The Iowa Reading Research Center has recently released a new Learning Disability Hub, providing resources to support students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia and dysgraphia. In a 2022 article published in Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, IRRC Research Fellow Seth King shares his experiences of being a twice-exceptional student with dysgraphia while providing an overview of issues in special and gifted education. In tandem with the release of the Learning Disability Hub, we are further highlighting Seth’s experiences to expand understanding of dysgraphia and explore ways to support students with dysgraphia.
Important literacy terms are bolded throughout this post, and definitions of these terms are included at the end of the article in the “Terms to Know” section.
Q & A
Tell Me a Bit About Who You Are and What You Do.
My name is Seth King. I am a Full Professor of Special Education at the University of Iowa, where I also coordinate its applied behavior analysis (ABA) program. I’ve worked as a faculty member since 2014. My research interests are broad. Recently, I’ve been studying how virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and other technologies can be used in teacher preparation. Before entering higher education, I worked as a special educator for children in residential mental health facilities.
In Your 2022 Article, You Write About Being Diagnosed With a Learning Disability in Third Grade. Can You Tell Me a Bit About Your Learning Disability and How It Impacted Your Experience in School?
I think some important context for the article is that I was identified as having a learning disability and being academically gifted, or “twice exceptional.” As I discuss in the article, this really wasn’t something that was widely recognized at the time. My school first maintained that I had to either choose special education services or be involved in the gifted program: I couldn’t do both. It was only after several heated discussions that my mother convinced them I could do both.
I remember the testing process, and how I thought it was strange. They checked my hearing, because I was apparently having audio processing issues. They discovered these issues were not related to my physical ability to hear. I also had some chats with the school psychologist about my interests, which is one of the ways they determined my comprehension and language abilities were much greater than my performance in some areas, such as handwriting, would suggest. None of this showed up on my grades, of course. I was very disorganized and struggled in most subjects until about the third grade. A pivotal moment was when I practiced words for the spelling test with one of my mother’s friends. We broke the words apart phonetically, which is not something I had been taught to do in school. After spelling tests, my classroom teacher used to call out the names of people who made a 100. My name never got called, of course. But the first spelling test I took after practicing, I made a 100, and when the teacher called my name, everyone whipped their head around to look at me in surprise. It was a good feeling.
I want to mention that I was in school during the late 80s-early 90s, and things have definitely changed since then. But when someone is telling you that you’re only in a classroom because you have high scores on something, and that, otherwise, they might take you out of general education, everything becomes high stakes. I remember becoming very distraught about my performance in math and other subjects, because I was afraid they would take me out of class. This was a problem because, in addition to my issues with handwriting, I was also not very good in math. Just not in an exceptional way!
For handwriting, I had a lot of dedicated time to practicing outside of class. I used to reverse my letters and had difficulty writing between the lines. So, I spent a lot of time copying letters. I imagine that would have continued had the age of personal computers not coincided with my coming of age. I remember one specialist telling my mother and me, around grade four or so, that I should stop working on handwriting and focus on typing, because the only thing I would ever have to write at a certain point was my name. My handwriting is still atrocious.
In Your 2022 Article, You Describe How Your Mother Advocated Against Your Evaluation Committee’s Recommendation to Place You Outside of General Education Settings for 60% of Your School Day. Why Was It Important for You to Spend More Time in Gen-Ed Settings?
In elementary school, all your subjects are together, and if they’re taking you out for everything, you’re missing a lot of the more advanced material that doesn’t necessarily pertain to the area you need special assistance with. There was also a social aspect. I wanted to be around my friends, or at least, didn’t want to be singled out.
What Is One Misconception That People Have About Dysgraphia or One Thing That You Would Like People to Understand More About It?
I would say the biggest thing is that learning disabilities aren’t pervasive. Meaning, just because you have one, that doesn’t mean it necessarily affects every other area of your life. On the other hand, I do have a few processing issues that didn’t necessarily manifest in the writing, so just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
I spoke at the Belin-Blank Center a few years ago. Belin-Blank is the University of Iowa’s center for gifted education and talent development. There was a panel with several students who were also twice exceptional. One thing that resonated with me was that some of them strongly identified as having a disability, and others kind of forgot they had it. I would say I was closer to the last group—once I learned how to type, it was easy to forget I had even been identified. I stopped receiving special education services by middle school.
What Supports and/or Accommodations Did You Receive During Your Schooling That You Found Beneficial?
Having time outside of class to work on my handwriting was helpful. I also had additional meetings with my mother and school personnel where we talked about challenges I was experiencing.
Tell Me About a Teacher Who Had a Positive Impact on You.
It’s difficult to think of just one. I feel very fortunate for having a lot of good teachers. In elementary school, there was Mrs. Williams, Mary Lou Furr, Mrs. Vaughn, Spencer Clary, Kevin McCloy, lots of folks. I would say the qualities that I remember about them were that they tried to make learning interesting, supported me when I needed it, and called me out when they thought I could do better.
What Supports and/or Accommodations Would You Have Liked to Have During Your Schooling?
I probably could have used a little more support for social skills and organization. I’m the type of person that keeps all of his assignments wedged in his textbook until they become an unrecognizable mess. Computers really do a lot of work that gets taken for granted—I often think I would have had a lot more trouble in a different era.
In Your 2022 Article, You Write That You Did Not Identify as Twice Exceptional Until Representing Special Educators at the Summit on the Neuroscience of Twice-Exceptionality. How Has Your Deepened Understanding of Twice-Exceptionality Impacted Your Perspective on Special and Gifted Education?
It definitely helps me understand special education as something that people need until they don’t; I think it is important for people in the service professions to realize that just because people need support and want support, that doesn’t mean they don’t want it on their own terms. I don’t want to speak for some of the other people in that session, but the theme seemed to be that the help was appreciated; it just can’t get in the way of things that are important to us.
How Do Your Experiences Guide Your Work as a Researcher?
I go back to the story about the spelling test. I had tried to do well on the tests before, but nothing really stuck. Then I found a way of learning that worked, and I was able to stick with it and even guide myself through studying without assistance. I guess I see my work as helping students come into contact with things that work for them, so that they can experience success in ways that they value.
Terms to Know
Dyslexia: According to the International Dyslexia Association, “Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties in word reading and/or spelling that involve accuracy, speed, or both and vary depending on the orthography. These difficulties occur along a continuum of severity and persist even with instruction that is effective for the individual’s peers. The causes of dyslexia are complex and involve combinations of genetic, neurobiological, and environmental influences that interact throughout development. Underlying difficulties with phonological and morphological processing are common but not universal, and early oral language weaknesses often foreshadow literacy challenges. Secondary consequences include reading comprehension problems and reduced reading and writing experience that can impede growth in language, knowledge, written expression, and overall academic achievement. Psychological well-being and employment opportunities also may be affected. Although identification and targeted instruction are important at any age, language and literacy support before and during the early years of education is particularly effective.”
Dysgraphia: According to the International Dyslexia Association, “Dysgraphia is the condition of impaired letter-writing by hand, that is, disabled handwriting. Impaired handwriting can interfere with learning to spell words in writing and speed of writing text. Children with dysgraphia may have only impaired handwriting, only impaired spelling (without reading problems), or both impaired handwriting and impaired spelling.”
Twice Exceptional: According to the International Dyslexia Association, “Twice exceptional or 2e is a term used to describe students who are both intellectually gifted (as determined by an accepted standardized assessment) and learning disabled, which includes students with dyslexia.”