic, as the same participant continued, ‘With doing everything online it has been really hard, cos I can’t read on a screen, I’ve found it really hard’ whereas another participant noted ‘I’m just watching a screen constantly rather than seeing someone and listening to them and talking in person, I find it more tiring than actually going in (to university)’

Feelings of exhaustion when studying during a global pandemic is reported elsewhere (Martínez-Líbano et al., 2021; Sveinsdóttir et al., 2021), however, for students with dyslexia the additional work they undertake to attempt to manage the day-to-day demands of their programme is not to be underestimated. Most of the research participants discussed how they made copious notes and color coordinated their work as well as attempted to be very organizedfor example,

I write down every single thing on a list and I also take time out for myself and make sure I have decluttered any space I’m working in-for me when it’s all decluttered and tidy it makes me think more clearly.

This process added to feelings of tiredness and of being overwhelmed for many of the research participants. There was some variation in the range and degree of exhaustion reported on by participants, which leads to a short discussion of another theme, that of ‘perceptions of dyslexia’.

Perceptions of dyslexia

Dyslexia affects everyone differently and the impact dyslexia has on people is frequently misunderstood (Hepburn, 2021). This theme was labeled as such drawing on sub themes that were formed by research participant comments regarding their own diverse experiences and those of others, coupled with how they felt they were ‘seen’ by others. On the whole students felt more understanding was needed regarding the range of dyslexia and the fact they believed their dyslexia was often trivialized by society, including their own families, academic and placement staff. Although students noted that dyslexia affects people differently they also recognized there are some commonalities, however the irrelevance with which dyslexia was treated was a source of frustration for some, as one student noted “A lot of people go, ‘yeah, I’m a bit dyslexic, I’ve got that’ like they just see it as not being very good at spelling” clearly such comments belittle those who have dyslexia and deny the seriousness of it and the impact it has. Participants noted some of their peers imply dyslexia is trivial a ‘label’ that people use to get ‘to get out of things or to get extra time in exams’. This lack of understanding permeates the world external to university with one student noting she had not disclosed her diagnosis of dyslexia with her work colleagues as ‘they would think it is just a phase I’m going through’

For other students the support they gained from family and friends was invaluable, as one participant articulated

It helps if you have a good support network of family and friends, like I come from an Indian background … my family are quite small and at the time when I first told them about it (a dyslexia diagnosis) my mum and dad they kind of didn’t understand it because in our culture a lot of things are taboo, they are not spoken about and things like mental health, you know, and if someone’s known to have like a disability they are seen differently.

The same student continued … I know the families of my other friends, who if they were to go through the same thing they’d struggle because their families are quite traditional and coming from an Indian background they wouldn’t understand that they’d just think ‘oh you know, you’ll be fine, you’ll get over it’. I think I’m quite lucky, I feel lucky in that sense’.

It is significant that factors such as culture, class, education, understanding and empathy all play a crucial role in legitimizing dyslexia and can have profound impacts on how it is understood.

Research participants reported their belief there are generational variations with the understanding of dyslexia, this related to other students, family and friends as well as colleagues, for one student my Grandad doesn’t see what it (dyslexia) is he said ‘you can’t spell … that’s all it is love, you’re fine’ which means he doesn’t see what the actual issue is.

Perceptions of dyslexia are shaped by the range and variety of impact it has on people’s lives, for example for some people reading and writing are minor issues, the major impact is the loss of concentration and memory difficulties, as one participant noted;

I lose my concentration and then there are certain things where the tutor will ask me to refer back to and I just kind of forget, and then it comes naturally to me and even just having like conversations with people I forget certain things and it just makes you feel a bit like—oh ok

The range in just how people understand dyslexia both within academic settings and in students personal lives lead to feelings of frustration and anxiety for many of the research participants.

Discussion

This study is limited in that it involved just nine social work students, however several important themes were revealed. Students were tenacious and came across as being incredibly hardworking, putting in hours of time to read, take notes, and try to understand social work concepts as well as preparing for placement. Support from lecturers was seen as an essential component for success, however in the research study this came across as being sporadic, also reflecting findings from the literature (Eplin, 2021). Participants commented that some of their lecturers were dismissive of their diagnosis of dyslexia, and articulated that tutors mark their work ‘as harshly’ as those students without such a diagnosis. Other participants noted how they were told by lecturers that they contribute well (verbally) in class but not so in the way they wrote. This lack of transference of the wealth of knowledge verbally, to pen and paper or keyboard is incredibly frustrating to students as well as being time-consuming and tiring and an appreciation of, or understanding by academic staff is needed.

