"The learning experiences of dyslexic medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a phenomenological study. This study has explored the learning experiences of dyslexic medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic... Generally, it fostered a culture of...
Complementary Cognition
" ...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...
George Church: Genomics Pioneer [Premium]
“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 […]
White Noise Improves Reading Skills and Memory in Reading Disabilities [Premium]
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 […]
What Kind of Dysgraphia [Premium]
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 […]
Dyslexia and Perfectionism [Premium]
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 […]
Dyslexia and Stronger Emotional Responses [Premium]
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 […]
Dyslexic MIND Strengths… for Kids!
Q: What can you tell me about MIND strengths and dyslexia? A: MIND-Strengths was a concept that we developed in our 2011 book, The Dyslexic Advantage. Both the book and the concept had their origin in our observations that dyslexic people not only shared certain kinds...
STEM: Talent Development for Dyslexic Students [Premium]
Just from the strengths perspective, we might expect that many dyslexic students would excel in science and technology. STEM jobs often require strengths in real world problem solving that depend on powers of observation, analytical ability, pattern recognition, and synthesis, or putting different pieces of information together. The problem is, dyslexic students may get few opportunities to observe and dabble in “real science”, unless they go out looking for it. Recently, I had a chance to catch up with Dr. Doresa Jennings, an amazing homeschooling mom who we all can learn from in terms of how she designed educational plans that build on students strengths. Even if your kids aren’t yet strong in science or technology, Doresa’s advice is worth listening to. Here are three […]
INTERVIEW: Dr. Brock Eide & the Neurolearning Dyslexia App
After writing The Dyslexic Advantage and co-founding this non-profit, why did you decide to create this innovative dyslexia screening app? After 20 years working in this field it's become clear that the biggest problem facing dyslexic people is access. That includes...
The Reading Wars: Will Dyslexic Students Be Helped?
"Over the long term in reading, the lowest performing students – those readers who struggle the most – have made no progress from the first NAEP administration almost 30 years ago..." There are discouraging reports from the 2019 NAEP Reading Assessment. NAEP stands...