Read more HERE
People with dyslexia are specialized to explore the unknown
Newer research now suggests that dyslexia is not at all a disorder but a specialization in exploration, that was selected during human evolution. People with dyslexia (and these can be up to 10-20% of a population) are specialized to explore the unknown and this can play a fundamental role in human adaptation to changing environments. Thus, without dyslexic people and their explorative hunter and gatherer skills, humanity would not have survived tough times during the last 300.000 years of its evolution. But then 5.000 years ago with the advent of written languages and their importance for cultural development, brains with rapid automated processing skills had an advantage over explorative brains and the readers and writers were the winners of this development. However, now with the help of computers and AI tools, explorative brains may play again an important role in human evolution if we manage not to destroy our planet during this time.
Read all about it HERE
Why some children with learning difficulties get identified – and others don’t
A major study has revealed that where a child goes to school plays a role in whether they get diagnosed with a specific learning difficulty or not. Lead author, Dr Johny Daniel explains.
Two children sit in different schools. Both struggle to read. Both have similar low scores on national tests. But while one gets a diagnosis of specific learning difficulties and a package of support, the other is left to fall behind.
My colleagues and I have carried out new research analysing the records of around 540,000 primary school children across England. It reveals a troubling picture. Whether a child gets identified with specific learning difficulties – an umbrella term for conditions involving difficulties with reading and mathematics – depends not just on how they perform academically, but on the school they go to, their gender, their family’s income, their first language, and even the average ability of their classmates.
Read more HERE
Dealing with Dyslexia
see more HERE
Graduate student Abigail Cordiner navigates dyslexia in science
While her classmates puzzled over mathematical word problems on the page, the moment the problem was read out loud, the answer clicked instantly. Noticed by her teacher, this pattern became the turning point that led to Cordiner’s dyslexia screening, and, years later, continues to shape how she navigates graduate school today.
Read her story HERE
I was told my dyslexia was a ‘superpower’ at school. Adulthood told a different story
Britain still treats dyslexia as a school problem, not a workplace one
A few years ago, I was in a café with shared toilets as part of a larger complex. To use them, you needed a four-digit code. When I asked where they were, the staff gave me detailed directions and the code at the same time.
My brain had to hold both pieces of information, where to go and what number to remember, while my stress levels were rising. I went back to the counter four times: first to check left or right, then because I couldn’t find the toilets, then because I’d forgotten the code, and finally, repeating “7435” under my breath, I tripped and cut my knee.
This might sound like a small thing, but for me it’s a perfect example of what dyslexia can feel like in everyday life – juggling too much information all at once, often with time pressure, knowing that if you drop something it could be misunderstood as careless.
Read it all HERE