Understanding Dyslexia as an Exploratory Advantage [Premium]

Understanding Dyslexia as an Exploratory Advantage [Premium]

by | Oct 2, 2022 | , , , , ,

“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, which involves a trade-off between exploration–exploitation.” — Helen Taylor and Martin David Vestergaard   In an extraordinary article in Frontiers in Psychology, two Cambridge University scholars have put forth a paradigm-shifting concept of dyslexia that integrates over a century of research from diverse perspectives. It is a tour-de-force that might help society put dyslexia in its proper context. From the paper (the simple term “dyslexia” is substituted for developmental dyslexia […]

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Dyslexia as an Evolutionary Advantage

Dyslexia as an Evolutionary Advantage

by | Oct 2, 2022 | , , , , , , ,

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 comes from a new study published in Frontiers in Psychology that finds an association between the learning difference and “an explorative bias.” — Additude Magazine, on the recent paper by Taylor and Westergaard   Cambridge scholars Helen Taylor and Martin David Vestergaard are shaking up the world with their article, Developmental Dyslexia: Disorder or Specialization in Exploration? In just a week, the article already had more views that 98% of all Frontiers articles. I’ve begun to a do a deep dive in our Premium magazines, but one of the reasons […]

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Processing Speed and Dyslexia [Premium]

Processing Speed and Dyslexia [Premium]

by | Jul 17, 2022 | , , , , , ,

Why isn’t there a “diagnosis” of processing speed impairment? For practical reasons, a label or diagnosis can help justify the need for extended time accommodations, reduce the quantity of homework, or similar requests. Without a formal diagnostic code, medical or educational professionals may also be more likely to overlook the need for accommodations… something that can have negative effects on grades and standardized test scores. Processing speed is also a curious phenomenon in the setting of dyslexia because speed is not typically slow for everything but rather certain types of activities that place especially heavy demands on reading, writing, and rote memory. If students are only partially remediated, they will be a great deal slower, needing extra time to decode text as well as integrate information. […]

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PTSD and Dyslexia

PTSD and Dyslexia

by | Jun 26, 2022 | , , , , , , , , , ,

“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 adults towards their childhood teachers…” — Neil Alexander-Passe   In Neil’s study of PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder in dyslexic adults in the United Kingdom, he found that all experienced emotional trauma in their time in the public school system and over half (64%) experienced PTSD or school avoidance symptoms when re-entering schools as parents, resulting in anxiety with many stating that they felt powerless as a child. PTSD symptoms occurred in the same frequency whether or not adults had achieved advanced degrees.

From […]

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Poor Outcomes for Reading Recovery [Premium]

Poor Outcomes for Reading Recovery [Premium]

by | Jun 12, 2022 | , , , ,

“Initial gains from first-grade intervention didn’t last and kids performed worse in third and fourth grade…”   Over 2 million students in the US have been taught reading with based Reading Recovery, a short term intervention program that uses pull-out one-to-one tutoring to first grade students. It was one of the few programs supported by the What Works Clearing House to improve general achievement (see report here – link goes to a public google drive which contains the report). However, new data suggests that at long-term following, students who received Reading Recovery performed worse than their peers by the 3rd and 4th grades:   The researchers at the University of Delaware gave possible reasons for negative results:   Of note, Reading Recovery had received $55 […]

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Complementary Cognition

Complementary Cognition

by | Apr 17, 2022 | , , , , , , , ,

” …our current education and work environments are often not designed to make the most of dyslexia associated thinking, we hope this research provides a starting point for further exploration of the economic, cultural and social benefits the whole of society can gain from the unique abilities of people with dyslexia.” – Nick Posford, CEO, British Dyslexia Association about Dr. Helen Taylor’s theory of complementary cognition.   Since dyslexia may be present in as many as 17% of the general population, many have questioned why such a high incidence exists. One provocative answer to this question comes from Dr. Helen Taylor, the first author on a paper about Complementary Cognition, a theory that proposes that brain-based differences that exist among groups of individuals like dyslexic […]

