The Learning Disorder to Prison Pipeline
Ineffective Policies waste lives and money
The school-to-prison pipeline has been around for some time, and most everyone in social justice, restorative justice, or prison ministry knows what it means, but I believe a different and more insidious pipeline exists. I call it the learning disorder to prison pipeline. LDPP
Justice-involved people often suffer from a paralyzing fear that their crimes permanently stigmatize them for life. Exclamatory confessions of shame, grief, and anger voiced during moments of instructor engagements can disrupt educational moments. The reveal often slips away while the instructor pauses and attempts to grasp and repair a painful memory. A reckoning is left unresolved, and the instructor has most likely lost their course of thought. Moments like these happen all too often, as incarcerated students often suffer from self-filling reservoirs of debilitating emotions.
The societal drivers of this self-defeating inner-speak are well-published (see Prison Ministry: Understanding Jail and Prison Culture, by Lennie Spitale). However, for inmates with learning differences, the damage is masked. Confined, untested, and disregarded, most inmates with learning disorders never overcome their impediments. Learning disorders (aka learning differences) are defined as "any of various conditions (such as dyslexia or dysgraphia) that interfere with an individual's ability to learn, and so result in impaired functioning in language, reasoning, or academic skills (such as reading, writing, and mathematics) and that are thought to be caused by difficulties in processing and integrating information." [link]
A groundbreaking study at a Texas prison by Kathryn Moody (2000) states, "Approximately 80% of prison inmates are reported to be functionally illiterate," and they "found that 47.8% of the inmates were deficient in word attack skills," i.e., dyslexic. In contradiction to Robert Browning's quote, "Man's reach should exceed his grasp or what's a heaven for?" there may never be a possibility of heavenly attainment without targeted interventions for these individuals. Inmates born with learning disorders are impeded from progressing in school, quit, and end up on the streets. Dangerous gangs swoop in to indoctrinate them into lives of unimaginable violence. Once arrested, they languish in prison cells for decades without testing, diagnosing, or remedying their learning problems. After fulfilling their sentence, they are released back into society with the same learning problems – highly likely to return. Unfortunately, these individuals have lived in two prisons for most of their adult lives.
However, not all people with learning disorders end up in prison. Children from more affluent families can finance the necessary assessments and training required to help their children move forward. One such example is the famous Helen Keller. Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on June 27, 1880. She lost sight and hearing at 19 months old due to an illness.  She came from a well-educated and affluent family. Helen's mother, inspired by the character Laura Bridgman, a blind and deaf woman in Charles Dicken's novel "American Notes," consulted various doctors and specialists to help her daughter. Her story resembles many devoted mothers attempting to help their children improve their education.
Helen's condition blocked her from sight, sound, words, and expression. Imprisoned with her feelings, she could not connect with the larger world around her. Her teacher, Ann Sullivan, guided Helen to her first breakthrough by submerging Helen's hands in Well Water, hoping to reanimate her infant mind. She succeeded:
"I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that w-a-t-e-r meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. The living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, set it free! [link]
In the 1962 movie "The Miracle Worker" directed by Arthur Penn, we see Helen break through her limitations and hurl herself from water to pump, to ground, to teacher in a wild, herky-jerky scene of enlightenment, disembodied from her past.
Here, we see the effects of a single teacher's commitment and intuition, using water as a medium to create a life-changing outcome. The spelling of a single word opened an entire universe for Helen, and the same power of that moment is available for incarcerated students with learning disabilities if society changes its educational approach.
Learning differences manifest in many varieties, often overlaying with other conditions (comorbidities). Among those most well-known are autistic spectrum disorder (often called neurodiversity), A.D.D., ADHD, and dyslexia. However, conjoined with each of those LD’s can be many lesser-known characteristics such as echolalia, auditory processing disorder, dysgraphia, and mind-blindness, to name but a few. These disorders sit more squarely in a spectrum called neurodiversity.   The Federal Code of Regulations 2019 defines learning disorder as "a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations." LD’s may include related conditions such as brain injury, perceptual disabilities, and developmental aphasia. [link]
What is being done in schools?
