Sometimes we come across a piece of information that fundamentally changes our understanding of a problem, adding a dimension that we’ve missed completely.
Recently, I read the article Incarcerating Illiteracy — The Prison Pipeline of Dyslexia that made exactly that. More precisely, the sentence
“In America, an estimated 50% of the prison population is dyslexic. […] A population of which 80% is functionally illiterate.”
The author pointed to peer-reviewed research from 2000 performed in the US — specifically in Texas — to back up those statistics.
This prompted three questions:
- Is the connection between incarceration and dyslexia still holding in the 2020s? If yes, is it an “American thing” or is it also applicable to other countries?
- Can technology upend what appears to be a prison pipeline of dyslexia?
- What’s the forecast for tackling this issue?
But let’s first start with a primer on dyslexia.
What’s dyslexia?
Dyslexia “is a specific learning difficulty which primarily affects reading and writing skills. However, it does not only affect these skills. Dyslexia is actually about information processing. Dyslexic people may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear, which can affect learning and the acquisition of literacy skills.“
You can watch a non-comprehensive simulation of dyslexia below.
Some facts about dyslexia
- Dyslexia can have an impact on everyday life. It may also affect memory, organisational skills, time management, concentration, multi-tasking, and communication.
- Dyslexia is a complex phenomenon. This article describes the 10 distinct categories of dyslexia in the Friedmann-Gvion taxonomy.
- There is no correlation between dyslexia and intelligence.
- About 1 in 10 people in the world — 800 million — are dyslexic.
- Some studies have found a strong correlation between being dyslexic and the likelihood of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Sir Richard Branson, Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, and Steve Jobs are among the successful entrepreneurs who are dyslexic.
Unfortunately, not everybody with dyslexia gets to be a famous businessperson.
The prison pipeline of dyslexia viewed from 2024
The US
The US First Step Act of 2018 — which looked to reduce the size of the federal prison population while also creating mechanisms to maintain public safety — stated that
“The Attorney General shall incorporate programs designed to treat dyslexia into the evidence-based recidivism reduction programs”
“the Attorney G“the Attorney General shall consider the prevalence and mitigation of dyslexia in prisons, including by reviewing statistics on the prevalence of dyslexia, and the effectiveness of any programs implemented to mitigate the effects of dyslexia, in Prisons and State-operated prisons throughout the United States.”
The First Step Act Annual Report from April 2022 has a chapter on “Statistics on Inmates with Dyslexia”. The summary is more encouraging than the statistics mentioned at the beginning of this article
“As of January 28, 2022, more than 115,129 inmates have been screened to determine if they need further assessment for the characteristics of dyslexia.
Based on the results of the screenings, nearly 2,700 inmates were referred to Special Education for further assessment, which includes the administration of standardized, norm-referenced assessments. As of January 28, 2022, 506 inmates have been determined to display characteristics of dyslexia and referred for intensive, individualized instruction in a reading and spelling program.”
That takes us to only 0.4% of dyslexics among the population sampled. That’s until you peruse the table with the data on the last page of the report and you realise that 6,254 of the 115,129 inmates refused “either the screening or formal testing”.
Moreover, the prison population of the US prison population by the end of 2022 was 1,230,100, that is, about 10 times larger than the number of inmates screened for dyslexia.
What’s the landscape beyond the US?
No One Knows was a UK-wide programme led by the Prison Reform Trust that ended in 2008. Their findings about the correlation between dyslexia and imprisonment rates were discouraging
With regard to dyslexia, for example, estimates of prevalence amongst offenders range from 4–56%. […] Rack found that 40–50% of prisoners were at or below the level of literacy and numeracy expected of an 11-year old (Level 1), 40% of whom required specialist support for dyslexia. He concluded that dyslexia is three to four times more common amongst offenders than amongst the general population, with an incidence of 14–31%.
The general agreement in prison-based studies is a rate of about 30% dyslexia, though rates of serious deficits in literacy and numeracy in general reach up to 60%.
The women’s prison held a higher proportion of women assessed either as learning disabled or borderline learning disabled (with 40% of prisoners scoring within this range) than either of the other prisons (with 30% and 27% within this range).
The British Dyslexia Association’s research into young offenders in Bradford (2004) showed that problem behaviour amongst young people with dyslexia was evident early but was often identified before — or indeed instead of — the dyslexia.
