Volume II Special Issue IV April 2022

Name of Author : M Salma Banu

Title of the paper : Dyslexia: A Language disorder! Is it a Social Model or a Medical Model? Is Brian, a clown in his class?

Abstract: Language disorder, Learning disability, or intellectual disability is an interdisciplinary study that includes, Dyslexia, Autism, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Dysarthria, Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders, Speech Sounds Disorders, Stuttering, etc. These disorders form a major part of critical disability studies. Disability studies, to be understood in a broader area has a Social model, Medical model, Political Model of disability. The formal definition of Dyslexia by the International Dyslexia Association is ‘a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. Disability studies trace its origin from the late 1960s when people with disability raised their voices towards suppression and opportunities and oppression. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology defines disability as ‘a label, a signifier that inaugurates consignment to an identity category which signifies disadvantage of oppression’. This paper aims to show how a boy named, Brian tries to hide his dyslexia from society and when the disorder came to the limelight, how society treated him in the novel “My Name is Brain Brian by Jeanne Betancourt.

Keywords : Dyslexia, Social Model, Learning Disability, Intellectual Disability, Language Disorder

DOI :

Page Number : 95-98