People with dyslexia are known for their lack of fine detail strengths – the strengths that result in accurate and precise reading and spelling. On the flip side, the wiring of the dyslexic brain results in global big picture strengths such as strengths in comprehension, word associations, context and gist.
Dyslexic strengths
All dyslexic people will have strengths. Skills such as big-picture thinking, lateral thinking and problem-solving, visual strengths and an intuitive understanding of how things work are often the hallmarks of successful dyslexic people.
Research has shown that wiring in the brains of people with dyslexia is different, and many believe that this different wiring of the brain causes people with dyslexia to see problems in different ways that can support innovation and success.
Dyslexia is a learning disability and is characterized by problems with writing ,reading and spelling. Although dyslexia should theoretically act as an impediment to success in achieving millions in net worth, practical life shows that there is a strong correlation between dyslexia and success.
Some teachers and parents can mistake a dyslexic child for someone who is lacking intelligence. But the truth is dyslexia has nothing to do with a child's level of intelligence.
Whatever the mechanism, one thing is clear: dyslexia is associated with differences in visual abilities, and these differences can be an advantage in many circumstances, such as those that occur in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Dyslexic children can struggle with traditionally taught science as detail and accuracy are often crucial when spelling scientific language and writing out formulae, and this sort of detail can present stumbling blocks.
Individuals with dyslexia also tend to be highly creative. Researchers have noted their ability to find new uses for everyday objects (Everatt, Steffert and Smythe, 1999).
“Twenty-five percent of CEOs are dyslexic, but many don't want to talk about it,” Chambers, who was Cisco's CEO between 1995 and 2005, told students at MIT last Thursday. It's not clear where Chambers sourced his claim, but the proportion appears to gel with various pieces of research conducted on the topic.
Dyslexics are naturally curious and highly creative, with an incredible ability to think laterally, often possessing soft skills such as emotional intelligence, critical thinking, reasoning, leadership, social influence and complex problem solving, which are all trending in terms of future competency demands.
Use multisensory input and activities to give learners more than one way to make connections and learn concepts. For example, use flash cards, puppets, story videos and real objects in the classroom. When learners use more than one sense at a time, their brain is stimulated in a variety of ways.
Children with dyslexia are often more determined to succeed and can be more hardworking than most children their age. In fact dyslexia can in itself be a motivating factor in a child's attitude towards work, giving them greater patience and perseverance with tasks.
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that affects reading and spelling skills. Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence; it simply describes a different kind of cognitive processing.
We often define dyslexia as an “unexpected difficulty in reading”; however, a dyslexic student may also have difficulty with math facts although they are often able to understand and do higher level math quite well.
However, many individuals with childhood dyslexia eventually become capable readers. Even though the path to acquiring reading skills may be delayed, reading comprehension skills may be well above average in adulthood, and many dyslexics successfully pursue higher education and earn advanced degrees.
People with dyslexia have the ability to see how things connect to form complex systems, and to identify similarities among multiple things. Such strengths are likely to be of particular significance for fields like science and mathematics, where pictures are key.
The mental function that causes dyslexia is a gift in the truest sense of the word : it is a natural ability, a talent. It is something special that enhances the individual. Dyslexics don't all develop the same gifts but they do have certain mental functions in common.
Children with dyslexia have a higher risk for sleep disorders like not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep at night. Kids with dyslexia might also be at higher risk for breathing problems while they sleep.
Often people with dyslexia have an excellent long term memory. To remember something like a phone number, or how to spell a word, you need to transfer it to your long term memory. The best way to do that is through spaced repetition. That is, try to recall a fact with longer and longer gaps between testing.
Many adults with dyslexia see themselves as more emotionally sensitive than other people. In its most extreme form, high levels of emotional sensitivity are both a blessing and a weakness. The positive features of this trait helps adults build meaningful relationships with others.
Imaging research has demonstrated that the brains of people with dyslexia show different, less efficient, patterns of processing (including under and over activation) during tasks involving sounds in speech and letter sounds in words.
Perhaps one of the most famous figures known to have dyslexia is Albert Einstein, a theoretical physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 and has become synonymous with intelligence and wit.
It's important to know that while dyslexia impacts learning, it's not a problem of intelligence. People with dyslexia are just as smart as their peers. There are countless stories about people thriving with dyslexia, including actors, entrepreneurs, and elected officials.
Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Leonardo da Vinci, and Pablo Picasso possessed some of the greatest minds and talents in history and they were dyslexic.