I had a great chance to catch up with uber-talented Krista Weltner yesterday. If you haven't watched her recent Master's work Partially Compensated, check it out now. When we posted it to our Facebook feed, here are some of the comments: "Ok, that made me cry....
![Strategic Thinking and Dyslexia Education [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-9.11.07-PM.jpg)
There are many accomplished dyslexics who have told us that one of their greatest strengths in their current career is strategic thinking, but is there any evidence that strategy is a strength that is present in the school years, and if so, can it be better used to help students tackle the many academic hurdles that they face? Unfortunately, there has been relatively little attention studying the potential of strategy in the curriculum of dyslexic students, but there is some and in those studies, the findings are interesting. For instance, in a study of LD students attending 4 Southern California universities, researchers sought to understand how students with significant difficulties in phonological awareness and word attack were able to do just as well as non-LD […]
![Executive Function: DE-STRESS [PREMIUM]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-9.05.28-PM.jpg)
Dyslexic children who are struggling in school will be under tremendous stress and have varying levels of anxiety and depression. Stress is well known to affect executive functions and children experiencing stress can look as if they have ADHD. – Destress the Learning Environment. Are expectations well matched to the student’s current ability? Is the workload appropriate? Are accommodations needed? – Is your student being heard and understood? Is your student able to express herself and her feelings? Putting thoughts and feelings into words can have a positive distancing and organizing effect for people under stress. Can your child problem-solve setbacks and disappointments? If not, she may need some help scaffolding her challenges and coming up with a plan. Is there a positive working relationship […]
![The Curious History of Mirror Writing [PREMIUM]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-8.56.30-PM.jpg)
“As a researcher, working over two decades with hundreds of children and adults with dyslexia, I’m convinced that Leonard Da Vinci was dyslexic.” – Dr Maryann Wolf, author Proust and the Squid Mirror writing occurs commonly in dyslexic and non-dyslexic children between the ages of 3 and 7 years, however a subset of children will have persistent difficulties with letter reversals – and these children (or adults) will be more likely to have significant dyslexia or other LD. It at least one study, mirror writing was thought to occur in only ~ 10% of dyslexics, but its been estimated to be 30% of lefties. Even if mirror writing is only a significant problem in a minority of dyslexics – this rate is 16-fold higher than […]
Actress-dancer Zoe Saldana is Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2, and Avengers Infinity War. She is also mom of 3 boys. It's no accident that Zoe has found her groove in so many science fiction movies: "If I could have anything in life, I'd want tons of great...
![How to Teach Dyslexic Students Geography [PREMIUM]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2019-08-31-at-5.21.43-PM.jpg)
Many people may not know that a dyslexic scientist (Dr. Wally Broeker) led the first research team characterizing the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt – a massive cycling that takes place in the world’s oceans that circulates the sun’s heat around the globe and also has profound effects on marine animal migration and climate. Although the subject of Geography should be a natural fit for many dyslexic students with its high demands on MIND strengths (material, interconnected, narrative, and dynamic reasoning), it can also be taught in rote fashion (memorize map names and features) that can lead many students to struggle. In at least one study, dyslexic students being taught geography learned significantly better than their non-dyslexic counterparts if they were taught using multimedia (text, graphics, and sound). Multimedia was […]
Despite the fact that dyslexics are over-represented in Art & Design, the field of User Design is surprisingly late to designing for dyslexia specifically in mind. It may be that some design is as good as it is because there are already dyslexics in design teams...
![Music and Dyslexia [PREMIUM]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/piano-music-400x250.jpg)
For our last book, it was when we were getting ready to wrap up our interview with compact disk inventor James Russell, when the question “But when are you going to ask me about music?” came up. Music, we learned was a huge part of Jim Russell’s life (and still is) and interest in inventing that eventually lead to his electronic work (Jim was an audiophile who helped set up a complete commercial radio station before he graduated high school). Since that time, we often had folks mention how important music was to them either recreationally or professionally and we recognized the talents in children as well. One need not look far back into music history to find suggestions that some of the most famous […]
Here's one remarkable school decided to go 'all in' to help a dyslexic high school student who seemed to be slipping away. Matthew was a rising 10th grader at a non-selective high school. The majority of students at the school were described as being of low...
Ingvar Kamprad grew up in poverty on a small farm in Sweden. His grandfather had killed himself after realizing he could no longer afford his mortgage. His grandmother was able to save the family farm. Because Ingvar struggled in school because of his dyslexia and he...
Academic studies of dyslexia in the workplace have all arrived at the same conclusion: the vast majority of adults with dyslexia choose not to disclose or ask for accommodations in the workplace. Of those who do disclose, they often disclose to some but not all of...
![Dyslexic Master Montessori Teacher ALISON AWES [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Screen-Shot-2019-08-31-at-4.00.40-PM.jpg)
I recently had a chance to talk with Master Montessori Teacher Alison Awes who is based at the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota. Alison is dyslexic herself and she has written about how Montessori instruction can support dyslexic students. Alison is also trained in Orton-Gillingham Level1. Like the Orton-Gillingham method, the Montessori approach was created by a physician working with special education students. I knew about Montessori because both our children attended Montessori preschools and we liked many aspects of the educational approach, including self-directed learning, multi-age classrooms, and well-designed hands-on materials. I was interested in hearing about Alison’s experiences because she attended a Montessori school herself until the age of 12 and then transitioned to a traditional middle school. She only discovered that she […]