Over a third (37%) of the young people the BDA identified as dyslexic had a statement of Special Educational Need, but all of these were for behavioural problems rather than for the dyslexia. School exclusions are common for young offenders generally, which may further reduce the likelihood of any learning difficulties being identified.
Prison staff expressed a need for training and for defined policies about how to address the needs of people with learning disabilities or learning difficulties.
The 2021 review of the UK Neurodiversity in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) suggests that the prevalence of dyslexia could be as much as five times greater amongst the adult prison population (50%). Again, they also point to studies where the average number of women in prisons with learning a learning difficulty and/or disability is higher for women than for men.
Based on 2019 data held on NOMIS (the prison National Offender Management Information System) and OASys (the Offender Assessment System for assessing the risks and needs of an offender), 29% of the offender population had a learning disability or challenge and in custody the rates were 36% for men and 39% for women.
The same report shares a chilling light on why, in general, neurodivergent people (dyslexia is considered within the neurodivergence umbrella) may be more prevalent in the Criminal Justice System than in the wider community.
• At arrest: the behaviour of neurodivergent people may not be recognised
as a manifestation of their condition, or may be misinterpreted. Elements of police custody processes (for example, booking in and searches) and the custody environment could also be unsettling to a neurodivergent person. This could lead them to exhibit behaviours which are interpreted as noncompliant and may mean they do not receive the support they need. Neurodivergent people may also struggle with elements of police custody […] and without appropriate support they may not be able to effectively engage with the investigation or have someone to advocate on their behalf.• At court: neurodivergent people may be more likely to be held on remand
before trial. At trial they may plead guilty inappropriately (based on their
neurodivergent thinking or compliant behaviour, for example), and their
neurodivergence may not be considered in sentencing decisions.
• On community supervision: neurodivergent people may be less likely to
understand or comply with the requirements of their community order, and again be less likely to adequately address their offending behaviour and engage in programmes.
• In prison: there are many elements of the prison environment that can
cause neurodivergent people distress, including busy and noisy wings, cell
sharing and changes to the daily routine. Responses to the environment
can lead to neurodivergent people exhibiting challenging behaviour that
could result in them being disciplined or sanctioned. A lack of suitable
programmes for neurodivergent prisoners can also mean that they fail to
adequately address their offending behaviour and receive poor
preparation for release.
Not surprisingly, the report also mentions the lack of research on the particularities of neurodivergence in women.
Responses to the call for evidence highlighted that various neurodivergent conditions present differently in women and referred to the lack of screening and diagnostic tools which have been validated for use with women. This was attributed to a lack of research and prevalence data in relation to women, and a paucity of interventions for women who are neurodivergent.
Finally, is this a problem only in English-speaking countries?
A review from 2021 of 18 studies over 20 years about language and literacy among the adult population in prison is rather unsatisfying. The studies were carried out in Sweden, the US, Norway, the UK, Israel, Australia, and Finland.
the etiology [cause] of the observed difficulties in reading and writing is uncertain. Some studies suggested that the observed difficulties were mainly explained by experiential and environmental factors, whereas others found that the incidence of difficulties that could be attributed to dyslexia was also elevated.
Can technology upend the dyslexia-prison connection?
Virtual Reality (VR) for training
Virtual reality (VR): the use of computer modeling and simulation that enables a person to interact with an artificial three-dimensional (3-D) visual or other sensory environment.
Virtual Reality training has been reported to provide
- Up to 4x faster learning
- Learners are up to 4x more focused, increasing engagement
- 16x users are more likely to recall information, improving retention
- Studies have shown that overall VR training can save between 30 to 70% in training compared to traditional methods.
VR to tackle recidivism
The Institute of the Future (IFTF) recently published an article where they shared a case study on using VR (virtual reality) to reduce reentry in California.
The context of their study is the high recidivism rates, “more than 65 percent of those released from California’s prison system return within three years. Seventy-three percent of the recidivists committed a new crime or violated parole within the first year.”
The goal of the project was to “develop virtual reality enabled interventions to help ACPD support the success of their reentry clients on their release from incarceration.”
They developed a pilot consisting of “an interactive VR scenario that would help reentry clients prepare for a critical obstacle that many clients face: obtaining their state ID from the Department of Motor Vehicles.”
Whilst an official evaluation is yet the be conducted, it was enough to prompt me to search for examples of VR used in the context of dyslexia. And I found plenty!
