Over the years, we've met many dyslexic adults with people strengths that span the full range of careers. Sometimes people with strong empathy are drawn to jobs that really need the human touch - whether it's counseling, nursing or other health professions, or in...
Your “Mini-Me” and Bullying [Premium]
English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams recently shared that he was saddened after learning that his 10-year old daughter who is like a “mini-me”, dyslexic also with musical abilities, was rejected by a friend who decided she didn’t want anything to do with her after learning that she was dyslexic. “I tried to make it clear to […]
Smooth Sailing into September
It's that time of year again when students have either started back or are beginning to start back to the school year and even old work routines. While some aspects of getting back to old routines are welcome, there are plenty of reasons why students, teachers, and...
Sky’s the Limit: Finding Self-Efficacy [Premium]
“If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning…” — Mahatma Gandhi More people may have heard about self-esteem than self-efficacy, but self-efficacy may be a more important quality that will predict how a person […]
Understanding Dyslexia as an Exploratory Advantage [Premium]
“Approaches to explaining developmental dyslexia must account for both the difficulties and the enhanced abilities that are typical of people with developmental dyslexia. All the proposed strengths… relate in some way to seeking out the unknown, often at the expense of exploiting known information. A useful framework for tying together these observations is cognitive search, […]
Dyslexia as an Evolutionary Advantage
Dyslexia is not a neurological disorder or even an impairment, but rather a concession for having cognitive strengths in exploration, big-picture thinking, creativity, and problem-solving that have contributed to human survival amid changing environments. This insight...
PTSD and Dyslexia
"This study identified that emotional trauma took place in all participants, and this resulted in many having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder manifestations as a result of returning to school for their own children. Participants still noted anger and resentment as...
Finding the Positive
Recently, I received an email from parents of a student that we tested almost ten years ago. They were celebrating their recent news of his acceptance into his college "dream" pick. Things had looked very different a decade ago, but since that time, I know he had...
The Social-Emotional Side of Dyslexia [Premium]
“A lot of the time I take the parts of learning that are still hard for me as rejection — as someone telling me I can’t. I see points taken off for misspelled words on in-class English essays, and I start to see my future crumbling. I see the colleges that my dyslexia could prohibit […]
Eugene Matusov on Teaching and Motivation [Premium]
I recently discovered Eugene Matusov’s writings on motivation and agency. He is a professor at the University of Delaware and he is also dyslexic. I found it interesting that he ended up choosing a career teaching other teachers and yet his early years seem to be fairly traumatic in school. He had some very […]
Dyslexia and Motivation [Premium]
“Self-esteem and motivation are important in a child with dyslexia. It is important that they not feel like a failure just because their mind thinks in a different way. It is important to understand what dyslexia is in order to be able to understand the importance of motivation in a dyslexic child… A personal note […]
Breaking the Cycle of Shame
"How do you not to feel stupid when everyone else is learning something that you can't grasp at the same pace? The shame of not being able to read out loud without stuttering or misspelling something on the blackboard in front of the class was almost unbearable. The...