Adult Dyslexia Organisation

DYSLEXIA IN PRISONS

Great interest is currently being shown in identifying and addressing the issue of dyslexia within the offending population. The Dyspel project, for example, seeks to direct dyslexic Young Offenders to appropriate college courses rather than imposing a traditional non-custodial sentence such as community service. The results, judged by the fall in re-offending figures, show that this approach is working.

We at the Adult Dyslexia Organisation are primarily concerned with the greater numbers of offenders within the prison system. To that end we have piloted a dyslexia screening checklist, formulated a 7 stage Dyslexia in Prisons Project and are working with Skills for Life to ensure that dyslexia is included in their programmes. Underachievement in literacy skills, leading to disaffection with schooling, truanting or exclusion followed by petty crime seems to be a common picture.

Our first step, however, was to devise a questionnaire to prison education departments to ascertain existing levels of support for dyslexic inmates and how the needs of this population were perceived. Two screening checklists have been developed a short one (for the Northern Ireland Prison Service) and a more comprehensive tool for the Greater Manchester Probation Service. Both models are now widely used.

Of course, none of the above strategies can be implemented without funding and the commitment of both the Home Office and individual governors to do something about their dyslexic population who, frequently unable to gain the skills required by the workplace, are more likely to return to crime.

Details of the Screening Checklist

The short checklist has been devised and piloted by ADO Special Adviser, Melanie Jameson (who has nearly 20 years experience of assessing and teaching people with dyslexia and delivering training / consultancy), at Lancaster Farms Young Offenders Institution. For convenience, it was administered during the induction period, following the Basic Skills Literacy and Numeracy screening and was presented as a questionnaire to “shape” the education programme rather than as a checklist for dyslexia. This discreet approach was taken for two reasons:
• firstly, offenders would become alarmed if they suspected they had some condition they did not understand;
• secondly, with no system in place to support dyslexic offenders and no time to deliver feedback from the checklist, there was no point in raising expectations that dyslexic difficulties could be addressed.
The questions also test for the presence of 2 factors which can overlap with dyslexia, both of which, in the preliminary analysis, were confirmed as being present in high numbers in the sample:
• the high incidence of attentional dysfunction
• the presence of visual anomalies amongst the dyslexic population.

This checklist differs from more conventional dyslexia checklists in that these factors are all touched on in addition to recognition of the “gifts” of dyslexia which so often remain undeveloped and undervalued. It is designed to stand alone or function as a component of the 7 stage Dyslexia in Prisons Project referred to above.

Analysis of pilot responses showed that 60% of offenders indicated 5 or more substantial dyslexic indicators out of a possible 12; this compares with the Dyspel figure of 52% out of a sample of 150.

It should be noted that, as in the medical sphere, screening is designed to provide some indication of who merits further investigation - in this case an assessment to determine whether dyslexia is present. If accuracy is made paramount, detail will increase and the rapid convenient nature of the screening tool will be lost. Our screening tool is therefore designed to be easy to administer and to indicate a strong likelihood of dyslexia.

Assessment of dyslexia in prisons

We believe that the conventional but costly psychological assessment consisting of a series of IQ tests is not appropriate. The style of a tutor assessment, in which dyslexic characteristics are noted, described and the degree of severity indicated, is much more useful in a prison setting. It is essential that recommendations are made which can be implemented by those who will be carrying out the tutoring or training within the institution.

Counselling may also be needed at this sensitive time. Recommendations should also look to future employment and the ways in which dyslexia affect the daily life of the individual. Some post-release support, such as the Adult Dyslexia Organisation helpline and/or a local support group will be essential in some cases.

For feedback, further discussion or training please contact: In the first instance Melanie Jameson BA, PGCE, Dip OCR in SpLD, AMBDA

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