VR and dyslexia
Many studies have explored the use of VR for people with dyslexia. One that I found especially interesting was an article summarising a reverse experience, more precisely, how VR can enhance teachers’ knowledge and awareness of dyslexia.
Overall, the results showed that a small cohort of teachers reported having a much better understanding of dyslexia and its impact on dyslexic children when going through a VR experience than when watching a movie about how students with dyslexia.
all the teachers said that the Virtual Reality experience contributed to their understanding of the cognitive experiences encountered by the dyslexic child (“I didn’t know how complex the problem was…It’s good that I experienced dyslexia from different angles…I didn’t know that there were so many kinds of dyslexia, and some of them surprised me.”).
[…] They were enthusiastic about being introduced to a technology that seems to be able to bring to light unfamiliar cognitive territories. Many of them stressed that “it is so different from any media we have ever used.”
Why did I find this article especially impactful?
Because rather than putting the onus on dyslexics, it explored making their surroundings — the teachers — more inclusive by increasing their knowledge of dyslexia.
A moonshot
The Neurodiversity in the Criminal Justice System UK report cited in the previous section mentions that “just 28% of respondents from police and probation services, and 24% of those from prisons, said that they had received any training about neurodiversity”.
What could change if those providing services to people going through the prison pipeline of dyslexia were trained using VR?
For example
- Teachers
- Nurses
- Doctors
- Police officers
- Lawyers
- Judges
- Prison officers
- Prison wardens
- Probation officers…
In other words, what if, for a change, we would shift the burden from dyslexics to non-dyslexics?
My forecast for the prison pipeline of dyslexia
Unfortunately, what I learned from reading those articles and reports didn’t make me feel any better. All the opposite:
- Politics: 2024 is a presidential election year and we have plenty of indications that it’ll be one for the UK too. Systemic solutions are not politically appealing because they take time and mean starting work that won’t crystalise during an election term. If in doubt, look at the disappointing progress toward policies slowing down climate change.
- Economy: Given the general condition of the economy — the forecasts about inflation and the impact of AI on the future of work — and leaders’ priorities regarding the perceived most important challenges — wars, energy hikes, supply chain disruptions — chances are that budgets for education will remain the same — or be reduced — and there will be very little appetite to invest on exploring alternatives for complex issues such as this one.
- Justice: Recently, miscarriages of justice and police misconduct have become more salient in the UK and the US. This has prompted an outcry — people feel insecure. The perceived remedy? More police, more arrests, more and tougher convictions, more prisons.
In summary, a systemic approach to breaking the prison pipeline of dyslexia approach appears highly unlikely.
Unless we decide it’s a priority.
Reframing the prison pipeline of dyslexia
As a trained futurist, I know that one of the major blockers to imagining alternative futures is our attachment to our beliefs and our biases.
In this case
- Beliefs that the feeling of safety of some legitimises injustice upon others.
- The Dunning-Kruger effect can make us overconfident, leading us to overestimate our own ability and understanding of this systemic issue.
- The sunk-cost bias may reinforce the idea that we’ve already invested so much in the prison system that we cannot get rid of it. Instead, we keep feeding it, hoping that eventually, the current problems disappear.
And here are three ways to mitigate them:
- I’ve started to educate myself on the abolitionist movement. For example, by reading Abolition. Feminism. Now by Angela Davis and co-authors or the thought-provoking Why Feminists Should Oppose Capital Punishment by Silvia Federici.
- The worst kind of ignorance is when we don’t know what we don’t know. Now you know. I hope you pay it forward by sharing what you’ve learned with others who also must know.
- As a feminist, I’m convinced that communities and not “enlightened leaders” are the key to upending systemic issues. I’ll be indebted for pointers to resources, groups, and best practices that address how to disrupt this prison pipeline of dyslexia.
I acknowledge that this is an uncomfortable journey — my brain is having a little tantrum upending long-held beliefs about justice and punishment.
But curiosity is winning and that’s always exciting.
PS. You and AI
- Are you worried about the impact of AI impact on your job, your organisation, and the future of the planet but you feel it’d take you years to ramp up your AI literacy?
- Do you want to explore how to responsibly leverage AI in your organisation to boost innovation, productivity, and revenue but feel overwhelmed by the quantity and breadth of information available?
- Are you concerned because your clients are prioritising AI but you keep procrastinating on learning about it because you think you’re not “smart enough”?
I’ve got you covered.