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George Church: Genomics Pioneer [Premium]

George Church: Genomics Pioneer [Premium]

by | Dec 1, 2021 | , , , , ,

“Your genetics is not your destiny.” – George Church     Harvard Professor George Church was shaking things up 3 decades ago when he fathered the human genome project and put himself first in line to have his genome sequenced. The world knows a lot about him, including his dyslexia, narcolepsy, blood type, and even colonoscopy. He argued that the benefits of sharing personal information outweighed privacy concerns. “It’s all too easy to dismiss the future. People confuse what’s impossible today with what’s impossible in the future.” – George Church   George Church has done a lot of controversial things in his life and he’s continuing to do them, but what is not in doubt now is that he is at the center of some […]

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White Noise Improves Reading Skills and Memory in Reading Disabilities [Premium]

White Noise Improves Reading Skills and Memory in Reading Disabilities [Premium]

by | Sep 12, 2021 | , , , , , , , , , , ,

Some of you may remember research in the past that showed that individuals with dyslexia have more difficulty screening out background noise (discussed in the news HERE). Students or adults with this difficulty can usually request quiet area for work or test-taking under the ADA or Americans for Disabilities Act.   Now another research group has tested the effect of “white noise” on reading skills and memory recall in children with a reading disability.   From the paper: “The study was conducted with a group of 30 children with RD and phonological decoding difficulties and two comparison groups: one consisting of skilled readers (n = 22) and another of children with mild orthographic reading problems and age adequate phonological decoding (n = 30). White noise […]

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What Kind of Dysgraphia [Premium]

What Kind of Dysgraphia [Premium]

by | Sep 12, 2021 | , , , , , , ,

A recent clinical review of dysgraphia has defined dysgraphia in the following way: “At its broadest definition, dysgraphia is a disorder of writing ability at any stage, including problems with letter formation/legibility, letter spacing, spelling, fine motor coordination, rate of writing, grammar, and composition.”   Developmental dysgraphia (i.e. dysgraphia not based on some known injury) is described in the same article as having a “difficulty in acquiring writing skills despite sufficient learning opportunity and cognitive potential.” When a teacher or other professional asks a parent about “what type of dysgraphia their student might have,” they may be referring to the so-called “5 Types of Dysgraphia”, that often include, “motor”, “dyslexic”, “spatial”, and so on – but these distinctions are rarely clear-cut in real life and […]

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Dyslexia and Perfectionism [Premium]

Dyslexia and Perfectionism [Premium]

by | Jun 6, 2021 | , , , , , , , ,

For many, college is a “perfect storm” for personal stress. Reading and writing workloads may be astronomical, student and family expectations are high, and many students for the first time may be without personal and academic supports that allowed them to enter college in the first place. College is the time when students could find their organizational and time management abilities stretched beyond their ability to cope. There are surprisingly few studies looking at coping strategies for dyslexic students in college or universities. Recently, in the United Kingdom, researchers discovered that unhealthy patterns of perfectionism may negatively impact students’ well-being and the likelihood to reach out for help. Perfectionism is now thought to be a common personality disposition characterized by the making of high personal […]

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Dyslexia and Stronger Emotional Responses [Premium]

Dyslexia and Stronger Emotional Responses [Premium]

by | Apr 27, 2021 | , , , , , ,

Neuroscientists at the University of California San Francisco, just reported their finding that dyslexic children ages 7-12 showed stronger emotional responses as measured by a variety of measures than their non-dyslexic peers.   From the study abstract: “..we examined whether right-hemisphere-based emotional reactivity may be elevated in dyslexia. We measured emotional reactivity (i.e., facial behavior, physiological activity, and subjective experience) in 54 children ages 7–12 with (n = 32) and without (n = 22) dyslexia while they viewed emotion-inducing film clips. Participants also underwent task-free functional magnetic resonance imaging. Parents of children with dyslexia completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children, which assesses real-world behavior. During film viewing, children with dyslexia exhibited significantly greater reactivity in emotional facial behavior, skin conductance level, and respiration rate […]

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