The Most Effective Strategies to Support the Mental Health of Dyslexic Childrens Mental Health in the Primary School Setting.

The Most Effective Strategies to Support the Mental Health of Dyslexic Childrens Mental Health in the Primary School Setting.

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List of Contents

Abstract2

Introduction3

Literature Review6

Definitional Issues and Ambiguity6

Relationship between Mental Health and Dyslexia9

Discussion13

Definitional Issues and Ambiguity13

Relationship between Mental Health and Dyslexia18

Conclusion23

References25

Appendices30

Abstract

Mental health and dyslexia are both issues which can affect many pupils throughout their education. For this reason, it is important to understand how mental health and dyslexia can impact one another and how to support them within the primary classroom. By analysing and comparing several existing research papers, this desktop study identifies themes of inconsistent definitions and use of terms and of a bi-directional relationship between mental health and dyslexia.

After comparing these themes within the literature to the authors preconceptions and prior knowledge, there appears to be a lack of research and overall importance afforded to the investigation of the mental health impacts of dyslexia and the strategies to support this. To combat this, more research that conflates the topics of dyslexia and mental health should be undertaken. Resulting from this additional research, educators themselves could then be better informed on which strategies are the most effective in supporting the mental health of dyslexic pupils in the primary school. If both recommendations were undertaken, then the more practical strategies to support the mental health of dyslexic pupils would become more apparent.

Introduction

The purpose of this assignment is to explore the most effective strategies to support the mental health of dyslexic pupils in the primary school setting, as identified from the literature and my own experiences. I chose this topic as both mental health and dyslexia are of particular interest to me as I aim to become an educational psychologist. Before undertaking the research portion of this project, it was important to identify any prior knowledge or preconceptions that might influence my interpretation of the literature.

From previous experiences and research undertaken during my degree, it is my understanding that dyslexiaisa specific learning difference (SpLD) that affects the way in which the brain processes and understands words, causing difficulties with word reading and spelling. Although phonological difficulties are the most prevalent difficulties in children with dyslexia, these children may also be affected by poor fine motor skills, poor co-ordination as well as difficulties with mathematical processing skills. Mental health is not to be confused with mental illness. Mental wellbeing is something which everyone will struggle with throughout their lifetime, just as people struggle with bouts of poor physical health. Mental health can be described as the ability to respond to challenges and contribute positively to society. There are various protective factors and risk factors that can contribute either positively or negatively to a childs mental health. It is my opinion that dyslexia can be a risk factor for mental health, but with the correct support in place, the school experience, even for children withSpLDs, can be a protective factor.

While dyslexiaisa well-knownSpLDand special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) education is much more prominent in initial teacher training courses, the support that is provided for children in schools can vary greatly. Furthermore, while mental wellbeing education is included in the Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculum, day-to-day mental health provision for primary-aged children does not appear to be prioritised. I believe this is due to the childrens age as serious mental health difficulties and illnesses, such as depression, are associated more so with adolescents and adults. Therefore, it is my preconception that the mental wellbeing of younger children, or indeed any young person within the education system, is sacrificed in the pursuit of academic achievement. This pressure could affect those withSpLDsmore as they struggle to achieve academically and could therefore be made to feel like failures, which would negatively impact their mental health. A further barrier to supporting the mental health of dyslexic pupils, given my prior knowledge and experience, could be the scarcity of educational psychologists available to observe, analyse and diagnose dyslexic pupils. In order to be provided with early intervention and adequate support, the child first needs to be diagnosed with aSpLDyet this is an area than many class teachers find frustrating.

Class teachers can also be incredibly overwhelmed in terms of workload that mental health problems in pupils can often go unnoticed, especially if they are not causing disruption within the lesson. Conversely, a child could be causing disruption due to emotional difficulties caused by an underlyingSpLD, such as dyslexia. However, only the secondary issue of behaviour manifestation is sometimes addressed, rather than the underlying cause. It is my opinion that if both the underlying cause of dyslexia and the secondary mental health difficulties are addressed, both these aspects would begin to improve.

