"I use my dyslexia as a form of artwork. When I create a composition of a piece, usually there's another piece upside-down." — Jarrett Camp Jarrett Camp is an award-winning fine artist based in Los Angeles. He is a stipple artist who creates large works that...
"I think that dyslexia is hard. And I think that it's OK to admit that it's hard...and also admit that sometimes it does really suck...but I think that when you find your niche, and that can only really come from taking random opportunities...it really helps you find...
![Chief of Design at Nike: John Hoke [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Chief-of-Design-at-Nike-John-Hoke.png)
“I’m dyslexic, so my first real language was drawing,” he said. “Even at the youngest age I can recall, I wasn’t necessarily interested in the essay or the text, I was graphically designing the header. I doodled everything. That was the way I communicated.” — John Hoke From Fast Company: “My father was an engineer and I used to only run in the waffle trainer cause that was my shoe. I had to have it. It was the best. And when I was done, I would bandsaw the shoe in half and I would look at the two halves of the section and I’d look at my air mattresses, my pool, my bike tire or my bike tire inner tube. I was like, why can’t […]
![Question: Advice for Jobs Good for Dyslexic Creatives? [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Dyslexia-and-the-Foreign-Language-Dilemma-Dyslexic-Advantage-1-400x250.png)
Someone recently asked this question because his previous job came to an end and he wanted find a job that better matched his dyslexic strengths. It’s hard to answer that question specifically for any one person because a great deal of variation from person-to person can exist within the strengths associated with dyslexia. INTERESTS AND STRENGTHS That being said, it is a good idea to take stock of your interests and strengths and to ask people who know you well for their opinions. Sometimes it’s hard to identify your strengths yourself. Are there things you love doing, whether inside your career or out, that give you ‘ “flow” and great satisfaction? If there is more than one activity, can you think of any factors in […]
![Legendary Filmmaker David Lean [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/academy-award-pexels-400x250.png)
Sir David Lean CBE was an Academy Award-winning filmmaker who inspired fellow dyslexic filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Joe Wright. David was initially recognized as a “dud” at school, prone to excessive daydreaming. Later he would credit his passion for filmmaking with the gift (from an uncle) of a Brownie box camera at the age of 10. David was considered “dim” especially when compared to his younger brother. He left school at 18 for work, but was bored when he tried apprenticing at his father’s accountancy firm. David’s aunt urged him to find a job that he could love. He was spending every evening at the movie house, so taking her advice to heart, he quit trying to work as an account apprentice, and […]
With so much dyslexia in creative communities, it's not surprising that more authors and screenwriters are including dyslexic characters in their works. The strength side is appearing more commonly, but is it great or will it make you cringe? The answer is, probably a...
"In 2018, just after I turned thirteen, my mom signed me up for a film camp at a local private school. The moment I picked up a camera, I felt like I never wanted to put it down!" — Lauren Havel Recently, I had the chance to talk with an amazing young filmmaker,...
![Qona Rankin from the Royal College of Art: Creative [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Qona-Rankin-cover-e1680639793162-400x250.jpg)
“…instead of reading perhaps 240 words a minute, the Dyslexic brain may read 150 words a minute, but at the same time, it could be making all sorts of fascinating connections and links through dipping into other processing centers in the brain.” – Qona Rankin Qona Rankin is dyslexia specialist at the Royal College of Art (RCA), one of the premier institutions for art and design in the world. She is also dyslexic. Qona’s expertise was in three-dimension design, whether furniture, consumer products, or jewelry. After Qona earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, she began working part-time at a university. A visiting lecturer from another university was a dyslexia support specialist and she told the group that there were likely to be many dyslexic […]
![Dyslexia, Art, and Science [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Dyslexia-Art-and-Science-400x250.png)
“Artists and scientists are curious creatures always looking for patterns…. And that’s because patterns communicate larger insights about the world around us.” — Rebecca Kamen Many dyslexic people work in fields that involve science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and art, and those career choices may be due to personal characteristics like curiosity as well as cognitive strengths involving analytical ability, creative problem solving, visualization, and hands-on problem solving. In our survey of careers of dyslexic adults in our network (please fill out here if you haven’t already), out of 106 people who answered, 42 had careers in science, technology, medicine, engineering, or the visual arts. That’s almost 40% in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) professions! If that is so, is our education preparing students for […]
![The Benefits of Creative Writing [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-Benefits-of-Creative-Writing-e1676063396893-371x250.jpg)
It’s that time again – the Karina Eide Young Writers Awards are open for submission. Encourage a young person you know to submit a little story or poem. We’ll be giving away over $1000 in awards as well as some non-monetary awards. Submissions will be evaluated on storytelling, humor, and voice, and not spelling, grammar, or handwriting. Creative writing and storytelling is often a strength for dyslexic people and taking the time to write or dictate creative stories can build resilience and strengthen one’s awareness of strengths and value. “…writing can provide…a way to solve problems, capture feelings and inner experience, exercise power and freedom, and know one’s own voice.” – Genevieve Chandler, 1999 (A Creative Writing Program to Enhance Self- Esteem and Self-Efficacy in […]
![Memory Problems and Math [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Memory-Problems-and-Math-Premium-400x250.png)
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 […]
Recently, a bilingual teacher in my Dyslexia for Teachers class shared his experiences being a dyslexic writing in both English and Chinese. With his permission, I am sharing some of his reflections: "Under an educational system that attaches great importance to...
