Neurodiversity Matters: Daria Khanolainen on dyslexia and self-esteem

Neurodiversity and neurodivergence have been revolutionary ideas in autism research, and later in ADHD. But how do they apply to other diagnoses or experiences? This month Sohail speaks to Dr Daria Khanolainen, a dyslexia researcher in Finland, about qualitative dyslexia research, self-esteem, and pathologising reading difficulties.   

Daria Khanolainen is a researcher in the field of education and educational psychology, who has been pursuing her passion for fostering learning and development for the last 15 years through both practitioner and researcher roles. Following the completion of her master’s degree in education management at King’s College London, she assumed the role of a research fellow at the Institute of Psychology and Education of Kazan Federal University, where she contributed to several projects focusing on teacher education and development. Subsequently, she pursued her doctoral studies at the University of Jyväskylä receiving a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action fellowship from the European Union. In 2024, Daria successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, which examined various family-related factors influencing children's development of reading and mathematical skills. Currently, she serves as a postdoctoral researcher at the EDUCA flagship funded by the Research Council of Finland. 

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