How do you read if the words jump around? The letters spin, scramble, and swirl?* What does it mean to hear sounds but not process them? To be able to hear the voice of someone speaking to you, but struggle to interpret what they say over the sounds of cars or construction? For some students–whether at Kent or worldwide–with dyslexia and auditory processing disorder (APD), this isn’t just a thought experiment. It’s daily life.
Still, conceptualizing neurodiverse experiences can be challenging for those of us who are neurotypical. Striving to bridge these gaps in understanding, Ms. Pendergast, Kent’s Associate Director for Learning Access, led Experiential Stations on Wednesday, December 10th, in honor of December being Disability Awareness Month. She hosted Dr. Dallett’s Honors English 2 students in the Library.
Ms. Pendergast began the discussion with a question: “What is dyslexia, and what is auditory processing disorder?” Silence filled the Library’s Mezzanine. After the pause, a few brave students presented fragments of what they knew. Dyslexia could involve challenges in reading, or needing extra time. APD was less well-known. Some made educated guesses–difficulties processing sounds? Or was it difficulty in hearing?
Finally, one student’s voice broke through the discussion–“I’m going to be honest, I don’t know exactly how to define either.” Nods and murmurs of agreement followed.
Luckily, as Ms. Pendergast explained, that’s what the stations were there for: helping students understand neurodiversity beyond just acknowledging it. Using a simulation of visual dyslexia provided by GitHub, the students had a few minutes to try and read the article and answer the corresponding questions on the worksheet. Quickly, groans of frustration filled the air. “I’m getting a headache just looking at it,” one student said. “Can the words stop moving?”
The APD simulation proved just as challenging. The recording Ms. Pendergast played told the story of Jack and Jill’s journey to the market, followed by brief comprehension questions. One of the questions at the end asked what seemed like a simple question: “What did Jack do when he saw the dog on the street?” It wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed. “…there was a dog?” a different student asked.
After experiencing the stations, students walked away with a greater awareness and knowledge of these neurotypes, including how dyslexia has multiple forms (e.g. phonological, visual, surface, etc), how there can be different degrees of dyslexia, and how APD differs from deafness in that people with APD can physically hear but may struggle in interpreting the sounds in complex contexts. Most importantly, Ms. Pendergast hoped they walked away with more empathy, seeing fragments of the worlds others experienced daily.
We still have a long way to go to spread awareness and cultivate empathetic understanding, especially when our preconceived perceptions, worldviews, and assumptions can subconsciously get in the way of compassion and understanding. Even the stations themselves aren’t fully representative–each neurodiverse person’s experience is different, even with the same diagnosis. No station can truly replicate a cognitive, internal experience. But I think we’ve begun to accomplish the first step–acknowledging what we don’t know, and seeking to fill those gaps. It is a responsibility we each bear, and one we can fulfill in small acts of compassion that show we care, whether in reading a short article about the types of dyslexia or admitting what you don’t know about others and asking them to clarify their experiences for you. I believe each of us can shape our collective culture in these small ways.
Take a minute to try to understand the person next to you–even when it’s not December, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Each time you do, we’re that much closer to building a more empathetic, inclusive community.
*representative of visual dyslexia, which is a less common form of dyslexia compared to other types like phonological (challenges in sounding out words, spelling, and converting letters to phonemes)