After identifying my prior knowledge and ideas, as outlined above, I then conducted my desktop research study. From the literature, two main themes were identified which will be explored throughout the literature review and the discussion. The first theme is that there are definitional issues and ambiguities with the literature included in the review itself. The second theme is that there appears to be a distinct relationship between mental health and dyslexia which will be explored in further depth according to the literature. After discussing these themes in relation to the research, this paper will then draw comparisons between the content of the literature and my own prior knowledge and experiences to suggest answers to the research question.

Literature Review

Definitional Issues and Ambiguity

Out of the 23 pieces of literature included in this review, it is concerning that a great number of papers do not offer any definitions for the terms which they go on to discuss. This lack of clarification alongside an amalgamation of different and on occasion contradictory terminology, that may or may not relate to the same characteristic (we do not know, as there are few definitions offered), leads to a sense of ambiguity within the literature.

Terms such as reading difficulties, reading disabled, learning disabled and dyslexia are seemingly used interchangeably throughout the literatures (Elbaum and Vaugn, 2001; Miller et al., 2005;Polychroniat al., 2006; Grills-Taquechel et al., 2012). However, without the literature providing definitions for each of these terms, it is impossible to gauge whether this is in fact the case. Alexander-Passe (2008) recognises and briefly discusses the ambiguity surrounding the various terms used in literature and explains the differences between them, indicating that these terms are in fact not interchangeable. Rather, dyslexia and specific learning differences (SpLDs) are terms which are concerned with the broad range of difficulties that these disorders can encompass. They do not solely concern themselves with the poor phonological processes or poor literacy ability, but also consider difficulties with co-ordination and balance which are associated with neurological and phonological epidemiology (ibid).

However, even within the papers which offer definitions for dyslexia, some continue to negate the many difficulties that the disability encompasses outside the realm of literacy. For example, while Livingston et al (2018) do concede that a developmental dyslexia diagnosis can be accompanied by secondary difficulties in other areas of learning, such as mathematical reasoning, the paper does not acknowledge the wider reaching difficulties of dyslexia that exist outside the realm of academic ability. There are only a few papers that were considered for this research project that included symptomology of dyslexia that could impact mental health but not necessarily academic achievement, such as difficulties with short-term memory processing and fine motor skills (Boetsch et al., 1996; Naz and Habib, 1969). In order for the literature to be deemed useful in the study of this research question, it is important that the terms surroundingSpLDsand mental health difficulties are clarified so that the reader can assess the relevance.

Although the research papers referred to in this study would be primarily directed towards other academics as well as educators and other professionals in the sphere of special educational needs and inclusion, it should not be assumed that the readers know what is meant by dyslexia and how this differs from reading difficulties. This lack of definition regarding terms of neurological and phonological difficulties consequently impacts the level to which these papers could advance the research question. Out of the papers included in this review, only a limited number of authors (Naz & Habib,1969;Hornsby, 1988; Boetsch et al., 1996; Alexander-Passe,2004) offer cohesive and comprehensive definitions of dyslexia and its all-encompassing symptomology

This absence of a definition for terms is not only glaringly present in the pieces of literature discussing dyslexia and reading difficulties, but also those which introduce topics that relate to the mental health of children and, naturally, also in the literature that conflates the two ideas. Literature linking dyslexia to mental health is few and far between, however even those that do conflate the terms, do not do so explicitly. Many papers investigate the notion of self-concept in dyslexic children, or more generally children with learning disabilities (Westervelt at al., 1998; Elbaum and Vaugn, 2001;Polychroniat al., 2006). Only Elbaum and Vaugn (2001:304) provide a definition for self-concept, describing it as the way an individual perceives him- or herself...in reference to particular abilities. However, this paper along with the others which detail self-concept neglect to explicitly explain any direct links to mental health. Although poor self-concept can lead to poor self-esteem and, therefore, can have negative emotional and behavioural problems, this is not explicitly connected with mental health (Polychroniet all., 2006). Graham et al. (2011) offers a comprehensive definition of mental health being an individuals ability to deal with lifes stresses and recognise their own strengths and the contribution they make to society. Given this definition and the definition of self-concept provided above, it can be interpreted that self-concept contributes to an aspect of mental health. Yet, due to the lack of clarification of terms within the literature included in this review, this remains uncertain.

