/dəsˈleksēə/

Most people assume dyslexia is a hardship that makes reading impossible and scrambles letters. Even though dyslexia can make reading, writing, and spelling challenging, I believe that there are more gifts from dyslexia than hardships. The New York Times article in 2013 on “Defining My Dyslexia” provided concrete evidence about some of the benefits, yet many people still don’t understand. According to Austin Learning Solutions, about 80% of people think that dyslexia is a form of retardation. We need to teach people that dyslexia isn’t a terrible curse but something to be proud of.
Dyslexia doesn’t just affect the ability to read and write, it changes your view on the whole world as Blake Charlton wrote in his NYT article, “…studies have shown increased creativity in big-picture thinking in dyslexics.” According to the Davis Dyslexic Association International, people with dyslexia can have some of the eight common gifts. They can alter and create perceptions, they are aware of the environment, they are more curious than the average person, they think in pictures, they are intuitive and insightful, they think using all senses, they experience thought as reality, and they have vivid imaginations. These gifts help the many engineers, scientists, inventors, architects, and many more people.
Researchers are studying and finding that people with dyslexia might have advantages in visual processing and visual perception because of the differences in the brain. The Laboratory for Visual Learning at CfA is investigating these brain differences and trying to figure out if the visual processing of dyslexics increases the ability to understand science. Over fifty percent of NASA workers are dyslexic and some of the brightest minds are dyslexic. Not only is Pablo Picaso, John Lennon, and George W Bush dyslexic but George Washington, John F Kennedy, Tom Cruise, Walt Disney, Isaac Newton, Bill Gates, Alexander Graham Bell, and even Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Thomas Edison. These are only some of the amazing minds with dyslexia.
Sharing dyslexia with these brilliant minds makes me feel proud not ashamed. We need new ways to teach those who learn and process differently. People with dyslexia shouldn’t have to be frightened by work loads or worried how much there is to read. We need to fix our learning system to help those who can’t learn the way they are being “taught”. Just like Alburt Einstein said “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”
***(Whooff that was hard. Thank goodness for spell check)

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3 thoughts on “/dəsˈleksēə/

  1. I really liked your piece. I also being dyslexic, have faced these literary(it took me about 10 times to spell “literary” correct enough for google to recognize it) challenges. I like how you approached this topic and your solution to the problem. I really liked how your piece was quote heavy, practically over flowing. This fact abundance helps to make your piece seem valid and creditable. Over all I though your piece was very unique and well written, WELL DONE CHARLIE(I hope I spelt your name right)

  2. I think this was really interesting and written very well!! I liked how you presented your opinion and also your use of evidence. The list of famous/known people who have dyslexia is also very effective in showing your side. My favorite part of this was the end, I thought it was very clever. Really good job, Charlie!!

  3. I think you chose a very good topic to write about and you wrote about it very clearly. I really enjoyed reading about this topic as well. I like how you included different well-known people who also share dyslexia, I believe it add a nice touch and made your piece even more interesting. Your evidence fits well with what you were saying but I would add a little bit of an explanation for some pieces of evidence, other than that I think you did a great job on this.

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