Dyslexia Library
![Learning Through Real Things: David Kelley’s Tech Box [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Learning-Through-Real-Things-400x250.png)
Learning Through Real Things: David Kelley’s Tech Box [Premium]
“Striving for perfection can get in the way during the early stages of the creative process.” — David Kelley David Kelley is recognized as one of the world’s leading design innovators. He is also dyslexic and dysgraphic. In addition to founding Stanford University Design School, David co-founded IDEO, a design company that, among other things, designed the prototype for the computer mouse that we know today. In The Art of Innovation, David’s brother Tom wrote about how David loved to make things as a little kid, and as early as he could remember, he believed in the process of starting somewhere and continually improving something until it really works. When Tom was only six, he remembers David improving how he built snowmen until […]
Sony Santa Monica Game Designer Stephen Oyarijvbie
"Don't get frustrated with yourself. There are things that you're going to struggle with. Lean into the things that you do well, those strengths...and don't dwell on how people treat you. You're smart and probably smarter than a lot of other people. The world...
A Whodunit Mystery by Anthropologist Roxanne Varzi
UC Irvine Professor Roxanne Varzi is a creative anthropologist, filmmaker, and mystery author. She shared her dyslexia journey in a previous interview HERE. In my interview below, I learned that Roxanne was drawn to the field of cultural anthropology by its...
Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers
Brilliant comedian Tommy Smothers of Smothers Brothers fame passed away at the age of 86. Condolences to his family and loved ones. “My comedy came out of my dyslexia…I search for words. I don’t stutter but there’s a timing that I discovered that was comedic timing, which is the process of getting to the next sentence or the next idea or the next concept. It’s kind of disjointed and not very articulate but it was a character that could say things.” — Tommy Smothers Tommy and his brother on the Judy Garland show. Tommy’s comedy sketch about being “inarticulate.”
Dyslexia Wars: Attack on Dyslexia Definition
A brief note about about an article in Hechringer Report (also published in Scientific America). It is attacking the “unexpected” difficulty in reading (in the presence of average or above-average IQ) that has been a part of the dyslexia definition since its first clinical description in the late 1800’s as well as documented through scientific research since that time. I am opting not to share the link, because controversial articles such as these can attract “clicks” and that are credited in a positive way to the author and site, though contributing actual harm to students through misleading selective presentation of data use of emotionally-charged words. The title of the article is: “How a disgraced method of diagnosing learning disabilities persists in our nation’s schools.” […]
Getting Your Students Started in Creative Writing
With all the work of school and physical challenges getting information down on paper, many students with dyslexia don't get a chance to write creatively - but the Karina Eide Young Writers Awards might get some students off the sidelines. The deadline for the...
Dyslexic Advantage at Stow Library in MA
Last week, Brock and I gave a presentation on the Strengths of Dyslexia at the Randall Library in Stow, Massachusetts via Zoom. Tina McAndrew, director of the Randall Library, got the idea to apply for a grant from the American Libraries Association after speaking to...
Dyslexic Toymakers and Gamemakers
Many dyslexic kids and adults are great at games – all sorts of games. Not surprisingly, some decide to make games themselves and then some choose careers in some aspect of the game industry. There may be an ability to see game play from multiple perspectives including different points of view, while those who win these games are often good at strategy, role play, and pattern recognition. Among game creators, strengths in humor, and divergent and playful thinking are very well-suited to inventing new games. Some years ago, legendary toy inventor Howard Wexler gave our community a webinar about his life inventing toys. As a kid, he played with Tinkertoys and enjoyed taking things apart. His toys and games were very different from each […]
Completing My Degree with AI and ChatGPT
Recently, I spoke with dyslexic entrepreneur Stan Gloss, who returned to higher education to finish a degree in Educational Leadership. Stan’s full interview will be featured in an upcoming issue in our Premium magazine. What Stan shares is his workflow for conducting research and writing his dissertation for his degree. Because of the text-based burdens of researching and writing a dissertation, many dyslexic students may find themselves halted in “ABD” or All But the Dissertation limbo. Stan found an answer to this and won his university’s approval to use these technologies in his graduate work.
What is Dysgraphia in the Setting of Dyslexia?
When I saw the title of a new research paper on the indicators of dyslexia and dysgraphia in children’s writing, I looked forward to seeing what it contained. The paper is available online here, but the checklist contained in the paper falls short, and at least in its present form, I would not recommend it because it does not seem to reflect a full understanding of dyslexia. A much better (though older) paper is one by Crouch and Jakubecy (2007). This paper doesn’t miss the importance of automaticity (or lack of automaticity) in dysgraphia.. IMPAIRED AUTOMATICITY IN DYSGRAPHIA Many dyslexic (and non-dyslexic) students with dysgraphia have significant impairments in handwriting automaticity. What that means is that when letters are formed, there is not a […]
![Statistician with Dyscalculia – A Chat with Dylan Lynn [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-07-at-9.53.13-PM-400x250.png)
Statistician with Dyscalculia – A Chat with Dylan Lynn [Premium]
How can a statistician have dyscalculia? Welcome to the wonderful world of mathematics – the field is as wide as it is deep. One of the keys to Dylan’s love of statistics, and later data analysis is that she loved math to tell stories. She loved the puzzle-solving aspect of statistics and how information could be made accessible through analysis to drive decision-making and policy. Although Dylan had indeed struggled with many lower level aspects of math – like timed math fact retrieval, math symbols, and fractions, she flourished as a data analyst in tech companies, drawing trends across disciplines and communicating what she learns from patterns that she recognizes to drive informed decisions. Such a career has many aspects of MIND […]
![Dyslexic Storytellers [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DYSLEXIC-STORYTELLERS-e1702709403878-305x250.jpg)
Dyslexic Storytellers [Premium]
Although many of the physical and mechanical aspects of writing are difficult, many of the greatest writers of all time are dyslexic. Why does storytelling come naturally to so many? Dyslexic people have powerful emotional, personal, multisensory memories. As a result, it’s easy to recall the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of the past and once the hurdles of getting information down on a page are overcome, stories can come to life for others. Not everyone has these gifts – in fact, a lot of people don’t. A common dyslexic strength is “episodic simulation”. The word “episodic” refers to what scientists refer to as episodic memory, memories for episodes or experiences that have a specific place and time. Our surveys of dyslexic and […]
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