Aglaia Stampoltzis

Greek university students with dyslexia: an interview study

This paper reports a study exploring the personal and educational experiences of Greek students with dyslexia in higher education. Interviews with 16 students with dyslexia (11 male and five female) were conducted to investigate how they experienced school, peer relations, labelling, family support, university, self‐esteem and how they made their future plans. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Primary school was remembered by interviewees as a series of unhappy and distressing memories that had a negative effect on their self‐esteem. As they grew older, problems were more limited to academic skills, and they developed friendships with peers. The time in which they were diagnosed as dyslexic was important because it opened the way to adaptation. Students with dyslexia experienced a variety of difficulties at university, and employed a number of coping strategies to deal with them. The findings of the present study seem to indicate that the recipe for a favourable outcome appears to be early diagnosis, explanation of the diagnosis to the student, parental support and suitable teaching and help at school and at university. Further research is needed into how to make schools and universities more ‘dyslexia friendly’, and on how the secondary effects of dyslexia can be reduced.

Psycho-social characteristics of children and adolescents with siblings on the autistic spectrum

This study investigates the psycho-social characteristics of typically developing children who have siblings with autism and their sibling relationship. Children’s adjustment at school, their self-esteem and social relations, as well as their friends’ attitudes towards their autistic siblings were examined. Participants were 22 siblings of children with autism, aged 8–18 years, 22 mothers and 22 fathers. Parents provided demographic information, and completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Sibling Inventory of Behaviour. Data from siblings of children with autism were based on a semi-structured interview, the Self-Perception Profile for Children and Adolescents and the Siblings Problems Questionnaire. Only few typically developing siblings of children with autism exhibit emotional and behavioural difficulties. The majority of them have a good relationship with their autistic brother or sister, although they mentioned changes in their daily routines. They also seem not to be satisfied in terms of peer acceptance skills and friendships. In addition, the results of the present study provide evidence for positive parental views on their typically developing children’s emotional and behavioural adjustment. These findings are important and need to be taken into account in order to assess functioning of all family members in families with autism spectrum children.