Even more concrete terms such as depression and anxiety are rarely followed by a definition. For example, Naz and Habib (1969) discussthat dyslexiacan enhance psychological distress and social problems within the classroom, leading to displays of anxiety symptoms. Yet no examples of anxiety symptoms are provided which makes the practical implications from this paper very limited. Furthermore, the paper recommends that teachers be educated, but the paper itself provides extremely limited discussion on the topic. Grills-Taquechel et al. (2012) highlight that anxiety concerns in dyslexic pupils can lead to comorbid social and emotional difficulties. Similar to this, Mammarella et al. (2016) discuss anxiety and depression in children with a variety of learning difficulties. Despite these papers focusing specifically on these comorbid mental health disorders, for which dyslexia is an increased risk factor, neither offer a definition for thetermsdepression and anxiety. Furthermore, Maxwell et al. (2008) specificallydiscusschildrens emotional wellbeing and mental health and does distinguish this from diagnosable mental disorders, but still do not offer a definition of what is meant by the termmental health. Other papers have the opposite problem and list the various emotional symptoms that children can display without discussing their mental health impact (Miller et al., 2005). The lack of consistency of which terms are used and defined creates an issue where it is difficult for the reader to assess which papers support one another as the links between them are tenuous due to the level of ambiguity. Moreover, this causes a direct difficulty when attempting to answer the research question posed by this paper as, without definitions of terms, it is difficult to discern which pieces of literature are relevant.

Relationship between Mental Health and Dyslexia

While not every piece of literature included in this review conflates specifically mental health and dyslexia, those that do suggest that there is a causal relationship between the two, with one exacerbating the symptoms of the other and vice versa (Riddick, 1996; Willcutt & Pennington, 2000; Alexander-Passe, 2016; Boyes et al., 2016; Hoult & Bohl, 2016; Boyes et al., 2018; National Institute for Health Research [NIHR], 2020). The presence of aSpLDor disability is a well-known risk factor for the development of mental health problems as it effects not only the physical wellbeing of the child, but also their emotional and social wellbeing (Boyes et al., 2016; NIHR, 2020). It is for this reason that there is an increased prevalence of mental health problems amongst children with dyslexia. However, the literature does not suggest that the diagnosis of dyslexia alone would have a negative mental health impact. Rather, there appears only to be a correlation between dyslexia and mental health problems when both the academic and psychosocial impacts of theSpLDare not accommodated for in the classroom.

A specific contributor to the mental health issues that can occur in children withSpLDis the stigma that can occur alongside dyslexia of being lazy or stupid (Alexander-Passe, n.d.; Riddick, 1996; Alexander-Passe, 2016). This can lead to bullying from both the childs class teacher and peers as well as a self-fulfilling prophecy of assumed failure. While this preconception of dyslexia from educators may seem unlikely, Riddick (1996) lists case studies in which teachers themselves admit they believe dyslexia to be a condition made up by overprotective parents to make excuses for lazy or stupid children. Without specifically stating whether these types of comments and misconceptions are still common in the classroom today, many authors (Alexander-Passe, 2016; Livingston, 2018; NIHR, 2020) suggest that teachers need greater education on SEND which implies that this could still be an issue. The fact that both Graham et al. (2011) and Hoult and Bohl (2016) must even recommend that educators show genuine care, support and encouragement for dyslexic pupils gives the impression that this is currently not the case in some circumstances. Furthermore, the literature states that dyslexic children can become the victim of bullying from their classmates as well as their teacher, yet the research included in this paper only recommends the further education of teachers (Alexander-Passe, n.d.; Alexander-Passe, 2008). Although not directly suggested as a strategy to support the mental health of children with dyslexia, educating their classmates so they do not stigmatise their disabled peers could mitigate against further mental health issues caused by bullying. Many of these research papers go so far as to identify the circumstances that would contribute to the poor mental health of dyslexic pupils but do not take the extra step to clarify the solution for these issues.

