Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2002, Side 248

VIÐHORF O G BJARGARHÆTTIR FULLORÐINNA LESHAMLAÐRA ÍSLENDINGA
ABSTRACT
The topic of this research was attitudes and daily strategies of adult dyslexics in
Iceland. It was carried out in March-August 2001. The participants were 61 native
Icelanders who had a history of difficulties in reading and writing. Participants were
sampled by convenience, with local special education teachers as go-betweens.
Additionally, two local papers urged adult dyslexics to contact the researcher and
take part. Information was gathered by a questionnaire, which the participants re-
turned anonymously by mail. Six participants, three of each gender, were
additionally taken into a semi-structured interview. The questionnaire contained
both statements and questions (open and half-open), which spanned the participants'
school-years and also the time that had passed since they left school. In the statem-
ents there were five possibilities of answering (the Likert scale). The hypothesis was
that life in the countryside would be less complicated and the hindrances the dys-
lexics met fewer, resulting in more self-reliance and better self-concept, compared to
that of the dyslexics in the Reykjavfk city area. This hypothesis was not supported by
the results, there being no difference between the countryside and the city.
The results differed from those of corresponding research results from other
countries in two respects: The majority of Icelandic participants replied that their
status among peers was good and also they did not seem to believe that reading and
writing difficulties would be a hindrance on their way to professional success. In
other respects the results were similar to those from other countries: The majority
stated that dyslexia had had a major impact on their lives. It had, for example, been
an obstruction to further education and limited their choice of career. Nearly 30% of
the participants mentioned that dyslexia had had a negative effect on their self-
concept and reduced their self-reliance, even causing anxiety and depression. There
was a statistically significant difference between the younger and older age-groups in
this respect, the younger feeling more self-reliant. Most of the participants also
mentioned that, due to dyslexia, they had been emotionally troubled in school, and
also that the school had neither offered them enough support nor had their parents
received instruction or guidance. About 50% of those who had taken part in remedial
instruction claimed that it had been of no avail, but they failed to give grounds for
this opinion. There was no difference between age-groups. Further research is needed
for explaining why remedial instruction is rated so low.
Marjatta ísberg er
sérkennari í Digranesskóla
og stundar jafnframt rannsóknir í dyslexíu