Parents who suspect their children may have learning issues are often left alone to find appropriate testing and coaches to help their children. They often communicate directly with school staff to ensure their children are given the appropriate 504 plans if needed and other accommodations required by law. They also pay out of pocket for private tutors and counselors. However, what happens to the children of parents from poor neighborhoods, or who speak another language, or single mothers with less income? Socio-economic status, as represented by factors like family poverty rate and parental time commitment, can lead to disparities in child development with implications including learning disorders and other brain challenges.
Additionally, there are glaring failures within the public school systems that often deliberately overlook diagnosing learning disorders for students so they do not have to pay the expense of helping that child. These decisions lead to children never receiving the interventions afforded to wealthier middle-class children or those attending private schools.
"While scientists estimate that between 5 and 12 percent of children in the United States have dyslexia, just 4.5 percent of students in public schools are diagnosed with a 'specific learning disability,' a category that includes dyslexia and other learning disabilities, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In addition, while schools routinely screen children for hearing impairment, a problem that occurs much less frequently than dyslexia, screening for dyslexia is rare." [link]
Dyslexia affects one's ability to phonate words correctly. Like Helen Keller, it is difficult to understand their speech as learning disabilities can impede proper imprinting of sound conduction and thereby interfere with mimetic speech. Guinevere Eden, director of the Center for the Study of Learning at Georgetown University Medical Center, states, "People with dyslexia don't have good phonemic awareness. The process of decoding is very hard for them and the difficulty largely stems from understanding how words are broken up into sounds." [link]
Something is wrong within the public education system that continually allows dyslexia and other learning disorders to go unaddressed. A teacher in the public school system (speaking in anonymity) in California stated that "schools deliberately do not diagnose learning disorders because they do not want to pay for the specialty teachers or services required to address the problem. Instead, they place under-performing children in 504 school plans and group them with a broader range of students with separate needs. They are not given the individualized treatment that is required." Data suggests that 80 percent of dyslexic people will leave school without a diagnosis." [link]
Unfortunately, undiagnosed dyslexics are more likely to go to prison. This result is what is referred to as "the learning disorder to prison pipeline."
Helen Keller was lucky to have an instructor who pushed the limits of what society believed was capable of and broke through a barrier in learning that transformed Helen's life while, at the same time, showing the world what never giving up can do in the face of insurmountable obstacles. However, children from low-income families with learning disabilities and those incarcerated need other, more practical interventions.
Learning Disorders within Incarceration Facilities
Historically, inmates are not tested for learning differences. More often, their educational future is determined through psychological evaluations based on threat assessments (high, medium, or low), and they are generally housed and serviced based on those results. Nowhere in that process are they tested for learning differences or their comorbidities. Addressing L.D.'s inside incarceration facilities is further complicated by variances in Federal, State, and County policy requirements and lack of funding. No two incarceration systems operate the same.
However, President Trump signed new legislation into law on December 21, 2018, the First Step Act, which transformed outdated approaches to incarceration for inmates and their families. This legislation resulted from bi-partisan efforts to reform systemic problems facing incarceration systems and society. Chief among the stated guidelines, "The First Step Act requires the Attorney General to develop a risk and needs assessment system to be used by B.O.P. to assess the recidivism risk and criminogenic needs of all federal prisoners and to place prisoners in recidivism reducing programs and productive activities to address their needs and reduce this risk. Under the act, the system guides the type, amount, and intensity of recidivism reduction programming and productive activities each prisoner is assigned, including information on which programs prisoners should participate in based on their criminogenic needs." [link]
The high percentage of functionally illiterate individuals incarcerated graphs a bright red line between public school education and prisons. The obvious question comes to mind: Why weren't these learning disorders effectively addressed while the child was in school? Has the indifference to public school education for those with L.D.'s resulted in higher incarceration rates?