Nonetheless, the limited research that is available coupled with the fact that there is a lack of practical strategies suggested by the papers greatly decreases the extent to which these pieces of literature can contribute to answering the research question. This lack of research is also acknowledged within the papers themselves as well as the equivocal nature of the research (Riddick, 1996; Miller at al., 2005; Alexander-Passe, 2006; Boyes et al., 2016; Boyes et al., 2018). Miller et al. (2005) reference the fact that some studies show children with dyslexia have more depressive and anxious symptomology than average whereas other studies, including their own, find that dyslexic children are no more likely than neurotypical children to develop internalising symptoms. While highlighting the controversy within the literature, Miller et al. (2005) also acknowledges the various factors that could contribute to dyslexic pupils poor mental health, albeit without a definition of these terms or strategies to support them.

One of these contributors that is listed within various papers is self-esteem (Miller et al., 2005; Alexander-Passe, 2006;Polychroniet al., 2016; Alexander-Passe, 2016; Boyes et al., 2016; Boyes et al., 2018; NIHR, 2020). It is suggested by NIHR (2020) that low self-esteem within dyslexic children stems from the notion that they view themselves as failures and often lack confidence in academic activities. This expectation of failure can then lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy (Alexander-Passe, 2006). These claims are supported by the study conducted by Boyes et al. (2018) which found that externalising difficulties amongst poor readers were only reported when the child also had low levels of self-esteem. For this reason, the development of high self-esteem could help to mitigate the negative social and emotional impacts of poor reading and reading disabilities such as dyslexia (Alexander-Passe, 2006; Boyes et al., 2018). Nonetheless, there are no specific strategies suggested by these papers that discuss the impact of self-esteem that could be used practically within the classroom to increase self-esteem.

This is not only an issue with the literature that discusses the contribution that high or low self-esteem can make to the mental health of dyslexic pupils, but also with most of the literature included in this review. Only Alexander-Passe (n.d.), Alexander-Passe (2008) and Livingston et al. (2018) offer non-vague, specific strategies that could be use in the primary classroom environment to support the mental health of dyslexic pupils. It is relatively clear from the research included in this review that there is a connection between mental health and dyslexia, but the lack of strategies recommended shows that this connection requires greater research in order to be useful in both answering the research question posed by this paper and also in a practical sense for educators. It is near impossible to compare and comment on the effectiveness of strategies to support the mental health of dyslexic pupils when there are very few strategies suggested by the literature included in this review.

Discussion

Introduction

After overviewing the literature used for this research project, this section will now discuss the literature in relation to my own experiences and prior knowledge, some of which was identified in the introduction of this paper. This will include a comparison of my own ideas regarding mental health and dyslexia, and the strategies to support children whodisplaysymptoms of mental health and dyslexia in the primary school setting, with what the literature states or suggests. Whilst identifying similarities and differences, this section will strive to explain why these similarities and differences might exist as well as suggesting ways in which to improve classroom practise and how future research could help to expand on my research question.

Definitional Issues and Ambiguity

As identified in the literature review, there is a lack of continuity within the literature around which terms are used to refer to dyslexia and reading disabilities, which is compounded by the fact that there are many instances in which the terms used in the literature papers are not defined. Therefore, this section of the discussion will compare my prior knowledge and experience to papers which either do not refer specifically to mental health, dyslexia, or both, given the effectiveness of suggested strategies from the literature for children with reading difficulties and/or dyslexia.

One of the similarities I identified between the literature and my own knowledge is that academic pressure placed on pupils from a young age above all else can negatively impact their mental health. Grills-Taquechel et al. (2012) discuss how this relationship between attainment in reading and anxiety specifically may have a bi-directional influence as increased anxiety can impede performance and poor performance can likewise increase anxiety. Furthermore, children in academic years 3-5 exhibit the highest levels of stress, specifically regarding interactions with teachers and concerns over performance testing (Alexander-Passe, 2008). After studying the curriculum in detail through my university course, I view the education system in this country to be designed on an industrial-revolution model and children are churned out factory-style to be carbon-copies of one another. Students complete multiple summative assessments throughout their schooling which, if they dont perform well in, can cause them to view themselves as failures.