Dyslexia constitutes a disability as defined under the Equality Act (2010); therefore, students who have a diagnosis of dyslexia should be protected from discrimination and ‘reasonable adjustments’ made; however, as Beckett and Glazzard (2019) note, term ‘reasonable adjustments’ is subjective, and inadequately defined within legislation. Formal support is available to those students with a diagnosis of dyslexia when at university; however, some of the participants chose not to accept all or some of the support available, citing reasons such as the patronizing attitude of support staff and also availability of sessions at a convenient time. Social work students like many students have part-time jobs and families and the additional pressure of attempting to fit in extra sessions is sometimes too much to accommodate in a busy week which may also include a full-time practice placement. Participants in this research project described how they found their own coping strategies, asking family or friends to proof read their work and checking e-mails before sending them, although it was noted that reading the same words over and over again and relying on friends and family had an impact on participant’s self-esteem. This raises issues going into practice as a qualified worker as data protection, let alone practicalities, means family support with writing and sending e-mails and notetaking is impossible.

Pre-qualifying students, with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia have what is known in many universities as an ‘inclusion plan’ a personalized document that incorporates ways in which staff need to make reasonable adjustments, such as allowing extra time in exams, or not requiring that student to read out in class. For several interview participants they felt the onus was on them to remind lecturers about their inclusion plans, one student noted she did not expect preferential treatment, however expected the lecturer to know of the existence of such a plan without being reminded by the student. One participant noted how the color of the screen was changed to accommodate her during teaching, which was evidently helpful to all students. Participants also acknowledged they were unwilling to ask questions in lectures and say when they didn’t understand anything. This has been exacerbated by the global pandemic and the shift to online teaching and learning. The lack of spontaneity associated with online learning was also noted, participants said they would leave the call at the end of the session whereas in a face-to-face teaching session they would be encouraged to stay behind and speak informally to the lecturer as well as other students, saying how they preferred to see people’s facial expressions and body language that is not always as obvious on video. For students with dyslexia as noted above, composing an e-mail to a lecturer or tutor is time-consuming and anxiety promoting with an assumption they may be judged on the spelling, grammar and punctuation, regardless of the content whereas a quick conversation after class can answer many questions and offer reassurance and guidance in a relatively short period of time. Participants commented how their dyslexia does not just affect the academic side of things, rather it is a timing issue with a ‘simple’ e-mail that would normally only take a couple of minutes taking 15 min by the time they have checked and double checked it. For one participant ‘it will be a case of it taking me 20 times to repetitively do something whereas it would take another person once’ This participant saw the positives in this scenario though noting how it gave her a sense of resilience and perseverance essential when studying on a professional programme.

Interestingly it became apparent through the research that participants had initially viewed social work as a less academic programme to study, being more practically based and as such more ‘do-able’ for students with dyslexia. For some research participants studying social work and when qualified working as a social worker offered them an opportunity to ‘give something back’ and share their understanding of how situations can be ‘different’. Several students articulated their belief that people with dyslexia bring creativity to social work programmes designed as they are to embrace equality and diversity.

There was a mixed response from research participants regarding placement experiences. In England social work students are normally expected to spend at least 170 days on practice placements, spilt between 70 days in their second year as an undergraduate (or first year as a post graduate) and 100 days the following year. Some participants explained they decided not to disclose they have dyslexia for fear of being judged. ‘I’m too nervous, I’m like scared that I’ll come across like stupid’. Other participants articulated the difficult decisions being made regarding whether to disclose the fact they had dyslexia.

The literature tells us that concealment of a dyslexia diagnosis adds to the low self-esteem which adults with dyslexia are at risk of (Nalavany et al., 2015) and for some students this was implicit in their decision to conceal their dyslexia. However, for one participant who did discuss her diagnosis on placement she received unexpected support; ‘when I told her (practice educator) I have dyslexia she was like ‘it’s nothing to worry about, so am I, between the pair of us we’ll be spelling every word wrong, so it’ll be a laugh won’t it? this acceptance and understanding immediately put the student at ease and made a significant difference to her overall placement experience. For another student the first placement was successful, however she had concerns regarding applying for her second placement with a Local Authority as this was seen as more of a serious undertaking with significant organizational constraints and targets.

One participant described how she had not disclosed her diagnosis at the start of the placement, however had to ‘come clean’ after several weeks as it became apparent colleagues had difficulties reading notes she had made.