"There is a significant statistical relationship between learning disabilities and incarceration chances for post-secondary education. Individuals with learning disabilities are four times less likely to get any college education, twice as likely to drop out of school, twice as likely to receive a school suspension, four times as likely to be expelled in middle school, almost three times more likely to be expelled in high school, and twice as likely to be incarcerated as a juvenile or adult." [link]
Through my onsite teaching work in prisons, I have witnessed firsthand how inmates shrug off overtures to enroll in classes or self-improvement programs while serving their sentences: "Why should I get a G.E.D. when I am in here for life?" The weight of their sentence prevents them from seeing the merit behind acquiring new skills or knowledge beyond the immediate needs of their daily lives; however, never before have opportunities been more possible than they are now for inmates. Select incarceration facilities have recently begun introducing technology to inmates using tablets and laptops, including digital skills and software training. Back-to-back life sentences can be commuted and reduced if inmates pursue education—additionally, Pell Grants once a life-line of education for the incarcerated has been restored.
Pell Grants – then and now.
The Higher Education Act of 1965 was a groundbreaking law that sought to provide increased access to higher education for all, particularly underserved or disadvantaged populations. By introducing Pell Grants and other funding opportunities, the H.E.A. provided essential assistance to low-income students while allowing prisoners limited access to educational benefits and lifting bans on those with certain criminal status. The H.E.A also set up an executive structure in departments such as the Department of Education, which requires federal grant programs intended to serve undergraduates, restore foundation floors, and benefit institutions like universities and vocational training centers at both the state and individual levels via reauthorization processes passed by Congress with support from Representative Lois Rice's advocacy work. However, the "tough-on-crime" policies of the 1990s eliminated Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals.Â
What is the impact of lifting the ban on prisoner eligibility to receive Pell Grants on the structure and process of higher education and the state and federal laws that govern the provision of such grants?
The lifting of the ban on prisoner eligibility to receive Pell Grants has introduced a new level of support for formerly incarcerated individuals, allowing them access to higher education that could assist in their reintegration into society. This expansion would require reforms at both state and federal levels, including a redefinition of criteria used by institutions and agencies to qualify applicants for program funding. It would also necessitate an adjustment in H.E.A. Executive Administration policies such as the Rice-backed Call For Scholarly Funding Initiative, which is intended to provide basic grants for low-income undergraduates. The passage of this amendment within Congress aims to improve the process behind grant distribution while also providing more opportunities on campus for those affected by incarceration status. Ultimately, these changes will serve all members of society through increased benefits provided at the university level.
Even though the First Act legislation called for mandatory testing of learning disorders within incarceration facilities, the reality is that it just does not happen. Things are no different in the U.K.
"Often, prisoners will enter the criminal justice system without their needs ever having been formally diagnosed or supported. The APPG for Dyslexia and other SpLDs (for which British Dyslexia Association provides the secretariat) has suggested that schools are missing opportunities to identify dyslexia in the classroom. Only 2 percent of pupils in school have a diagnosed specific learning difficulty, including dyslexia." [link]
Technology and A.I. as Innovative Resources
However, the use of technological interventions in the assessment and remediation of learning disorders in prison environments offers much hope. Prison staff psychologists are often overworked and unable to address the needs of large, super-block prisons. "The process of screening and assessment is complicated, time-consuming and expensive. The Government could investigate the potential of technology in transforming the diagnosis process, ensuring that it complements the expertise of professional assessors. Avenues for harnessing capital and investment from the private and philanthropic sectors should also be explored to facilitate this, […] for example, whether the scope of any future work should be expanded to include all forms of neuro-divergence including other learning differences and brain injury." [link]
 However, A.I. interventions can speed up the assessment process, formalize a diagnosis faster, and training can be student-led. The realities that hold back these opportunities are the lack of technology available to inmates and approvals of open-market A.I. programs. A few of these programs are listed include:
These programs include Speechify, Grammarly, Voice Dream Reader, Learning Ally, Bookshare, Digital Scanning Pens, Co:Writer, Read & Write for Google Chrome, Microsoft Math Solver, Mod Math, and Math Learning Center.
These policies are not just good advice but have now taken shape at Mount Tamalpais College [link], a college within prison walls at San Quentin Prison in California. In 2022, investors donated a new computer lab with adjustable desks and chairs. Websites are safe-listed, and programs are selected to meet the learning criteria established to meet accreditation standards.
