This post is for all those great fathers who never lost sight of the young men or women their children could become. Here's a story from the past - some of the experiences will sound familiar: "Several of my uncles and aunts had tried to teach me to read, and because...
How to Help a Dyslexic Student in a General Education Classroom
From the Connecticut Longitudinal Study, up to 1 in 6 students are dyslexic, but only a minority of these students will be found in special education classrooms. What does this mean for regular classroom teachers? 1. Get Basic Facts about Dyslexia - Dyslexic students...
Advice for Actors – Especially Dyslexic Ones
From accomplished actor Lloyd Everitt, the youngest actor to play Othello at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London https://www.thestage.co.uk/advice/2016/lloyd-everitt-5-tips-for-actors-especially-dyslexic-ones/ 1. Know yourself Observe your sound and reactions from...
Singer Songwriter Freya Ridings
"I struggled so much at school with dyslexia, and I really found it so difficult in so many ways. When I found music, it just became an anchor that got me through the hardest school years...I couldn’t read music, and all my music teachers gave up on me one by one...
Famous Dyslexic Mathematician – Norbert Wiener
There have been many famous dyslexic mathematicians throughout history. Today, math-gifted dyslexic students might find their outlet for numbers in careers such as finance and investing, or engineering in some aspect of computer technology. Norbert Wiener of MIT was a...
POSITIVE Dyslexia: A New Dyslexic Nobel Prize Winner
"During my youth, I was quite asocial. I had a lot of difficulty with the world. Every ten years, I found, it got a little better. Now things are going quite well." - Jacques Dubochet There's no better reminder that awareness needs to include the positive side of...
PACIFIC STUDIO VISIT: Interview with Michael Graham about his ‘Dream Job’ Making Museum Exhibits
This past summer, our high school volunteer Krista, my son, and I had a wonderful opportunity to visit Michael Graham, High End Fabrication Program Manager for Pacific Studio in Seattle. Michael has what many would call a dream job - making exhibits for museums all...
How Dyslexic MIND Strengths Integrate with Multiple Intelligences [Premium]
In our book, The Dyslexic Advantage, we spoke about the 4 MIND strengths common in adult dyslexics: M for Material Reasoning, I for Interdisciplinary Reasoning, N for Narrative Reasoning, and D from Dynamic Reasoning. These skill clusters and talent sets had parallels in brain systems and processes as well as careers, domains of expertise, and areas of innovation. Multiple Intelligences is a concept that was introduced by Howard Gardner of Harvard to identify specific modalities that went beyond a single intelligence or general ability. The seven he initially characterized were: musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, logical mathematical, bodily, kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. The ones he considered adding later were naturalistic (able to classify natural forms, ecological ‘receptiveness’), existential or spiritual, and teaching -pedagogical in telligence. Somewhat related […]
Why Dyslexics Excel in Real Estate
"When I see a property I can instantly construct a new house on it. I can see exactly how that house is going to look, and I can walk through every room in that house, and out into the garden, and everywhere. I can turn my thoughts into reality...I can do a detailed...
Dyslexic Visionary Architect Lord Richard Rogers [Premium]
“Richard Rogers’ late entry into the 4th Year was not successful. He has a genuine interest in and a feeling for architecture but surely lacks the intellectual equipment to translate these feelings into sound building. His designs will continue to suffer while his drawing is so bad, his method of work so chaotic and his critical judgement so inarticulate”. “…there is no disputing that he is one of the most influential architects of all time…” Richard Rogers was definitely a late bloomer. “I was an appalling student all of my life. In fact, I always like to say, I enjoyed much more the last third of my life, than I have in my first third…” Rogers is best known for his work on the […]
Discoverer of the Titanic – Dyslexic Ocean Explorer Robert Ballard [Premium]
“When I was a child, I wrote a letter to an oceanographic institution in California called Scripps (Scripps Institution of Oceanography UC San Diego). It was a Dear Santa Claus letter. “Dear Scripps, I want to be an oceanographer.” I’m sure I misspelled it, because I’m dyslexic. They gave me a scholarship.” – Robert Ballard When I was seventeen, 56 years ago, I went on my first expedition. We got caught in a storm, hit by a rogue wave, and I thought that was so cool. I was too young to be afraid. I just fell in love with adventure with a purpose, where you go out there and overcome the obstacles that you’re always faced with, and then you find this secret, whether it’s a shipwreck like the Titanic, or […]
Shakespeare and Dyslexia – Making Words Physical [Premium]
Today is National Shakespeare Day, and dyslexia and Shakespeare have been on our minds. We recently mentioned that Lloyd Everitt (yes, he’s dyslexic) is the youngest actor to play Othello at Shakespeare’s own Globe Theater. But we’ve also been thinking about Shakespeare recently because, on our trip down to California, we had the pleasure of stopping by the Oregon Shakespeare Company’s Rebecca Carey, the head of Voice and Text. Rebecca has an accomplished career that includes acting herself as well as teaching and consultant roles with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Oxford School of Drama, Broadway, and American Repertory Theatre. Rebecca is also co-author (with her husband, David Carey) of The Shakespeare Workbook and Video, a brilliant practical course for actors that includes such topics […]