A fundamental and ongoing dilemma for academic and practice educators alike is the challenges of preparing students for the practicality of social work as it is currently delivered in local authorities. Social work is undeniably a stressful profession (Beer & Asthana, 2016) Adding the impact of the global pandemic and increased austerity to social work practitioners’ high caseloads is an often-harmful environment in which to include students or newly qualified social workers. Both the British Association of Social Work (BASW) and Community Care have reported an increase in work load for social work practitioners and a deterioration in working conditions (BASW, 2021; Community Care, 2021). The high levels of staff sickness and turnover, which is the current situation in many local authorities has brought additional pressure to the social work profession. As Ravalier et al. (2021) note ‘UK social workers are exposed to chronically poor working conditions and experience extremely high levels of sickness absence’ and yet this is the environment to which social work students with dyslexia are being prepared for. It is reported that practice placements are frequently a ‘trigger point’ for students leaving university without completing their program (Boath et al., 2018), making placements clearly an area of concern for students and educators alike. In the current research some students alluded to the ongoing pressures and how they had reconsidered their choice of degree programme on more than one occasion, citing exhaustion and time pressures as reasons for this. Research participants frequently noted they took longer than their colleagues without dyslexia to ‘do the job’, whether that be reading or preparing for an assignment or tasks associated with being on placement for example carrying out assessments and reviews. Studies of nursing students in clinical practice (Child & Langford, 2011; Morris & Turnbull, 2006) highlight similar issues with reports of work taking longer than expected and students utilizing personalized strategies such as avoiding answering the telephone and checking several times their clinical documentation. Such working conditions inevitably lead to high levels of stress and burn out for all practitioners. Ways of mitigating this and supporting students on placement would be to establish closer links between university staff and colleagues in practice, and offer greater support from university for students, before and during placement. For educators in practice the challenge is how to adapt and shape the work students undertake in order to enhance and draw upon their many positive characteristics whilst still ‘getting the job done’. Creativity and empathy are frequently quoted as assets associated with dyslexia, however the very nature of frontline social work means there are routine and often mundane tasks to be completed and procedures to follow. Literature regarding student nurses noted they preferred to work in settings that were less acute to allow them time and an appropriate pace in which to manage their workload (Morris & Turnbull, 2006). It may well be the case that when qualified, social workers who have dyslexia feel more confident in some settings or teams, however further research would be needed to ascertain the extent to which a dyslexia diagnosis was influential in this.

An issue for many students is the challenge of obtaining a formal diagnosis of dyslexia, for students over the age of 18 this comes at a price and for students younger, even though the direct financial element is removed the actual practicalities of being assessed or ‘tested’ for dyslexia is not without challenges. Research participants described how they felt such assessments highlight what it is they cannot do- and for social work students familiar with and enthusiastic about the strength’s approach to assessment (Chapin & Lewis, 2020) this presents a dilemma.

It is undeniable that the global pandemic has brought changes to the way education is delivered at all levels including Higher Education. As well as university standards, professional programs such as social work in England are regulated by

external standards, (in England, Social Work England (SWE)), meaning such students are required to meet the requirements of the university academic standards and the standards set by SWE before they can successfully complete the course and apply to join the professional register.

Conclusion

This study highlighted that as Griggs (2021) suggests people with dyslexia have a different pattern of strengths and challenges and that dyslexia cannot be simplified into someone (only) having poor reading, spelling and writing. Each dyslexic person is unique and requires tailored support for them as an individual.

Key findings from this research supported the individual nature of dyslexia whilst also noting common ground between participants.

The implications for social work education are significant, clearly practical support is needed, that is relatively easy to achieve, especially for students at universityfor example, during lectures ensuring background color of power point slides, and font size are adjusted if necessary, additionally, providing verbal instructions and encouraging creativity increases understanding and accessibility during taught sessions. Less easy to manage are the range and volume of placement experiences, the amount of paperwork and fast pace of working in local authority placement settings can be stressful for experienced practitioners let alone students with dyslexia. The increased levels of bureaucracy have placed staff well-being ‘on a precipice’ (Pascoe et al., 2022, p. 16) and ongoing assessment of student capabilities appears in many cases to be focused on hitting targets as opposed to building relationships.

Assessment tasks, whether on placement or at university needs to recognize the student as a ‘whole’ person, socially situated (McArthur, 2021) and consider ways in which engagement with tasks nurtures both individual and social wellbeing

Clearly a positive feeling of self-efficacy is essential for those with dyslexia wanting to develop their career and educational progress (Nalavany et al., 2018), and academic and placement staff have a role to play in facilitation and support.

However, the dominance of managerialism and increases in bureaucracy across the public sector, where many students spend their 100-day placement, increases the pressure to meet organizational targets as opposed to building relationships. As such, organizational pressures feel relentless and unforgiving. This research highlighted the additional exhaustion students with dyslexia experience (as well as the perceptions others have of dyslexia and the variety of presentation that exists among people with dyslexia). This research supports Isaac’s (2019) identification that challenges with concentration, memory retention and information processing are all common difficulties that run deep within the dyslexic experience and are not always fully appreciated. It was obvious throughout this research that dyslexia impacts a person 24 h a day, 7 days a week. Clearly then, to understand dyslexia and the impact it has on individuals we need to look holistically at the individual’s experiences and not simply limit it to educational challenges. More research is needed to explore the extent to which dyslexia has an impact on an individual’s whole-life experience. This will go some way to truly appreciating and understanding dyslexia, as acknowledgment of this perpetual difficulty is necessary for removal of unhelpful, inaccurate, and misguided stereotypes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Cheshire and Merseyside Social Work Teaching Partnership.