The Impact of Visual Reading Through the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA). November, 2023
Struggling readers will usually need to increase both reading speed and improve comprehension. Visual Reading addresses both.
Reading Speed:
60 students have now completed Visual Reading, having been awarded it through the DSA, thanks to Assessors of Need
recommendations.
52% began below the ‘average range’ of reading speed for postgraduates. Only one student scored slightly above the average range (at 261 words per minute [wpm] - see Chart 2 below).
After Visual Reading, none of the students are below the ‘average range’ while 98% are above it.
1: Reading Speed Improvement in Standard Deviations
Initial reading speeds varied from 26 to 261 wpm. The median reading speed was 130 wpm. As we can see from Chart 1, in just two weeks, the progress of DSA students exceeds a normal distribution, in that over 60% are reading faster than the ‘average range’ for postgraduates, while just 7 percent remain below the average range. The course is completed in an average of 5 weeks. The final reading speeds vary from 182 to 900 wpm (with improved comprehension and recall). The final median speed is 429 wpm.
Individual Students
Breaking this down to individual students, arranged on the horizontal axis from the slowest final reading speed to the fastest (shown in red), we can see consistent dramatic improvements for every individual.
Chart 2: Reading Speed Improvement in wpm for DSA Students
The starting speeds are shown in blue for each student. The green shaded area represents the ‘average range’ for postgraduate students (131-249 wpm).
The blue bars barely follow the contours of the red bars which visually represents the low correlation between the original and final speeds (r=0.45).
On average, reading speeds have increased by 3.6 times. This represents a mean increase of 5.5 Standard Deviations (p<0.000).
Comprehension:
Generally speaking, reading comprehension will vary according to a multiple of factors, such as prior knowledge, interest in the content, font size, font type, background colour, writing style and difficulty, the medium, distractions, energy levels, vocabulary, tiredness, and motivation. This makes measuring comprehension objectively extremely difficult, since we cannot take account of all these factors. What we can do, is model previewing and reviewing what is read and listen to student feedback and their reporting of what they have understood. Visual Reading coaches listen to the feedback to ensure that comprehension levels improve during the intervention. This often has a dramatic impact on the students’ self-esteem and confidence, which is articulated in their feedback. Here are some examples, but further feedback can be found here: https://visualreading.online/feedback-from-students
“At the first appointment, I could not stop crying. As I told my peers about the experience, I cried some more. Having the feeling of comprehension is not something I can describe easily. The closest to it was a comment from a lady with 40 years of experience in mental health telling me that I reminded her of a child who can hear for the first time.” (47 year old psychotherapy student now reading at 430 wpm).
“My speed and comprehension has increased tenfold and has effected my academic reading skills positively.” (Radiography student)
“Amazing! I found this course extremely helpful. My reading speed and comprehension skills have drastically improved! I would 100% recommend this course.” (3rd year undergraduate)
“The process of gradually widening saccades and implementing the metacognitive techniques of pre-viewing and reviewing the text has improved my speed greatly and comprehension is very good. The fact that I get through the chapters at pace – and with good comprehension - means I don’t lose focus and give up the book after three arduous chapters because I have already forgotten the beginning of the book! That was what used to happen. Now I read whole books because reading suddenly feels easy and pleasurable which is something I have never experienced before! It is incredible. And it is simply joyful.” (Mature student)
Referrals by Assessors of Need:
There are thousands of dyslexic students in receipt of the DSA who would benefit from Visual Reading. This short blog is intended to raise awareness amongst Assessors of Need that Visual Reading is a powerful product on the SFE approved list at their disposal. The justifications for recommending it include:
- Slow reading speed
- Poor comprehension, or recall
- Difficulty decoding words
- Difficulty recognising words
- Difficulty tracking text
- Visual Stress
More information can be found on the Visual Reading website: www.visualreadingonline.com
Alternatively, you can message me either through Linkedin, or by email: ross@visualreading.online