This is a significant issue when discussing the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as the fear of being seen as different to their peers or underachieving academically is one that can significantly affect their mental health, as children begin to make social comparisons as young as eight-years-old (Polychroniet al., 2006). Furthermore, pupils with reading difficulties, disabilities or dyslexia are particularly affected by this as reading and writing skills seem to be a critical element of academic success, or indeed success on a much broader scale in later life. Almost every subject within the National Curriculum relies on a strong foundation in literacy and, therefore, if a pupil is dyslexic, they would not only be struggling with literacy but also with every other subject on the timetable. However, there is a striking lack of acknowledgement of this within many of the papers included in this research project and the focus mostly rests on reading ability and attainment. This negation of the other hardships caused by reading difficulties and dyslexia reflects the way in which literacy attainment is placed on a pedestal within education even mathematics lessons must include word problems for children to solve. If a child with dyslexia is not catered for appropriately, the entire curriculum would become inaccessible to them which could greatly impact their mental health. However, even similarities between my own experiences and the literature are difficult to evaluate since many of these research papers do not offer definitions for the terms they use, as discussed in the literature review.

Nevertheless, this absence of definitions or explanations of terms such as anxiety, self-concept and mental health problems within the literature is indicative of the lack of importance given to these issues with education. While personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is now compulsory in primary schools in the U.K., this subject is designed to help pupils develop the skills and knowledge needed to keep themselves safe and healthy throughout life. PSHE can teach pupils about mental health and mental illness but, intrinsically, it is not a means by which to support the mental health of children in the classroom. During my limited time in a school, I have not witnessed a PSHE lesson that focussed on the mental health of pupils being taught nor have I witnessed any mention of childrens mental health. This could be because some teachers do not view supporting pupils mental health to be part of their role (Graham et al., 2011). Contrary to this, Boyes et al. (2016) state that mental health promotion should be embedded into the curriculum and delivered by school staff and that this can help to reduce mental health problems. However, there has been too few empirical studies conducted on teachers views regarding their role and mental health promotion to effectively evaluate what the teachers role is or should be (Graham et al., 2011). Once again, this lack of research could be related to the lack of importance assigned to the mental health of primary-aged pupils. Mental health of teenagers and adults is regarded as an important issue, as it should be. After taking a course in supporting childrens wellbeing as part of my continuing professional development, I was surprised to learn that the proportion of under-16s experiencing any mental disorder has risen from 11.4% to 13.6% between 1999 and 2017. It appears that this fact is one that not many teachers nor researchers appear to be aware of either as it is rarely mentioned in the literature. A potential explanation for this could be that, while initial teacher training courses have implemented a lot of content on SEND, very little attention is afforded to how teachers can impact the mental health and wellbeing of their pupils, both positively and negatively. Therefore, the mental health of pupils in school and the teachers role regarding this could be highlighted much earlier on in teachers careers. This is similar to a strategy which Elbaum and Vaugn (2001) recommend by stating that mediated interventions that involve more training for teachers should be implemented.

This training could involve educating teachers on the emotional impact of dyslexia and the externalising and internalising signs of deteriorating mental health in children (Livingston et al., 2018). Alexander-Passe (2008) discusses the manifestations of stress amongst school-aged students with dyslexia. Stress itself is not a mental health disorder but high stress levels can contribute to poor mental wellbeing if the person experiencing them does not have adequate coping mechanisms. As children do not fully develop until much later in their lives, pupils in primary school lack the coping mechanisms which would enable them to deal with stressful or emotionally fraught situations, or they just do not know how to express their emotions in general. This can lead to externalising behaviours such as temper tantrums, irritability and refusal to do schoolwork. For pupils withSpLDssuch as dyslexia, these secondary difficulties often get treated first as they cause the most disruption, rather than the underlying condition of dyslexia (Alexander-Passe, n.d.). Children with poor reading ability are also at elevated risk of developing secondary mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, which can be characterised by similar externalising behaviours to those mentioned above (Bayes et al., 2018). Moreover, as dyslexia is a hidden disability, it is more likely to be discriminated against (Alexander-Passe, 2008). This is supported by my personal experience and connection with dyslexic adults who were not diagnosed until much further in their academic career and struggled silently throughout their primary-school years. Dyslexia and other learning disabilities can also present the opposite problem of internalising behaviours, such as being quiet, not volunteering answers or focussing immensely hard on creating perfect work to ensure their difficulty is not noticed. Similarly, these pupils can also go unnoticed due to the fact they are not causing disruption. Both the signs of dyslexia as well as internalising and externalising disorders should be more universally taught to educators and school staff so that any issues can be remediated as soon as possible, as early identification and prevention of mental health manifestations is crucial to students wellbeing and overall advancements (Livingston et al., 2018).

