American Dyslexia Association

Tag: dyslexic

Why Dyslexia is a Gift

by Karl Leeuw

These are some of the dyslexic people in history:

Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Michael Faraday, Stephen Hawking, Steve Jobs, Robin Williams, Henry Ford, Da Vinci, Newton, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Picasso, John Lennon, Winston Churchill, Alexander Bell, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, Woodrow Wilson, George Washington, the Wright Brothers, Mohammed Ali, and many more.

Now for the famous dyslexic people who are alive:

Richard Branson, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Cruise, Andy Warhol, Anthony Hopkins, Ozzie Osborne, Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, and many more.

What do they all have in common?
They struggled at school. Yes, they did not get A’s or 10 out of 10, and yet they became geniuses in their field.
So, why?

The reason why dyslexia is a gift is that we use the right side of our brains. Sally Shaywitz of Yale University put dyslexic and non-dyslexic people in a study using an fMRI tunnel and proved this.

About 10% of the world’s population suffers from the gift of dyslexia and has this right-brain gift that is fit for creativity.
In a study, the Cass Base Business School in the UK showed that dyslexic people are five times more likely to be innovators compared to non-dyslexic people, and this is why: We can see things that others cannot.

So, the key is to know you have a gift and not worry about not doing so well at school, but rather concentrate on doing things you excel at and love.
Non-dyslexic people, who make up about 90% of society, suffer from the gift of using the left brain, which is great for sequential things.

So, great for the educational system and getting A’s and 10 out of 10. This is a massive gift in its own right.

Yin and Yang.
The ancient Chinese knew that for every positive, there must be a negative. In science, for every negative, there must be a positive.

So, if you believe in Yin and Yang, know that because you are struggling at school means that you have a huge gift on the other side.
It turns out that, as discussed before, it is because we, as dyslexic people, use the right side of the brain.

For the full video that explains above in more detail:

05/11/2022
Why Are Some Bilingual People Dyslexic in English but Not Their Other Language?

Featured Neuroscience

October 9, 2020

Summary: The characteristics of language structure and writing system may explain why some bilingual people are dyslexic in English, but not in their other proficient language.

Source: Brunel University

In the English-speaking world, dyslexia is a learning disorder we’re all familiar with – if we don’t have it ourselves or have a friend or family member that struggles with it, we’re likely to have known someone at school or university who found reading and writing trickier than their peers.

In fact, more than 1 in 10 people that grew up with English as their first language are said to have dyslexia, with wide consensus pointing towards a person’s genetic history as the leading cause. One, it would appear, is either born dyslexic or not.

So, how then have we ended up with the phenomenon that some people who speak both English and another language can be dyslexic in one, but not the other?

The answer, it seems, is hidden in the characteristics of a language and its writing system.

“The English writing system is so irregular – print to sound or sound to print translation is not always one to one,” Brunel University London’s Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Prof Taeko Wydell, recently told the BBC radio documentary Dyslexia: Language and childhood.

“This irregularity or inconsistency makes it especially difficult for dyslexic individuals to master reading and writing in English.”

So, for example, ‘mint,’ ‘lint’ and ‘hint’ – all ‘int’ words – are pronounced differently to the word ‘pint’. And the words ‘through,’ ‘though’ and ‘tough’ all sound different, despite looking on the page like they should sound similar. This makes English a so-called ‘opaque’ language. The only way one knows the individual pronunciations, is to learn and remember each exception, such as ‘pint’ or ‘yacht,’ individually.

“This kind of irregularity doesn’t happen in other languages such as Italian, Spanish or Finnish,” said Prof Wydell, pointing to so-called ‘transparent’ languages where combinations of letters are always pronounced the same, with some rare exceptions. As such, studies have shown Italian speakers are only half as likely to show signs of dyslexia than English speakers.

Levels of dyslexia can also be far lower in countries with a symbol-based writing system, such as Japanese or Chinese, because of how those writing systems are taught in schools.

When children learn to write Japanese Kanji or Chinese characters, they consistently repeat the order of strokes required to draw each character whilst speaking aloud the corresponding word. This helps the motor sequence – the combination of small movements required to write each word or sound – get ‘wired in’ to their brains.

“So, when the child is asked to write later on, the child’s hands almost automatically write down the character from memory,” said Prof Wydell.

Continue reading article here:

https://neurosciencenews.com/bilingual-dyslexia-17144/

10/23/2020
The Gift of Being a Dyslexic Teacher
A dyslexic teacher can be more attentive in the classroom, sensitive to struggling students, and model how to compensate for this spectrum disorder.

