Ever since I was in primary school, I’ve always wondered whether my learning disability meant that I would always be the pink elephant in the room. Whether teachers, students, classmates, and professors would always treat me and evaluate my skills and abilities “differently” because of my dyslexia. For all of you out there with a diagnostic label just like mine, today is the day we finally address this pink elephant in the room; we ARE being stigmatized simply on the presence of a diagnostic label, but it is time we replace the word “disability” and instead use the word “gifted”, since our labels are what make us unique and special!

So, do these diagnostic labels contribute to our negative academic and behavioral evaluations in the academic world? Disappointingly, there is evidence to suggest that diagnostic labels are responsible for the negative evaluations we have been subjected to throughout our academic years. But which are the factors that impact and contribute to the negative effects of these labels?

To test this, a 2023 meta-analysis combined results from 57 experimental publications on 8,295 participants. The meta-analysis looked at the negative effect of diagnostic labels on children’s evaluations, by considering the diagnostic category of the labels, the type of evaluation offered and the type of information on the children provided to the evaluators. Participants’ expertise was also looked at to determine whether it contributed to the negative effects of diagnostic labels.

The findings were…disappointing. The results of the meta-analysis suggest that diagnostic labels, regardless of the category of the diagnosis, the type of evaluation and the evaluators’ expertise contributed to negative evaluations of children. To be precise, a labelled child’s behavioral and academic evaluation in the classroom would be approximately 66% more negatively affected compared,

to an un-labelled child. So, whether you have an intellectual disability, a learning, or a behavioral disorder, regardless of the expertise of the evaluator, you WILL be subjected to negative evaluations. But don’t lose all hope just yet, as the negative effects of diagnostic labels on evaluations can decrease when evaluators are provided with even the slightest bit of information other than just your diagnostic label. 

So, your question now probably is: where do we go from here? We are not wrong to assume that as a population, we are stigmatized due to our diagnostic labels, leading to significant negative academic and behavioral evaluations in our academic world. But what can we do actually? Because as far as I’m concerned, no matter if you have dyslexia like me, ADHD, or autism, and no matter the expertise of the evaluator, stereotypes of our diagnosis will negatively affect evaluations we receive despite of the level of education we attain. What I said before, however is true: a diagnostic label is not the only thing that defines us; proving our abilities and showing more of who we really are can in fact reduce the negative effects of diagnostic labels on our evaluations!

I guess there’s, really, only one thing we can do, and that is to find a way to embrace the fact that, yes, we will always be the pink elephants in the room! The important thing is to be the PROUD pink elephants that don’t let diagnostic labels and stereotypical evaluations determine their abilities and dreams. Afterall, if Alexander Graham Bell who was the inventor of the first telephone was diagnosed with dyslexia, imagine what all the dyslexic, pink elephants in the world can achieve if they put their minds to it!! No labels can stop us!