With regards to language and literacy, reading is important. There’s a high social value put on reading in our culture. If you say “I can’t read,” there’s likely to be shocked silence. We expect everyone to read in our culture. But there are other ways of knowing. After all, we’ve been speaking and navigating life for tens of thousands of years as a species, but reading is only 5,000 years old. There are more important things than reading and grammar.
Probing the Dyslexic Brain
There are a lot of people who have significant difficulty with grammar, as well as with reading, writing, and spelling. Many of these people are diagnosed as having dyslexia (Latin for “trouble with words”). It is estimated that dyslexia affects from 5-20% of all schoolchildren, and it isn’t something that one grows out of into adulthood. Dyslexia is considered a “learning disability” that can significantly impair a student’s performance in school. People with dyslexia have trouble with some combination of the following: reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, speaking, listening, and memory. It’s not due to motivational or emotional issues.
Most people with dyslexia score at an average or above-average range on standardized intelligence tests. Contrary to popular opinion, dyslexia does not usually involve reversing letters and word, although a small percentage of dyslexics do have significant problems analyzing words visually.
The difficulty is in processing the sounds of words compared to good readers. Using functional MRI, when reading, two specific areas in the posterior of the left hemisphere of the brain are underactivated (less blood flow) compared with nondyslexic readers. These areas are described as the “word-analysis area” and the “word-form area”. The word-analysis area located in the parietal-temporal region of the left hemisphere, just above and slightly behind the ear. This area analyses a word, pulls it apart, and connects the visual letter (like B) with the sound (“buh). It is also involved in combining words sounds into letters, such as “puh”, “lll” “ay” to make “play”. Dyslexics have trouble differentiating these smallest units of language, called “phonemes.” Puh, buh, and duh may all sound alike and be easily confused with one another. Difficulty in combining these phonemes (there are 44 ion the English language) with each other to make words is also a major contributor to slowing down the reading speed and accuracy of most people diagnosed with dyslexia, and this correlates to less activity in this brain region.
The other posterior area of the brain, the word-form area, is located in the occipital-temporal area of the left hemisphere, also behind the ear, but lower down than the word-analysis areas. This area processes whole words rapidly – in fewer than 150 milliseconds. After a novice reader has decoded a word successfully several times in the word-analysis area, it becomes recognizable very quickly and is then stored in the word-form area. The dyslexic, having had difficulty recognizing words quickly, shows less brain activation in this area. But another area of the left hemisphere, toward the anterior part of the brain, actually has more activation in dyslexics than in fluent readers. This is around Broca’s area, which is associated with spoken language. It appears that dyslexics use this part of the brain a lot when analyzing words, but it’s a very cumbersome process tied up with vocalization or subvocalization of whole words, one word at a time.
Dyslexic readers also use areas of the right hemisphere in reading which can be a slow process as well, since the right hemisphere recognizes whole word forms, visual configurations, emotional nuances, and other features not based on the essential sound-symbol relationships necessary for quick and accurate reading (although it is also true that that use of these areas can supplement and help with some reading tasks.)
There even appear to be anatomical difference. In fluent readers, the left hemisphere of the brain is generally larger than the right. Dyslexic brains are more symmetrical with the right hemisphere being more prominent. This is important at the right hemisphere possesses a range of strengths related to holistic perception, visual spatial skills, out-of-the-box thinking and other unconventional abilities.
In Their Right Mind
Many dyslexics are artists or had mechanical abilities – picture smart (superior visual-perception) and machine smart visual-motor) skills. In an illiterate society such a child would be in little difficulty and might in fact do better.
An interesting theory to explain this suggests that too much testosterone is secreted during prenatal development that results in a slowing down of the left hemisphere. In compensation, the right hemisphere grows larger to make up for the difference.
Art is one area where dyslexics excel. Opportunities to draw, work in two and three dimensions and think out-of-the-box. Some famous artists include Robert Rauschenberg, Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Ansel Adams, Auguste Rodin, and Andy Warhol. Art schools have a higher percentage of dyslexics. 75% of students at the Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in London had some form of dyslexia. There is a “trade-off between being able to see the world in a wonderfully vivid and three-dimensional way and inability to cope with the written word either through reading or writing.