By Matthew James Friday
Dyslexia creates suffering for many students, but you rarely hear of teachers admitting to having it. Are teachers really still required, in the 21st century, to be models of perfect, marble-made fonts of knowledge and effectiveness? I have tutored a small number of dyslexic trainee teachers, but that was an exception to the norm. By sheer statistics alone, I must have worked with (and perhaps am presently working with) colleagues who are struggling in secret. It’s time to talk about dyslexia.

6 Facts About Dyslexia

So what’s dyslexia? Here is a quick definition:
Dyslexia is a “spectrum disorder,” meaning that there is a range or spectrum of symptoms.

People with dyslexia commonly have difficulty with all or some of:

Phonological awareness

Verbal memory

Rapid serial naming

Verbal processing speed.

Dyslexia has no link to intelligence, though many people feel “stupid” and ashamed at school because they struggle with literacy skills — the cornerstone of how we measure ability.

Dyslexia is one of the most common learning difficulties. It is estimated that one out of ten people in the UK has dyslexia.

While language has a role in prevalence, dyslexia affects people of all ethnicities.

Commonality in families has led scientists to identify six genes that may cause dyslexia. (My brother has severe dyslexia, and my father has all the symptoms, though when he was at school, those symptoms were put down to laziness or stupidity.)

One of the happiest days of my life was being diagnosed with mild auditory dyslexia. I was 20 years old and had started college studies after a few gap years. The first essay I had written was returned splattered with red ink and harsh comments about mistakes — the familiar feeling of shame and frustration. Luckily, a leaflet about dyslexia in the university library directed me to an educational psychologist and an assessment process that resulted in the diagnosis I had suspected for years. It was a huge relief to know what was wrong with me.

With my auditory dyslexia, I can hear what is said, but I instantly feel the information flittering away in my mind. It is like having leaking holes in my brain. At primary school, I could pass a spelling test but made frequent mistakes in my extended writing. My school reports featured the same comment: “Matthew enjoys writing, but he rushes and makes many mistakes.”

I have always struggled with my listening skills. I am easily distracted and often drift into an imaginary world. Though an advanced private reader, I hated reading texts aloud in high school. The words blurred on the page, and I felt intense anxiety at the thought of being laughed at. My comprehension of the text was low, so I had to work doubly hard at home to catch up. The worst moment was when my beloved English teacher declared me “stupid” in front of the whole class for repeatedly misspelling “Anthony” in an essay about a Shakespeare play.

Continue reading article here: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/gift-of-being-dyslexic-teacher-matthew-friday
09/05/2020
Dyslexia Is Done

For over 100 years, dyslexia has had a good run. It’s caused heartache, misery, and frustration for millions. That’s over now. A fifth independent study has once again proven that dyslexics can become better readers than non-dyslexics. It takes between 20 and 40 hours of practice with a method called “Eye-Hop.”

The Eye-Hop exercises are fun and easy to do. Through progressive levels, people move from processing one word at a time to reading 5 to 8 words at a time. This is all done with high comprehension. Amazingly, those with the worst phonological processing achieve the greatest percentage increase in their reading abilities. This appears to be due to the ability to process so much information in one glance. Like predictive text on a smartphone, the more information provided, the more certain it is of the word you’re typing.

Eye-Hop is an element of the SuperReading Program. This course, developed in 1995, has always produced these results. The difference today is that SuperReading is now available 100% online. Nearly a year was spent creating compatible online testing, which is rigorous and accurate. Resources were also spent to perfect an online App which converts ordinary text into the Eye-Hop format almost instantly. This means that age-appropriate material of interest can be used to fulfill the hours required to overcome dyslexia.

The online SuperReading course is easy to understand and apply. Any parent or guardian can read about a tool or watch a 3-minute video and explain it to a child in a minute or two. Coaching is available, though not required. Every child graduating the SuperReading Program has become the best reader and learner in their school in 60 days or less. In the case of some dyslexics, it has taken closer to 90 days.

Skill levels are measured by “Reading Effectiveness” (RE) with standardized tests. RE is reading speed multiplied by comprehension/recall (expressed as a percentage). For example, a person reading at 200 words per minute (wpm), able to recall 50% of what they read, would have an RE of 100, or 200 x .5 = 100. A person reading at 150wpm with 50% accurate recall would have an RE of 75, or 150 x .5 = 75. In plain English, RE tells us how fast we read and what we have to show for the time spent. The SuperReading Program guarantees to at least double the baseline RE scores of any person. With the online testing, this is now a much “cleaner” process than from paper. All scores are computed, graphed out, and tracked in a secure database.

