A study of the guidance counselling needs of adults with dyslexia within the Irish adult educational guidance service

Guidance counselling is identified in policy discourse as an important supporting structure for adults who experience social injustice and barriers in their education and career progression (OECD 2004; SOLAS 2014). To date, social justice debates in the guidance counselling field have primarily focused on gender, socioeconomic class and ethnicity (Reid 2016). However, this current study broadens this discourse to include disabilities such as dyslexia, as adults with dyslexia often face disproportionate barriers and inequalities in relation to their personal/social, educational and career development (Mooney and O’Rourke 2017). Therefore, this study addresses an identified knowledge gap which relates to the contextualised experiences of adults with dyslexia within the Further Education and Training (FET) sector in Ireland. The aim of this study is to investigate the guidance counselling needs of adults with dyslexia within the Irish Adult Educational Guidance Service (AEGS) in order to inform future policy and practice. Critical pragmatism underpins this study, where the focus is on practical problems and human experience, and it has the advantages of allowing for a flexible and reflexive methodology (Dewey 1973; Morgan 2014). This qualitatively-led sequential mixed methods study was conducted in two phases. First, the perceptions and experiences of AEGS guidance counsellors were gathered through an online questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics. In Phase 2, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 14 dyslexic adults about their experiences, which was subject to thematic analysis. The findings were then synthesised and a number of core issues emerged which relate to identity and recognition, barriers and facilitating factors to the educational and career development of adults with dyslexia and guidance counselling provision to this cohort. Based on these empirical findings, an Irish framework for practice is presented. This framework draws on the World Health Organisation (WHO) (2011) model of disabilities where barriers and enablers to personal/social, educational and career progression are identified on three interlinked levels: biological, psychological and social. Additionally, identified guidance counselling needs and appropriate interventions for clients with dyslexia are outlined. The findings have implications for policy, practice and research, specifically in relation to the need to address the identified variations of knowledge about dyslexia, experiences of misrecognition, and the limited access to assessment services, support and reasonable accommodations. Finally, a number of recommendations for policy, practice and research conclude this thesis.