Dyslexics score lower on the verbal subtest of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking but higher than the control group on the figural (visual-spatial) subtest. Dyslexic adults were able to create novel images from the five basic geometric shapes and give alternative uses for a brick or a soda can showing more creativity in tasks requiring novelty or insight, and more innovative ways of thinking. Tests if visual-spatial skills showed poorer results in abilities like memory skills but consistently come out on top in the recognition of three-dimensional shapes, some of which were clearly impossible objects. These were very much like the drawings of the Dutch graphic artist MC Escher who drew pictures of buildings that contained optical illusions, showing stairs of columns that could not possibly be created by an architect.
The compelling implication is that dyslexia should be characterized not only by deficit, but also by talent. Global visual-spatial processing (holistic inspection) may underlie important real-world activities such as mechanical skill, carpentry, invention, visual artistry, surgery, and interpreting x-rays or MRI images.
Dyslexics: The Vanguard of a New Era
The kinds of abilities that dyslexics possess are tailor-made to the new visual-spatial world of software design, imaging technologies, hypertext, and other recent innovations. The rise of the printing technology from the time of the Gutenberg printing press in the 16th century favored the highly literate “one-step-at-a-time” thinker. However, we live in a “global village” and visual-spatial information is simultaneously available to everyone. Before Gutenberg, illustration and type were one and the same, they were inseparable. But afterward, they diverged. Now graphic software is a medium where they can come back again as there is no distinction between words and pictures. In the world of information processing, visual-spatial abilities combine with many other disciplines to create novel technological fields that favor three-dimensional thinkers.
In science and technology, researching the genetic code for protein structure, gene splicing, and monoclonal antibodies requires thinking in 3_D Technicolor pictures instead of words. This was essential in developing ground-breaking theories about how antibodies are made and inventing one of the first protein-sequencing machines that that helped to launch the human genome evolution. Bill Dreyer, a dyslexic inventor and biologist at Cal Tech was able to see the machine in his head and rotate valves and actually see the instrumentation. He doesn’t see dyslexia as a deficiency but is like having a CAD (computer-aided design) in his brain. The graduate education process that produces physicists was skewed to select those with analytic skills and rejecting those with visual or holistic skills but a new class of minds will arise as scientists.
Out-of-the-Box Entrepreneurs
Creative individuals from other fields can see the big picture and not get lost in all the details. This includes entrepreneurs and others in business who are able to take advantage of new trends and developments. Dyslexics flourish in the world of business. 35% of 139 business owners from across the USA identified themselves as dyslexic, compared with a dyslexia rate of 1% among corporate managers. Dyslexics have clear vision of how their business would grow and seemed to have exceptional ability to communicate this vision, allowing them to motivate those around them. They were good at delegation and this seemed linked to ability to grow their companies quickly. They also reported enhanced ability to apply creative solutions to overcome the various problems they encounter whilst running a successful business. Their abilities may have arisen as a compensation for having to overcome obstacles in school and early development, but is seems clear that innate abilities played a role as well.
Some famous examples of dyslexic entrepreneurs include. Charles Schwab, the founder and CEO of one of the largest discount brokerage houses in the world. He was great at conceptualizing and was naturally good in science and math. Even though he couldn’t read quickly, he could imagine things much faster than others who were stuck thinking sequentially. This helped him solve complex business problems as he could visualize how things would look at the end of the tunnel. Billionaire businessman Richard Branson noted “Perhaps my early problems with dyslexia made me more intuitive: when someone sends me a written proposal, rather than dwelling on the detailed facts and figures, I find that my imagination grasps and expands on what I read.
Craig McCaw, a dyslexic pioneer in the cellular phone industry, did not believe others when they said that the cell phone was impractical. Maybe if your mind is not cluttered with too much information, some things are obvious. John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, observes “It’s very easy for me to jump conceptually from A to Z. I picture a chess game on a multiple-layer dimensional cycle and almost play it out in my mind. But it’s not a chess game, It’s a business. I don’t make moves one at a time. I can usually anticipate the potential outcome and where the Ys in the road will occur. Diane Swonk, former president of the National Association of Business Economists, uses her dyslexic-holistic brain to make economic forecasts. “Sometimes the recent past is just a stage, not the trajectory of where we are heading. Hey, when X happens, it doesn’t mean that the next steps are going to be Y and Z. The next step may be to go back to A.”
