![Dyslexia in Everyday Life: Memory [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Dyslexia-in-Everyday-Life-C.png.webp)
What does dyslexia look like in every day life? What are the highs and lows? Answers to these questions often depend on what stage of life you’re in, what came before, support you have from family and friends, and what you’re preparing for in the next step in your life.
![Creativity and Its Connection Dyslexia, ADD / ADHD, and Low Working Memory [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-10.49.07-AM.jpg.webp)
Creative companies and groups seem to have higher than average representation of people with dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, and low working memory. Dyslexia is associated with increased divergent and exploratory thinking, but what does ADD/ ADHD or low working memory have to do with creativity? A tech person might ask – is it a bug or a feature? We think it’s a feature, just like dyslexia.If dyslexia, ADD/ADHD and low working memory were all bad, you wouldn’t see an over-representation in creative industries. Attention and working memory have been suggested to be two sides of a neural coin. While attention is like a spotlight directed at certain parts of the outside world, working memory is like a spotlight directed at internal thoughts, information, or instructions. HIGH FUNCTIONING […]
The problem with trying to diagnose with behavioral checklists is that behavior can result from many different sources. If you have a 3rd grader trying to focus on reading, but he looks out the window and doesn’t make much progress – is it poor attention, working memory overload, distraction (attention to something besides a task that is assigned), lack of engagement or motivation, or something else? And does weak attention or weak working memory matter all that much if a student seems to have strong knowledge and long term memory? Researchers have tended to focus on one thing at a time – like attention or working memory or long term memory, or engagement, but in reality these things are all mixed together and it can […]
![Managing Forgetfulness and Recognizing Its Benefits [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Managing-Forgetfulness-and-Recognizing-Its-Benefits-400x250.jpg)
Can there be any benefits to forgetting? Not all types of memory are alike – and forgetting also takes on many different forms. STRANGE INSIGHTS INTO MEMORY FROM AI A funny thing happened when AI researchers tried to teach machines to learn many languages. Having a perfect memory – it seems, whether in machines or people – isn’t a good thing for flexible and generalizable learning. To really be super flexible learner, you have to forget.
From Quanta Magazine’ How Selective Forgetting Can Help AI Learn Better: “A team of computer scientists has created a nimbler, more flexible type of machine learning model. The trick: It must periodically forget what it knows… A few years ago, Artetxe and others trained a […]
Q: My 9 year old son is having trouble making progress in reading, writing, and Math because of working memory. What can help? Working memory is a type of memory that allows us to temporarily hold information ‘in mind’ to be used for other cognitive tasks. Some people refer to it as a ‘sticky note’ like remember a phone number when taking a message or directions when someone tells you where you need to go.
WORKING MEMORY LIMITATIONS AFFECT READING, WRITING, AND MATH Working memory limitations can affect reading, writing, math, and really all types of learning because if too much information is presented at once, students can lose their place, forget what’s been said, and experience what experts call “cognitive overload”. […]![Um.. Trouble Finding the Right Words [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Um.-Finding-the-Right-Words-400x250.jpg.webp)
A young filmmaker, Lauren, interviewed for our movie shared that she had trouble putting her ideas into words. After the camera had shut off, I told her that many people over the years shared exactly the same thing. Lauren shared that when she reads a book, she gets vivid images of characters, events, and places. When she plans out a movie, she can visualize everything. We know that not everyone has that ability – and her visualization strengths are ideal for what she does today – make films. But there is considerable evidence that what might make you strong at generating pictures and other sensory images, may be balanced by weaker or at least more effortful generation of words. When we surveyed dyslexic […]
![The Mind Map in Your Brain [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/The-Mind-Map-in-Your-Brain-400x250.png.webp)
Among professionals who work with dyslexic students, there have long been recommendations to mind map ideas. In recent basic neuroscience research, there’s been a growing understanding why. Neuroscientists have long studied how knowledge seems to work in the brain with schemas -or patterns that can form a flexible reference base that helps us understand new or existing knowledge or make decisions for how to act. But these schemas have largely been studied in a context of verbal memory – with only more recent insights into “the other schemas.” As it turns out there are a lot of other schemas and processes involving schema-making. They are non-verbal and spatial – and that is where the implications for dyslexic people may come into play. If you are […]
![What’s the Point of the Dyslexic Mind? with Dr Brock Eide [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-21-at-7.50.20-AM-400x250.png.webp)
This webinar was rescheduled from a planned presentation at Cambridge University. Although dyslexia has traditionally been defined in negative and narrow terms, these definitions are poorly matched to the breadth of research on dyslexic children and adults. Here the Eides present their case that dyslexia should not be defined solely as a defect or deficiency, but rather as a cognitive specialization – that prioritizes episodic cognition. Bookmark Please login to bookmark ClosePlease login to access.
![Working Memory, Attention, and Learning [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Working-Memory-Attention-and-Learning-7-e1680692445930-303x250.jpg.webp)
“When we act on sensory inputs we call it ‘attention,’ but there’s a similar mechanism that can act on the thoughts we hold in mind.” — Timothy Buschman, Princeton University For the past 70 years, psychologists, researchers, teachers have focused intently on the implications of attention to learning, but working memory, a type of short-term memory that seems equally important — if not more significant — to general cognitive processes has received far less consideration. There are several implications for most dyslexic individuals because what many may attribute to attention or attention deficit may actually be due to activities involving working memory. IS IT INATTENTION OR WORKING MEMORY OVERLOAD? A student is struggling in math class. He is watching the teacher write on the board […]
![Dyslexia: What About Sequencing? [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Sequencing-400x250.jpg.webp)
Sequential memory is a challenge for many dyslexic people – and you may be surprised how many very accomplished dyslexics have trouble with it. SEQUENCING DIFFICULTIES PRESENT MANY WAYS Parents and students may first notice difficulties memorizing sequences when they get asked to recite the alphabet or numbers up to 10. Trouble appears learning the days of the week or months of the year (harder) but some are able to compensate with music or associated mnemonics. “You mean you don’t have to sing the ABC song in order to remember which letter is in front of the other? ” – Business Executive Sequencing errors contribute to problems in reading, spelling, writing, and math, but also specific subjects like history or literature. Students with sequencing […]
![Memory Problems and Math [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Memory-Problems-and-Math-Premium-400x250.png.webp)
Many students and adults attribute difficulties in math to memory problems, but probing these difficulties further often leads to the realization that it’s not a simple matter of remembering or forgetting, but rather trouble defining, organizing, then retrieving what has been learned. PROBLEMS DEFINING AND UNDERSTANDING ‘WHY’ First of all, if a student is struggling with remembering new information, it’s best to check and see if the definitions, procedures, and the why of procedures are clear. In fact, it may be a flipside of a strength in long-term memory that contributes to dyslexic students’ confusion with ambiguous terms. A good example of this James Tanton’s blog post: When fractions are introduced as pieces of pie, 3/5 + 1/5 makes sense to equal 4/5, but what […]
![The Power of the List [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Power-of-List-Dyslexic-Advantage.jpg.webp)
For many of us, hearing about a new technology, app, or software can result in mixed feelings. We may have hope about better organizing and simplifying our lives, but also have reasonable worry about a difficult learning curve, a complicated interface, or any number of problems that can prevent us from reaping the benefits of whatever thing we are hoping might help. Enter – the simple list. If you have a weak short term or working memory, but great long-term memory and you don’t like reading lots of extra text, then lists may be the perfect productivity tool for you. Putting something down on a list can offload your working memory, but also have the benefits of reinforcing the big picture, while never losing sight […]