Elbaum and Vaugn (2001) also suggest strategies such as computer-assisted instruction to help remediate the academic difficulties of learning disabilities. Although their paper investigates learning disabilities more broadly, I am aware that computerised systems can also assist dyslexic pupils in the classroom. One example of a program would be Clicker 6 which encompasses many strategies that after often used in paper-form in the classroom, such as word- and picture-banks. However, this system also has a text-to-speech function and word prediction. Word-processing systems such as Clicker 6 can positively help to improve the literacy skills and confidence of children with dyslexia, simultaneously supporting both their academic attainment and mental health. While this strategy recommended to help children with learning disabilities can easily be adapted for dyslexic pupils, the same cannot be said for other pieces of literature. There are very few papers included in this research paper that recommend strategies to support the mental health of dyslexic pupils, and even those that do are clouded by ambiguity as there is a lack of cohesion between whether the papers are, in fact, discussing dyslexia or just reading difficulties in general and if reading disabilities refers specifically to dyslexia or otherSpLDs. This causes issues in assessing the similarities and differences between the papers and my own knowledge as it is unclear whether strategies suggested for pupils with reading difficulties would be effective for those with dyslexia.

Relationship Between Mental Health and Dyslexia

As examined in the literature review, there appears to be suggestions of a bi-directional relationship between mental health and dyslexia as the symptoms of one can exacerbate the other if adequate support is not provided. Although the scarcity of research means that this relationship cannot be proven with a high level of validity, this relationship is one that I believe to be an important issue but one that is often overlooked in both research and classroom practises. The reasons for this relationship have previously been discussed yet they directly link to the potential strategies to support the mental health of dyslexic pupils. For example, children with dyslexia will often use avoidance techniques, such as sharpening pencils or working slowly, to cover-up their academic difficulties. This is often due to an expectation of failure which can stem from poor self-esteem and anxiety related to perceived poor academic ability (NIHR, 2020). It is for this reason that teacher expectations and attitudes should be reframed to help children withSpLDsfeel more included in the classroom (Alexander-Passe, n.d.; Livingston et al., 2018). This change in expectation should come as a result of further education for educators on the emotional and psychological impacts of having dyslexia (Naz & Habib, 1969; Alexander-Passe, 2004; Alexander-Passe, 2016).

Ideally, this education would enable teachers to be more understanding and receptive to the difficulties and frustrations that dyslexic pupils face daily. This recognition of hardships would be the first step to providing remedial support for the emotional impacts as if teachers do not believe that dyslexia can contribute to mental health difficulties, then they would not be motivated or even able to provide support for them. This acknowledgement and awareness from educatorsisalso recommended by Riddick (1996) and Alexander-Passe (2004). By acknowledging the specific difficulties that occur alongside dyslexia, the teacher can then begin to develop specific strategies to accommodate for them. An example of a strategy from the literature that is similar to my prior knowledge and experience is the need to praise and reward effort over academic achievements (Hoult & Bohl, 2016). Too often in my experience in schools, children are rewarded for good behaviour and academic achievement above all else. While this can be an effective behaviour management tactic and one which many initial teacher training courses advise student teachers to use, it has the potential to marginalise many pupils in the class and particularly those who may display externalising symptoms relating to theirSpLD. Therefore, a more inclusive strategy that would help to support the mental health of not just dyslexic pupils but also that of all the students would be to tailor praise to the individual and reward effort over achievement. This would help to improve the self-concept of dyslexic pupils (which is known to be linked with self-esteem and emotional and behavioural issues), as they would no longer associate success purely with performing well academically but more so with personal effort. (Polychroniet al., 2006).