Rewiring the Brain for Words
This may sound great, but you still need to be able to read in order to make your way in society. One answer is simply to learn how to read better. Areas of the brain that good readers use can be activated in dyslexics using phonological skills. One intensive software program called Fast ForWord engages children in game like activities that require them to discriminate between fast-changing sounds, similar sounding phonemes, and different consonant-vowel-consonant patterns like “cat” and “fan”. After 100 minutes a day, five days a week, for eight weeks, they had improved significantly and showed activation of patterns more like normally reading children. This works not only fore single words but with reading sentences, a year after engaging in the reading program.
For adults, the eight-week multisensory phonologically based remediation program (Lindamood-Bell Learning Corporation) read more proficiently and showed patterns of activation more like normally reading adults. It may never be too late. Another good reading remediation program for adults are the Wilson Reading Program, Language!, and Lexia Reading SOS.
Making the Most of Your Dyslexic Brain
It makes a lot of sense to enter a profession where visual-spatial or entrepreneurial abilities are required and avoid any that put a lot of emphasis on the printed word. Still, dyslexics have flourished in areas where both oral and written language are heavily used. Famous dyslexic writers include novelist John Irving, screenwriter Stephen Cannell, Mystery writer Agatha Christie, and poet WB Yeats. Children’s author Sally Gardner “I had a head like a sieve and any information put into it would fall out, but I went into publishing as an artist but was a story teller and started writing children’s books. Other prominent people are the trial lawyer David Boises. Woodrow Wilson (before being president, he was the president of Princeton University). Someone with dyslexia can succeed in any career if they have the drive and really put their mind to it.
Some careers favor those with a holistic-dyslexic frame of mind: Graphic artist, fine artist, animator, sculptor, visual advertiser, sculptor, filmmaker, photographer, television camera person, fashion designer, interior designer, architect, urban planner, cartographer, product designer, entrepreneur, engineer, physicist, computer software designer, surgeon, inventor, pilot.
Besides the right career choice, niche construction should involve searching for the right mentors to help you along. These role models can be inspirational successful dyslexic individuals – writers, artists and scientists. Famous dyslexics include entertainment (Harry Belefonte, Tom Cruise, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg), athletics (Mohammed Ali, Bruce Jenner, Greg Louganis, Nolan Ryan), and politics and the military (Nelson Rockefeller, George Patton).
Closer to home, someone who recognizes and nurtures their diversity could be a parent, teacher, or a coach who helps develop a passionate interest.
Dyslexic biochemist Ronald Davis had a biology teacher who encouraged him to read more science books and take more science courses. When a Ph.D student, he was going to flunk as he kept failing the foreign language tests, but his thesis advisor convinced the Graduate Committee to do a translation project.
Another niche construction is to put together a human resource network that can help get things done, especially in areas of deficiency. One CEO depends on colleagues to deal with the maze of incoming information. He can understand simple bar graphs but can’t follow one with multiple lines and his chief financial officer takes him through it. Others balance his check book. Another has his staff prepare three-page summaries of reading material with major points highlighted in yellow. His wife navigates the phone book.
Technology assists include text-to-speech software in cell phones and used to scan and have dictated to them books, magazines, restaurant menus, signs on walls, and other printed text in clear, synthetic speech. One can enlarge, read, track and highlight printed materials. Dyslexics with great oral skills use it to produce text.
When taking on reading material, start with books in your area of greatest interest, often the key to high literacy rates. It can be the only way to explore their passionate interest. Often, dyslexics use context to help them with difficult reading materials. If one is immersed in a field, it’s easy to skim and zero in on the important stuff.
Using pictures and visualization can be a better way to take in express information. Molecular biology, nanobiomechanics, and chemistry lend themselves well to computer graphics. Use coloured markers to highlight important themes in reading materials, make up little songs or visual stories to memorize material. In university, ask for accommodations, such as more time to take tests, receive help with note taking, and tape recording or videotaping lectures.
Ultimately, being dyslexic means being oneself with a great deal to offer society. If it’s true, dyslexics are the wave of the future. Educational systems and the workplace need to provide more opportunities. Increasing emphasis on texting and alternative spellings allow easier communication. It seems that the world and dyslexics are coming closer together. Maybe one day, the dyslexic will no longer be a disabled person but is looked upon more as a different kind of information processor whose out-of-the-box brain is a decided asset to the world.