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    A dyslexic-type profile, anxiety and school-related stress in primary aged students : a New Zealand study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Educational Psychology at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Smith, Heather May
    The acknowledgement and identification of dyslexia are long overdue in New Zealand’s education system, and there is currently little understanding of the prevalence or emotional correlates of dyslexia in Aotearoa. Research offers a range of prevalence rates (3-20%), based on various operationalised definitions. The literature also suggests that a variety of emotional difficulties often co-exist with dyslexia, yet aspects of anxiety specific to research on primary school-aged groups are underrepresented in the literature. This study had two aims. First, this study aimed to identify the prevalence of a dyslexic- type profile (D-TP) in New Zealand for 8-10-year-old students. Secondly, this study explored the difference in anxiety and school-related stress experienced by students with a D-TP, when compared to generic poor readers and students with no significant reading difficulty. It was hypothesised that students with a D-TP will report significantly more anxiety and school-related stress than their peers. A quantitative approach, using Nicholson and Dymock’s (2015) SVR operationalised definition of dyslexia was employed with 54, 8 to 10-year-old students attending six different primary schools in the South Island of New Zealand, to establish a prevalence figure for a D-TP. Two standardised questionnaires (Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale and the School Situational Survey) were administered to all participants, to gauge group differences in anxiety, across six dimensions, and school-related stress, across seven dimensions. The results indicated an 11% prevalence rate for a D-TP, based on the SVR criteria: a figure that appears elevated in comparison to other countries; may only represent moderate to severe dyslexia, and is likely an underestimate of the prevalence of a D-TP. Questionnaire response analyses showed that the D-TP group reported significantly greater anxiety and school-related stress than their peer groups. The study contributes towards an understanding of how the SVR-based methodology may be utilised in New Zealand for 8 to10-year-olds as an assessment for the identification of a dyslexic-type profile. It is also concluded that students with a D-TP experience greater anxiety and school-related stress than poor readers and proficient readers: a feature that not only distinguishes this group but calls for awareness in relation to their well-being.
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    An aspect of the Japanese language in relation to dyslexia : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in Japanese at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1987) Roberts, Joan Gladys
    These studies were conducted to examine the processing of two kinds of Japanese orthography, namely, kanji and hiragana by a group of dyslexic Subjects and Subjects in a control group of similar age, in order to ascertain the effectiveness of hemispheric specialization. An analysis of variance showed that in visual-learning there was a significant main effect for script type for both groups, F(l,36), = 28.125, p < .001. There was also significance for the dyslexic group in verbal-recall, F(l,36), = 13.15, p < .001. There was a significant interaction between group and script for direction-orientation with kanji showing higher correct responses, F(l,36), = 4.142, p < .05. These results confirmed expectations based on research and also identified left brain (Right Hemisphere) strengths. Thus it seems that a much closer examination of learning styles and modes of learning is crucial for the dyslexic group. Japanese brain lateralization, seen to differ from Western lateralization, appears to be linked with environment which is closely related to language type. This study is an investigation from a culture-specific perspective with a consideration of neurolinguistics in cerebral hemispheric lateralization. This is considered in view of the existence of certain difficulties with regard to reading and the possible influence of life-style and familial career selections to which those difficulties might accrue.
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    "It's all of these puzzle pieces" : the representation and the manifest discourse of dyslexic experience : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Gibbons, Ruth
    Dyslexia as a term to define bodies has undergone various interpretations in the 120 years since it was first diagnosed (Shawitz 1996:98). The numbers of people calculated as dyslexic world wide ranges from 1 in 4 to 1 in 10 reflecting confusion about what dyslexia actually is, as well as issues around how people are diagnosed (Elliot and Grigorenko 2014:31-34). Research about dyslexa has happened in a variety of fields including education, psychology, and medicine but anthropology has been predominantly silent in the discourse of dyslexia. This thesis explores dyslexia from an anthropological perspective as embodied experience and expression through worlding. Through working collaboratively with people with dyslexia it explores intersubjective relationships, language expression, sensory awareness and being-in-the-world. A central part of this exploration was using art as a way to understand knowing (Rapport and Harris 2007, Hogan and Pink 2010), which expanded into explorations of how dyslexics attune sensory knowing and pay attention to all of the experiences of everyday life. Using art as an empathetic ethnographic invitation I discuss and explore dyslexia as a way of knowing and moving through the world. Therefore, I focus on dyslexia beyond a diagnosis into the way people inhabit and negotiate their experiences as complex, creative agents in their lifeworlds. The research covers creation of artworks, making new words to represent dyslexic experiences and many discussions late into the night. It has been a collaborative exploration of experience. From discussions of whether Giraffes need scarves through to declarations of “we are iron man” my collaborators have expressed their ways of being-in-the-world and this thesis engages with their dynamic ways of interpreting and knowing the world.
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    Aporia : [(Ancient Greek ἀπορία : “impasse, difficulty of passing, lack of resources, puzzlement”) denotes in philosophy a philosophical puzzle or state of puzzlement and in rhetoric a rhetorically useful expression of doubt. - Wikipedia ] : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Royal, Nigel
    This exegesis is the result of my investigation into self-reference and paradox to reflect the difficulties I experience with dyslexia, in it I am describing and manifesting my own doubts and anxiety when confronted with the task of producing this text based document. A circular discussion results, because to understand the problem one has to understand one’s own thinking, this is the loop that the dyslexic is stuck within when confronted by the medium of written language. In it I question the notion of ‘self’ said to be socially constructed through language as a way to manifest ‘affect’ within video installation space. What I have written about is the paradox of self-reference that exists within language that causes confusion between description of the world and the effect/affect of the infolding and out-folding of embodied experiences in space. When in the proximity of other bodies, objects, events, images and things.
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    The identification and classification of struggling readers based on the simple view of reading
    (John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2022-08) Sleeman M; Everatt J; Arrow A; Denston A
    The simple view of reading (SVR) predicts that reading difficulties can result from decoding difficulties, language comprehension difficulties, or a combination of these difficulties. However, classification studies have identified a fourth group of children whose reading difficulties are unexplained by the model. This may be due to the type of classification model used. The current research included 209 children in Grades 3–5 (8–10 years of age) from New Zealand. Children were classified using the traditional approach and a cluster analysis. In contrast to the traditional classification model, the cluster analysis approach eliminated the unexplained reading difficulties group, suggesting that poor readers can be accurately assigned to one of three groups, which are consistent with those predicted by the SVR. The second set of analyses compared the three poor reader groups across 14 measures of reading comprehension, decoding, language comprehension, phonological awareness, and rapid naming. All three groups demonstrated reading comprehension difficulties, but the dyslexia group showed particular weaknesses in word processing and phonological areas, the SCD group showed problems deriving meaning from oral language, and the mixed group showed general deficits in most measures. The findings suggest that the SVR does have the potential to determine reading profiles and differential intervention methods.