SuperReading was developed in Silicon Valley in the mid-1990s. One of the first companies to bring in the Program was Apple Computer. After 5 weeks, their Global Response Team was able to reduce 28 hours of reading each week down to 5 hours. They also reported that their engineers did a better job reading incoming emails, as their “Negative Response Rate” (NRR) dropped by 85%. The NRR was end-users complaining that the engineers did not understand their email. The first identified dyslexic to enter the Program was from the legal department at Hewlett-Packard in 1996. In a group of 25 engineers and managers, Nancy started off with the lowest RE scores in that group. 35 days later she had the highest RE scores. This would become a trend in the years to follow.

From 1996 to 2005, hundreds of dyslexic readers came through the SuperReading Program, did their Eye-Hop exercises, and became brilliant readers. In 1996, these engineers asked to have the Program for their children. Some companies held family classes after hours. Those children quickly became the best readers in their school. Many of them were dyslexic, others had ADHD, ADD, and other learning challenges. No condition or label seemed to make any difference. They all became great readers and progressed from dreading having to read to loving it. When asked why they felt that way, most replied that it was no longer a chore, or torture. It was easy and felt like fun. Apparently, children do not run away from fun- they move toward it. Combined with memory tools and stress-free study techniques, these students thrived. After a major exam, one student commented that the memory tools made it easier than cheating! Other students agreed.

In 2006, I moved to the UK. There I met Dr. R. Cooper, one of the UK’s leading authorities on dyslexia. At first, he dismissed the results, believing those people were not truly dyslexic; that they only thought they were. As a person who sat on the board when the UK defined dyslexia, he had been teaching teachers how to help dyslexics for 16 years. Dr. Cooper politely dismissed me. Nearly a year later, while teaching law students at the London City Law School, I had two dyslexic students take the course. They had papers from bona fide Assessors of Need proclaiming them as dyslexic. They more than tripled their initial RE scores and wrote glowing testimonials. I sent the documents and comments to Dr. Cooper, who invited me to London South Bank University to run a course for a group of dyslexic students and adults. Dr. Cooper was, in his words, “astounded at the results.” The last class was very emotional- lots of tears from people who had just finished a book for the first time in their lives. Some were in their 40s and 50s. We ran a second course, this time with a control group. We got the same results. 84% of the dyslexics ended up with higher RE scores than a group of non-dyslexic university professors! In future studies, they would be compared to their non-dyslexic peers, and 100% would end up with higher RE scores. Since 2009, the UK government has funded SuperReading for all dyslexic university students in the UK.

The Italians have translated SuperReading into Italian and are taking it through their university system. They have seen equal success in a high school and in their dyslexia centers. You can view their latest published study. The other studies can be accessed from our website.

The SuperReading Program is available now, at https://superreading.com, along with the unique Eye-Hop exercises. Dyslexia has had its day. Now you can have yours.

Ron Cole
The Reading & Learning Coach

Soaring Students, Delighted Parents,

Turned-On Teachers

www.superreading.com

08/17/2020
Dyslexia, Bilingualism, and Learning a Second Language by Francois Grosjean, Ph.D.

Dyslexia in bilinguals and second language learners.

Interview conducted by François Grosjean for his Psychology Today blog “Life as a Bilingual”: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/life-bilingual

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) defines dyslexia as a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person’s ability to read (see here). The British National Health Service (NHS) gives a fuller definition: it is a common learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing, and spelling. The NHS also lists a number of problems that people with dyslexia have: they read and write very slowly, confuse the letters of words, put letters the wrong way round, have poor or inconsistent spelling, have difficulty with information that is written down, etc. (see here).

Dyslexia is the most common learning disability and has been the object of much research published in books, chapters, and articles. Psychology Today has also reported on this work through its bloggers, such as Dr. J. Richard Gentry (see here for an example). Unfortunately, we know much less about dyslexia in bilinguals, in second language learners, or in students schooled in a second language. The latter can be in immersion or bilingual school programs, or can come from minority language groups being educated in the majority language. Dr. Fred Genesee, Professor Emeritus at McGill University, is one of the leading experts on this topic, and he has very kindly agreed to answer a few of our questions. We thank him wholeheartedly.

Are there more dyslexics among bilinguals than among monolinguals?

There is no evidence that dyslexia is more common among bilinguals than among monolinguals.

Does being bilingual cause dyslexia or increase the probability of becoming dyslexic?

Again, there is no evidence that bilingualism causes dyslexia. Dyslexia is linked to neurocognitive factors that are inherited. It is thought that children with dyslexia have an inherited impairment in processing the sounds of language. This means that children born with the genetic profile that is linked to dyslexia will have difficulty learning to read, whether they are bilingual or monolingual.

