Web Report 2015
Literature Review
In the course of this project, I had to conduct research regarding the topics of Dyslexia as well as the films themselves.
Portrayal of Disabilities in films
Sehghi, A.(2014)" characters with learning disabilities are often depicted as being “vulnerable” and “disadvantaged”
Barnes, C., Shakespeare, T., & Mercer, G. (1999)"These representations are not accurate or fair reflections of the actual experience of disabled people. Such stereotypes reinforce negative attitudes towards disabled people, and ignorance about the nature of disability."
Ball,K.(2014), " these portrayals do not show all the many great qualities that people with learning disabilities have and the positive ways they contribute to society.“
Special Olympics(n.d) "over time media depictions of persons with intellectual disabilities focused more often on pity than on strength and achievements "
From this, we can see that wrong portrayal of disabilities are imminent in the film industry,which could potentially cause misconceptions in society. As such,this project seeks to understand how Dyslexia could be portrayed inaccurately by comparing their portrayal to reality.
What is Dyslexia??
According to British Dyslexia Association BDA(2007), Dyslexia is "a specific learning difficulty which mainly affects the development of literacy and language related skills. It is characterised by difficulties with phonological processing, rapid naming, working memory, processing speed”
“There are plenty of misperceptions about dyslexia in Singapore. and this could have negative effects like "poor motivation and academic frustration" Lin.S (2008).
Oxford University Press(2013) also notes that "The main obstacle for many of these learners is not dyslexia" , but rather it is "that difficulties in class can cause them to lose confidence. They label themselves slow and stupid. ”