A Public Lecture by Dorothy Bishop, Professor of Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Oxford.
Many children have specific developmental difficulties affecting specific areas such as reading, language, maths, motor co-ordination, attention or social skills. A range of diagnostic labels are used: dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, and so on. These give the impression that we are dealing with distinct medical entities, but this is very far from the truth.
In this lecture, Professor Bishop will illustrate with the case of dyslexia. This is defined on the basis of behavioural tests, and there is no sharp dividing line between dyslexia and normal variation in reading ability.
The lecture will contrast dyslexia with specific language impairment (SLI), which is at least as important but is largely unknown, and consider how far this may be the consequence of the fact that dyslexia is a good ‘meme’, whereas SLI is not. Our current labels may be worth preserving, provided we do not let them mislead us.
Cost: Free. RSVP to
[email protected]