Similarly, positive recognition and feedback is an approach which I have come across during placement and when conducting this research. Alexander-Passe (2004) recommends that for every negative comment, there should be three praises. This is like the three stars and a wish method that is often used in primary schools. While this can be effective for all children as a means of positive reinforcement, it is particularly useful for dyslexic pupils (who can often lack self-esteem and feel like failures) to have their strengths recognised. Identifying and incorporating the strengths of dyslexic pupils into their curricular and extra-curricular activities is a means by which to increase their motivation and buffer the negative emotional impacts of theirSpLDas it would greatly improve the teacher-student relationship (Naz & Habib, 1969; Alexander-Passe, 2016; Hoult & Bohl, 2016). This would have a positive impact on both the primary symptoms of dyslexia and the secondary mental health difficulties as the children would become more interested in their work and from prior research during my degree, I am aware that when a topic involves a childs interests, they are more likely to remember what they were taught. This may lead to improvements in the poor short term memory skills which can be caused by dyslexia. Furthermore, the child would feel listened to and appreciated by the teacher and having a stable adult, such as a teacher, to form positive attachments towards can help improve mental wellbeing.

However, there are strategies suggested by the literature that can have negative as well as positive effects, yet the potentially negative effect of these strategies is not acknowledged. For example, Hornsby (1988) and Alexander-Passe (2008) suggest that seating the child at the front of the class could be a strategy to help support the emotional manifestations of dyslexia. However, despite previously acknowledging that dyslexic children can face humiliation and bullying from both peers and teachers, there is no acknowledgement of the fact that being placed at the front of the class could lead to the child being singled-out and picked on more. A further difference between my experience and the research included in this paper is that many of the strategies suggest by the literature is incredibly vague. I have seen many specific strategies used on placement to support dyslexia andSpLDssuch as the use of coloured overlays, cumulative instruction through a spiral curriculum and the use of multisensory activities. There is no mention of any of these well-known strategies in literature that discusses the need to provide support for dyslexia while simultaneously providing support for mental health difficulties. A reason for this could be that the authors are simply assuming that the reader of the article is already aware of dyslexia and the best strategies to support it and therefore, there is no need to explore the strategies in depth. However, in papers such as those authored by Maxell et al. (2008) and Alexander-Passe (2004), there are examples of therapeutic remediation to aid the mental wellbeing of dyslexic pupils, such as providing counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). These are recommended to be used alongside interventions to focus on accommodating for the symptoms of dyslexia. Yet, there are scarce examples of what exactly these interventions should entail. This makes evaluating similarities and differences between the strategies difficult as there is a lack of specific strategies being suggested in the literature.

One of the most, if not the most, recommended strategies to support the mental health of dyslexic pupils is early identification of and intervention for theSpLD(Hornsby, 1988; Riddick, 1996; Alexander-Passe, 2004; Maxwell et al., 2008; Livingston et al, 2018; NIHR, 2020). While this is most definitely the most important means of managing the risk of developing mental health problems for dyslexic children, the reality differs greatly from the research. Whilst on placement, I have had numerous discussions with teachers who believe a child in their class has a form of SEND. However, there continue to be issues in receiving a diagnosis due to the lack of availability of educational psychologists. Unfortunately, there is a lot of bureaucracy surrounding receiving a diagnosis and, although educators may suspect that a child may have aSpLD, teachers and schools are not equipped to diagnose pupils and rely on outside agencies. It is nave of the literature to continue to state that early identification is the leading strategy of supporting dyslexic pupils without acknowledging the difficulties that schools and individual teachers face in attempting to gain an official identification.

Conclusion

Many primary-aged students are affected by SpLDs such as dyslexia. Many primary-aged students can also be affected by mental health difficulties. It is not unreasonable to suggest, as this paper does, that there is a connection between the two topics. If there is, indeed, a relationship mental health and dyslexia then it is important to identify strategies to support pupils who displays, or is at risk of displaying, concerns in both areas. Despite developments in educating student teachers on SEND, including dyslexia, the practicality of the support that can be provided is limited. This is because early identification is the first step to support the mental wellbeing and academic difficulties of dyslexia. However, depending on the childs age, a student with dyslexia could go through years of education without sufficient support. This has the potential to significantly impact their mental health in a negative manner.

Without more research available on how to support the mental health of children with dyslexia, the reality is that their mental health may not be adequately supported. Without educating both student and qualified teachers on the intricacies of supporting the mental wellbeing of primary children, especially those with SpLDs, the reality is that both mental health and SEND concerns could be overlooked. Furthermore, the research that is available is less than consistent in not only offering definitions for the terms that are used within it but also in suggesting strategies to support the mental health of dyslexic pupils.

