The Yale Outcome Study: Outcomes for Graduates with and without Dyslexia

Sally E Shaywitz,John M Holahan,Bennett A Shaywitz,Blair Kenney

doi:10.1007/s40817-020-00094-3

Sally E Shaywitz, John M Holahan + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40817-020-00094-3

Copy DOI

Abstract

Dyslexia is defined in recent federal legislation as an unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader. Despite its high prevalence (20%), there have been few studies of the experience and outcome of dyslexic students at selective 4-year colleges. We examined academic and social experiences in college and outcome in the workplace 5 or more years after graduation in Yale graduates with dyslexia compared with a matched group of Yale graduates who were typical readers. Dyslexic college graduates did not differ from typical graduates in college and the workplace. Parents of dyslexic children often ask about their child’s future. These findings should reassure those professionals (including pediatric neuropsychologists, school psychologists and pediatricians) that dyslexic students can be successful in school and go on to succeed and thrive at selective colleges.

Highlights

Dyslexia is defined in recent federal legislation as an unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader
School psychologists, pediatricians, and other professionals are often consulted by parents concerned about their dyslexic children in the kindergarten to 12th grade years but worried about their futures after high school, for example, college admissions and career possibilities
Compared with their non-dyslexic fellow Yale graduates, the dyslexic alums showed a trend toward higher overall self-esteem when they were in college

Summary

Introduction

Dyslexia is defined in recent federal legislation as an unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader. Parents of dyslexic children often ask about their child’s future These findings should reassure those professionals (including pediatric neuropsychologists, school psychologists and pediatricians) that dyslexic students can be successful in school and go on to succeed and thrive at selective colleges. School psychologists, pediatricians, and other professionals are often consulted by parents concerned about their dyslexic children in the kindergarten to 12th grade years but worried about their futures after high school, for example, college admissions and career possibilities. Much of this worry can be traced back to the well-founded knowledge that dyslexic readers typically are not automatic readers, but rather are slow readers. We hypothesized that dyslexic college students admitted to a selective college would do well academically and socially and would be successful following graduation

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion