This question came through our webinar last month and I thought we could respond to it in more detail in our newsletter. There can be a high degree of overlap between individuals diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. Both dyslexia and ADHD can run in families and...
![The Mind Map in Your Brain [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/The-Mind-Map-in-Your-Brain-400x250.png)
Among professionals who work with dyslexic students, there have long been recommendations to mind map ideas. In recent basic neuroscience research, there’s been a growing understanding why. Neuroscientists have long studied how knowledge seems to work in the brain with schemas -or patterns that can form a flexible reference base that helps us understand new or existing knowledge or make decisions for how to act. But these schemas have largely been studied in a context of verbal memory – with only more recent insights into “the other schemas.” As it turns out there are a lot of other schemas and processes involving schema-making. They are non-verbal and spatial – and that is where the implications for dyslexic people may come into play. If you are […]
(Guest post from Stacy Scofield from sponsor Commonwealth Learning) More than three years have passed since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. And now, with little pomp and circumstance, the Public Health Emergency Declaration is over. We made...
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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 […]
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What to do? Many select colleges require two years of foreign language taken in high school, while telling potential applicants that they prefer four years. Sally Shaywitz of Yale University has said: “…Considering the profound impact dyslexia has on both spoken and written language acquisition, and from both an educational and a scientific perspective, it makes little to no sense to impose a foreign language requirement on students who are dyslexic and, indeed, is counterproductive to the aims of a liberal education in the 21st century.” In a previous article (Dropping Out Because of Foreign Language), we had described how a Harvard psychologist in the 1970s, Kenneth Dinklage had found that the students at risk for having to drop out of college because […]
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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 […]
It's that time of year again - either time for standardized tests or end of year exams. Test anxiety includes a variety of physical and emotional symptoms that include feelings of nervousness and hopelessness, fear, self-doubt, irritability, shortness of...
Our updated 2023 version of The Dyslexic Advantage is available in audiobook from places like Amazon / Audible, and Brock and I enjoyed hearing Tristan's narration, so we reached out to him for this interview. Brock listens to books at a high speed of playback and he...
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When I came across a remarkable article titled, “Dyslexia and Learning a Foreign Language: A Personal Experience,” I knew that I wanted to talk to the author. Charlann had the unique perspective of being both dyslexic and a speech language pathologist. She dodged the college level foreign language requirement by getting a bachelor’s degree in speech and theater and master’s degree in speech language pathology. “I no longer tell the truth about how long I have studied French because people cannot comprehend how I could have studied (for seven years) and…still struggle so severely with spoken and written language. I could not fluently retrieve basic structures or pronunciation patterns to communicate my thoughts in classroom discussions, so I tended to speak in sentence fragments 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...
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“Life isn’t about finding the answers, it’s about asking the questions.” – Brian Grazer, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life Although dyslexic people don’t have a monopoly on curiosity, curiosity may be a particular strength among dyslexic people – it may be what drives creative thinking and the exploratory advantage of dyslexic people. In Dyslexic Advantage’s School Survey, 88% of parents responding said that one of their children’s strengths was a high curiosity. Many dyslexic adults we’ve interviewed over the years have shared that their lifelong curiosity is something that has guided their life success over the years. “A lot of leaders would say they’re curious. I can tell you from personal experience that most leaders are not. They don’t ask a […]
In a unanimous Supreme Court decision in the case of Miguel Perez vs. Sturgis Public Schools, the courts ruled that students aren't required to exhaust the IDEA procedures before seeking relief (for instance money damages) under the ADA. The case involved a deaf...
