ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the effect of dyslexia on acting students within the environment of actor training in higher education. It describes the current situation with the numbers of dyslexic students in the UK and the experience of some voice and acting teachers with dyslexic students in the USA. Drawing attention to the UK Disability Discrimination Act, the need for ‘reasonable adjustments’, and the removal of barriers for those with disabilities, it discusses the difficulties dyslexia presents in reading, articulation, and communication of the written text, with accompanying effects of anxiety and lack of confidence. Positive abilities said to accompany dyslexia (and noted by the author in some acting students with dyslexia) are also highlighted. A description of dyslexia is given, including the arguments for and against it, and the dominant theories of dyslexia are presented. The methods of assessing dyslexia through the measurement of IQ, the spikey profile of the discrepancy model, and the contention surrounding this are discussed. Finally, the need for the facilitation of those with SpLD and dyslexia to be based on research, evidence, and an individual ideographic approach is underlined, rather than relying on generic methods of support.