The school-to-prison pipeline includes students with learning disorders who have not received the appropriate testing and training the law requires. Often, these children are people of color who are three times more likely than white children to live in low-income families, suffer food insecurity, have elevated levels of lead in their blood, and are more likely to live near hazardous waste sites; all of which can contribute to brain damage. Technology and A.I. can be used within public schools to improve testing, assessments, and remediation of learning disorders.
The Benefits of Post-Secondary Education within Prisons
Post-secondary education inside prisons has been found to reduce recidivism rates. Studies have shown that educational programs provided within prison facilities can positively influence long-term outcomes for incarcerated individuals by helping them become more engaged and connected with their education, challenging their perceptions of themselves and society while also preparing inmates to rejoin the world outside of prison with improved support networks (including family ties) in addition to enhanced technical skills.
In the U.S., many instructors are teaching classes inside prisons to reduce recidivism rates and provide educational opportunities for inmates, but they are limited due to the lack of technological tools allowed by the facilities. San Quentin, a State prison in California, is the only prison with a college onsite behind prison walls. Their students are offered G.E.D.'s and A.A. degrees. They are allowed to use laptops and be taught digital skills, but using more sophisticated A.I. programs to remediate learning differences is not yet approved. Research has shown that education can positively affect successful re-entry into society. Also, it serves as an essential callback to most imprisoned people who did not finish high school or received only a limited formal education before incarceration. Nevertheless, inmates are denied the opportunities to improve fully without the necessary tools.
Improvements will take shape by creating a public education system that reduces recidivism rates among children and young adults with learning disabilities or disorders, including those from low-income families. The program would incorporate a curriculum focused on teaching and understanding learning differences and incorporating technology to give students the best opportunities to level the playing field. [link]
The expertise to diagnose learning disorders and the technology to assist individuals with those conditions is readily available. State, federal, and private incarceration facilities are urged to implement the First Step Act and meaningful policies to screen and remedy learning differences. Too many lives are wasted inside prisons without receiving meaningful opportunities for rehabilitation. If they cannot read or write, an inmate's chance of recidivism is nearly 89% within ten years.
The Educators Role
Approximately 95% of the incarcerated population in the United States is educated at or below a high school level, meaning most do not understand advanced public systems that would add additional life-long opportunities for future success.
The work of educators inside prison facilities is never limited to the task of simply teaching. During instruction, inmates often open up and talk about their personal stories, how they became incarcerated, what their childhoods were like, and what their present family structure is like, even though it may be fractured due to incarceration. Despite the misguided portrayals of inmates by politicians and the mainstream media, the incarcerated are generally intelligent, sensitive, reflective, and hopeful. Educators need to prioritize receptively listening to inmates as much as possible to comprehend the magnitude of the divide between their world entirely and citoyens libres, caused by decades of unmet needs, and realize that the incarcerated student may have an intrinsically push-pull relationship toward learning. On the one hand, they want to better themselves, but on the other hand, they are inexplicably terrified of the unknown. As a result, they may miss lessons, lose paperwork, become distracted, or even act out in ways that lead to increased security restrictions. Educators need to remain steadfast, vigilant, and patient. If an educator gives up on an incarcerated student, that student is likelier to give up on themselves.
Ann Sullivan, Helen Keller's teacher, succeeded in helping Helen, and a life-long relationship developed that led to national acclaim and Helen's activism in helping those with disabilities. Educators need to do the same thing and bring that misty consciousness of something forgotten, what life was like before addiction, abuse, gangs, and incarceration back in focus for the justice-involved individual. When inmates feel comfortable with instructors, they often share their past, goals, and dreams. Frequently, they voice concern over a system that is rigged against them. Educators need to build hope and remain focused on learning. Again, if educators believe in them, they are more likely to believe in themselves.
Helen Keller overcame extraordinary learning difficulties without the use of assessment testing, I.E.P. plans, 504 forms, technology, and A.I. We know the human spirit is capable of overcoming learning challenges, and it is time that all public schools and incarceration systems step up and comply with regulations that mandate testing and remediation.