"To me, life is a gift, and it's a blessing to just be alive. And each person should learn what a gift it is to be alive no matter how tough things get." — Tony Bennett Tony Bennett really sounds great at 95 years old. Check out his duets with Lady Gaga below....
![How to Keep Writing During the Pandemic [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/keep-writing-400x250.jpg)
Despite all of the mechanical and logistical challenges of writing for dyslexics, there are many for whom writing is a strength. What makes good writing? So many things, but keen powers of observation, a good sense of humor, insight, feeling, these are all things that make good stories and storytelling. For some kids and adults, keeping a pandemic journal is therapeutic. It’s not limited to text. COVID comics anyone? Historians or watchers of Antiques Roadshow may recall how interesting pandemic or war time journals of the past were to transporting them into all the places and times of crises. Smithsonian has a post about the 1918 influenza diaries for those who might want to get some historical context on our present. Some people […]
![Daydreaming While Reading [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/daydream-400x250.jpg)
“There are certain half-dreaming moods of mind in which we naturally steal away from noise and glare, and seek some quiet haunt where we may indulge our reveries and build our air castles undisturbed.” – Washington Irving Daydreaming holds a curious position in the areas of science. On the one hand, daydreaming has been seen as a negative, associated with inattention and poor task persistence, but on the other, associated with creative behavior and personal inspiration. Neuroscientists have taken a renewed interest in daydreaming because daydream pathways activate the default mode network, a brain network that is now known to be important for reflecting on one’s self as well as others, remembering the past, and imagining the future. Studies of dyslexic and non-dyslexic people […]
"Overcoming fear is the first step to success..." - Richard Branson Richard Branson has pulled it off - the 70 year old made his own spaceport in New Mexico and hovered between the earth's atmosphere and outer space for a few minutes, achieving...
Congratulations to all the dyslexic athletes in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. A'JA WILSON A'ja Wilson was the #1 draft pick in the WNBA in 2018, Rookie of the Year, and most valuable player in the WNBA in 2020. A'ja also wrote a...
![Dyslexic Talents: Team Building and Software Design [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Team-Building-and-Software-Design-2-400x250.png)
“I was dyslexic – I couldn’t read. My father was an engineer, so I grew up thinking I was like him, but I was actually intellectually more like my mother. They were both smart people.” — Jim Keller, past VP Engineering at Apple and Tesla, Senior VP at Intel, and CTO and President of Tensetorrent When it comes to talking about dyslexic talent, strengths in problem solving and team building often get mentioned. If such things get mentioned in school age children or even college students, it doesn’t truly capture what these strengths might involve when at their full powers in people at the top of their professions. Jim Keller is not a household name like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, but in […]
![Music And Dyslexia: Chat with Sally Daunt, Chair of the Music Committee of the BDA [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Music-400x250.jpg)
Recently, I had a wonderful opportunity to chat with Sally Daunt, Chairwoman of the Music Committee of the British Dyslexia Association. We had been corresponding about dyslexia and choral groups and Sally had asked about how dyslexic strengths can manifest themselves in choral groups where singers had to fit into tightly controlled schedules of music, extensive sight reading, and music performances which could have limited opportunities for musical interpretation. From my discussion with Sally: “Many dyslexic musicians have difficulty with sight reading – and perhaps cathedral choirs might consider whether an absolute requirement is necessary in the audition process. Some who have difficulty with sight reading might be able to pick music up quite quickly having heard a version once. In theater companies, […]
Congratulations to Steven Erickson and his brother Mark who won a coveted spot on the second season of Lego Masters to compete for $100,000. Steven and his brother Mark have long been known to the LEGO community. You can find Steven HERE. I have...
![How Not To Give Up On Learning A Second Language [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Second-Language-400x250.png)
Learning second languages are difficult for many dyslexic students; foreign language waivers or substitutions are common, but in spite of this, many can learn other languages and even multiple languages if the goal is conversation. Writing and spelling second and third language can be more difficult, but also possible for many people. Students may be more successful if they able to study over a longer time and if they have learned more about the structure of language in their native tongue. In the video below, listen to 4 Hour Work Week guru Tim Ferriss (yes, he’s dyslexic) talk about how he learned to be able to converse in many foreign languages. The type of learning described, won’t necessarily make you a master of […]
![Dyslexic Strengths: Nonverbal Super Powers [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Super-Power-e1621520632264-230x250.png)
“Did you see how their finance person rolled her eyes when the marketing guy was talking?” she’d observe. “They’re just not on the same page.” Or she might explain why the no’s they heard on various proposals could mean different things…” Michael Wheeler, from The Art of Negotiation about Erin Egan At one of our Conferences on Dyslexia and Innovation, Erin Egan, at that time, one of Dyslexic Advantage’s Board members, spoke about her experiences with dyslexia. If you only heard about her struggles, you’d miss that she was a leading negotiator for such powerhouse companies as Microsoft and Airbus. From Michael Wheeler again: “It’s as if Erin has social sonar, a way of seeing the interpersonal cross-currents below the surface and the forces […]
![Extraordinary Artist: Vincent [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Vincent-317x250.png)
“When you have dyslexia and you don’t know that’s what it is, you assume you’re not intelligent — and your self-confidence is taken away.” – Vincent Fantauzzo Vincent grew up in a crowded public housing flat with his mother and four siblings. He left school at 13, barely able to read and write, and got mixed up in street fights and general delinquency. “I spent my life hiding and hustling, feeling ashamed, not being good enough, not being smart enough and pretending to be someone I wasn’t…” – Vincent Fantauzzo While he was in school, Vincent remembered wanting to get kicked out of class rather than stand up and read aloud. He wondered why other students could read and he could not. “You can be dyslexic […]
