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Abstract
The authors report findings on reading and IQ from a contemporary study of 145 individually tested incarcerated men and women in two maximum-security prisons in Louisiana. To their knowledge this study is the first to use the definition of dyslexia from the First Step Act (FSA) and the first to incorporate an IQ measure to differentiate those with dyslexia from individuals with cognitive impairment. The authors' findings indicate that almost half (47%) of the participants are classified as having dyslexia, 36% proficient, and 17% cognitive impairment. Both dyslexic prisoners and nondyslexic prisoners reported academic and behavioral problems in school that led to decreased years in school and decreased high school graduation rates, with 87% reporting dropping out of school with many inmates dropping out in middle school (mean age of completion of 9.6 years of school), 97% reporting having been in special education or received accommodations, and 59% having failed to receive a high school diploma or equivalency. The authors note that although the FSA calls for the Bureau of Prisons to screen prisoners for dyslexia using a screener that is evidencebased, with proven psychometrics for validity, efficiency and low cost, as well as readily available, a screener is not a diagnostic instrument and we discuss the next steps after inmates are screened as being dyslexic.
Good evidence from a number of lines of investigation has documented widespread poor reading in prison populations. The percentage of this incarcerated population identified as dyslexic is far higher than the prevalence rate of 20% reported in the general U.S. population from an epidemiological sample survey (detailed in the following), but public policy has not yet acted and delivered solutions. This high prevalence of poor reading in incarcerated individuals has been ascribed to reduced language in family life, poor teaching, cognitive issues, poverty, and learning disabilities. Dyslexia is common in conditions of wealth or poverty, good teaching or bad, and in homes across America. We know that between 80% and 90% of those labeled as having learning disabilities are, in fact, dyslexic. Far too frequently dyslexics are not identified in schools and therefore do not receive effective reading interventions during school, so despite average or even above-average intelligence, they never develop the reading proficiency needed to obtain...