When talking about dyslexia in children, shouldn’t one insist on something that you have put forward in your writings—the distinction between reading impairment and difficulty learning to read?

Yes, this is crucial. Reading impairment is due to underlying neurocognitive factors mentioned in my previous answer, whereas difficulty learning to read is linked to other factors, such as the child’s learning environment, motivation, quality of instruction, or general health. For example, some children have difficulty learning to read in school because the quality of instruction they receive is not always optimal; because they have an undetected visual impairment, which makes it difficult to see and process written language; or because they are uninterested in learning to read because they find the reading materials in school boring. These children’s difficulties are not genetic in nature and are not true dyslexia.

Concerning children who are in the process of learning a second language, can they be at greater risk for difficulty learning to read than children learning through their first language?

Yes, this may be the case because they are still learning the language that is being used to teach reading in school, and some teachers may not have modified instruction to take this into account. Second language learners might also have greater difficulty than monolingual students learning to read because the cultural content of the reading material is unfamiliar, or because the teacher’s cultural expectations of how they should behave in class are foreign or even difficult for them.

Unfortunately, tests that assess progress in learning to read can make it appear that bilingual children have an impairment because they do not consider the linguistic level of the children. But none of these factors are symptomatic of reading impairment or dyslexia per se.

Going back to actual dyslexia, what are the difficulties faced by second language learners who are dyslexic?

The core difficulties faced by second language learners who are dyslexic are the same as those of monolingual children with dyslexia. The core problem for these children is difficulty learning to decode written words accurately and fluently so that they can make sense of them and understand written text. If children’s word-reading skills are impaired, then their comprehension of written text will also be impaired because they cannot read the individual words accurately and fluently enough to create meaningful text.

In addition, second language learners with dyslexia face the challenges encountered by all second language learners—limited vocabulary and grammatical competence and lack of familiarity with the cultural or social context of the text. In this respect, their challenges are different from monolingual children.

Can the effects of dyslexia in bilinguals be stronger in one language than in the other?

Dyslexia in bilinguals is evident in both languages. This is the case because the impairment that underlies dyslexia is part of the learner’s genetic profile and, thus, its effects will influence the child’s ability to learn to read in any language. Of course, since many bilinguals are more proficient in one language than the other, the magnitude of their impairment will be more evident in their weaker language.

A bilingual child who has a reading problem in only one of his/her languages does not have dyslexia. This child has difficulty learning to read in one of his/her languages that is due to other factors, as we discussed earlier.

It is often recommended that the parents of children who are thought to be dyslexic stop using the home language on the assumption that this will make it easier for their child to overcome their dyslexia. What is your opinion on this?

There is no evidence to support this assumption. If the child is from a minority language community where the language is important for communication with parents, extended family members, or others in the community, parents should continue to use the home language. There are many reasons for this. First, proficiency in the home language is important if the child is to become an engaged and well-adjusted member of his family and community. In addition, parents of minority language children are often more proficient in the home language and, thus, they are better able to assume their full parental responsibilities if they interact with their child in that language.

What are the other reasons?

To continue reading, please access the original post here.

Article originally posted on Mar 01, 2019 in https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/life-bilingual/201903/dyslexia-bilingualism-and-learning-second-language

by Francois Grosjean
Université de Neuchâtel
Suisse/Switzerland
[email protected]
Website: www.francoisgrosjean.ch
Blog: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-bilingual

François Grosjean, Ph.D., is Emeritus Professor of psycholinguistics, Neuchâtel University, Switzerland. His domains of interest are the perception, comprehension and production of language, be it speech or sign language, in monolinguals and bilinguals. He also has interests in biculturalism, applied linguistics, aphasia, sign language, and natural language processing. He is better known for his work on bilingualism in which he has investigated the holistic view of bilingualism, language mode, the complementarity principle, the processing of code-switching and borrowing, as well as the bilingualism of the Deaf.

He is the author of numerous articles and of seven books on bilingualism: Life with Two Languages (Harvard University Press, 1982), Studying Bilinguals (Oxford University Press, 2008), Bilingual: Life and Reality (Harvard University Press, 2010), The Psycholinguistics of Bilingualism (with Ping Li; Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), Parler plusieurs langues: le monde des bilingues (Albin Michel, 2015), The Listening Bilingual: Speech Perception, Comprehension, and Bilingualism (with Krista Byers-Heinlein; Wiley-Blackwell, 2018) and A Journey in Languages and Cultures: The Life of a Bicultural Bilingual (Oxford University Press, 2019).

03/11/2019