This desktop study cannot fill the gap in the research or contribute to the emergent research that links mental health and dyslexia. However, it can suggest that the most effective strategy to support the mental health of dyslexia pupils is, first and foremost, is to profess the importance of conducting more research in this area. This increase in research would, hopefully, lead to more strategies being investigated and suggested. A potential area of research could be to investigate whether strategies to support reading difficulties can be effective in supporting children with dyslexia. This could help increase the usefulness of certain studies that focus solely on reading difficulties.

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Assignment Guidance (Desktop Research)

Unless otherwise stated by your supervisor you must include all of the sections shown below. Under the guidance of your supervisor, you are free to consider different ways of undertaking each of the sections.

The learning outcomes for this module are shown at the bottom of this document.

Your research project should not exceed 6000 words

Ethics submission date: Friday 23rd February, 5pm 2024 (this is the ethics application submission date, not the date by which you need to gain ethical approval)

Research project submission date: Thursday 2nd May, 2pm 2024

Title Content Suggested

word allocation

Cover page Assignment title; your student number.

Not included in word count

Acknowledgements Only to be included if you wish to thank people for their support.

List of Contents Ensure everything is listed. Start each main section on a new page (Introduction, Literature review etc.)

Lists of Tables and Figures Only to be used if required. Ensure that labelling is as follows: Table 1, Table 2, etc; Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.

Be advised by your supervisor regarding tense and person. Employ the same style as an academic journal article abstract, describing what your research project is about, what you have said in your literature review, discussion and conclusion..

150-200 (approx.)

Introduction the purpose of this section is to briefly overview what your project is about. Additionally, you should say why your chosen area of study is of particular interest to you. Lastly, you should briefly summarise the sections that follow.

Literature review the purpose of this section is to consider the extent to which the literature has considered your research question. You should keep your research question in mind when writing this section.

Here is an example research question: what are the most effective strategies for supporting primary age childrens understanding of mathematical problem solving within the classroom?

Based on this example, you could consider whether or not authors have considered the effectiveness of strategies, ways of supporting children, and, have authors explained what they mean by understanding. They may have left these terms undefined and just assumed that everyone knows what they mean. You can comment on this. Further, you could consider whether or not the literature has explained any strategies clearly. For example, they may just say something like, children can draw problems to help them understand, but, not say whether the teacher should or should not model this process. Also, you could consider whether the literature has made it clear whether or not they are talking about primary age children. Further, authors may or may not say whether they are talking about problem solving specifically. Again, you can comment on this.

Discussion the purpose of this section is to compare your experiences whilst on placement and/or your own ideas about your area of research to what the literature included in your literature review is saying. In other words, say what the differences and similarities are between your experiences/your own ideas, and, what the literature is saying. You can draw on your Y1, Y2, Y3 placements and any other experience that you have of being in schools.

To develop your comparison, try to explain why there may be differences and similarities between your experiences/your ideas, and, what the literature is saying.

Follow this, and based on your comparison of your experiences/your own ideas and what the literature is saying, you can further develop your discussion by making suggestions regarding what you think would constitute good classroom practice.

Conclusion - this section should be an interesting and thought-provoking summary of your work. You should discuss the significance and the limitations of your research and how it might be improved should you repeat it. Outline further, more extensive, research that might be undertaken. You could suggest some future research questions that would build on your own research.

300 (approx.)

2,500 (approx.)

2,600 (approx.)

400 (approx.)

References List only those references cited in the study; do not include a bibliography. Ensure you have employed the required referencing style.

Not included in word count

Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate enhanced knowledge and understanding and skills in an area of primary education and/or a subject specialism; (1b,g)

Engage competently with complex theory and relate, where appropriate, to practice; (2b,d)

Provide coherent argument showing evidence of criticality and supported by relevant research evidence; (2b)

Carry out a self-initiated, independent research project to inform own learning and understanding; (4e)

Present complex information, data and ideas in a written form using ICT where appropriate; (4b)

Demonstrate organisational skills for effective management of own learning. (4d)