In thinking about the whole issue of how
it is we've come to look at Dyslexia and
the Dyslexic mind the way we do, I sort of
though about other ways we look at
different kinds of things, and decide
whether things are normal or things are
abnormal, whether things are good or
things are problems. I was struck by an
image: shortly after Fernette and I were
married, we went to Kauai. On the north
shore of Kauai there is a lighthouse called
the Kilauea Point Lighthouse. It sits out
at the end of a bluff that is surrounded by
these cliffs on three sides. Because of
it's position, it's the first land mass for
thousands of miles. The breezes come off
the ocean, and strike the cliffs, and rise
rise up into the air, so it makes this
beautiful updraft. It's incredibly
attractive to sea birds, especially
albatrosses. The albatrosses will come
and gather there, and just float on the
wind for hours and hours, just because
they enjoy it. Nobody who looks at those
albatrosses riding the wind can doubt
that flying is their essence. Flying is
what they are adapted to do. It's their
core of who they are. No one ever, looking
at those albatrosses, wonders why it is
that there are no studies in scientific
literature of walking dysfunction by
albatrosses. There are thousands and
thousands of studies about how beautifully
they fly, and what we can learn from their
flight. So, I wondered why it was when it
comes to Dyslexia, exactly the opposite
case is true. Why have we taken this
opposite approach? Dyslexic processing has
typically been viewed as if it's essence
were difficulty with reading and spelling,
while the talents of Dyslexic individuals
when they've been taken account of at all
have been assumed to be something that
sort of incidental to the wiring that makes
individuals dyslexic. It may not be
surprising that was initially the case,
since people first noticed that there was
a difference in wiring in Dyslexic
individuals as a result of the fact that
they all shared this challenge with reading
and spelling. But, this deficit centered
view doesn't make any sense to hold any
more, a deficit-centric view, because it
is incompatible with what we've learned
about the strengths that also accompany
Dyslexic processing. Why do we still,
with this information that's been
accumulating about the link between
Dyslexic processing and ability or talent,
why do we still assume that at it's heart,
Dyslexia is a disorder, and that the payoff
is going to come from studying the deficit
and problems, and how to fix them, solely,
shouldn't we instead conclude that Dyslexic
processing is really a potentially
beneficial way of wiring the brain, and
the payoff will come from learning how to
identify, nurture, and use
Dyslexia-associated strengths? These
strengths are like the flight of the
albatross. This isn't a silly question, how
do we tell the difference between
essential function, and incidental
challenge? It's the kind of question that
scientists and physicians think about
all the time. One way that we answer
these kinds of questions is by looking at
the numbers. Neurologist Norman Geschwind,
whom many of you remember fondly, said
over 30 years ago that it is a general
principle that whenever some
disadvantageous condition is widely
dispersed throughout the population, one
must ask whether it's a purely unfavorable
phenomenon, or whether there is some
countervailing advantage. In the case of
Dyslexia, the best research suggests that
15-20% of the population in the United
States meets criteria for Dyslexia. If we
look more generally at processing style,
we look at processing features, rather
than strict criteria on reading and
spelling deficits, then the numbers look
even higher, probably around 1/3 of
people share very similar processing
capacity. Many of those better reading
individuals are diagnosed with things like
ADHD. So...by anyone's standards, these
kinds of numbers constitute a wide
dispersal within the population and suggest
that so many people are wired in this way
because there is something favorable or
advantageous about that. And beyond the
numbers, the case that Dyslexic processing
is a favored trade is supported by growing
numbers of other observations like the
studies that we talked about in our book,
that display, for example, an increase in
3-D spatial reasoning ability. There's
additional studies that have come out even
since our book was out a year and one-half
ago, that support that. Superior
performance in certain visual-perceptual
tasks, greater performance in certain
kinds of creativity tests, and increased
chance of successful entrepreneurship,
and a similar increase in Dyslexia among
students in training programs and fields
like engineering, art, and design.
Remember, these numbers have been attained
in the face of a situation with conditions
at school and in the workplace that are
almost perfectly tailored to prevent
Dyslexic individuals from achieving
success. In addition, when we look at the
way Dyslexic brains are wired and perform,
it's increasingly clear we are not dealing
with brains that are simply trying but
failing to work like everyone else's.
Instead, Dyslexic processing reflects a
very different pattern of brain structure
and function whose essence is to create
strengths and abilities rather than simply
challenges. The form the abilities take
varies as we described in the book, but
they relate primarily to skill in seeing
large scale patterns, to spotting
relationships, or to recombining
information in new and interesting ways.
These are the skills that lie at the heart
of creativity and innovation. The value of
these talents is easily seen in the
amazing Dyslexic individuals who are here
in this room this weekend. We have
artists, entrepreneurs and film-makers,
physicans, poets, teachers and scientists,
psychologists and attorneys, counselors
and strategists and creators of all kinds,
all of whom display a remarkable skill in
spotting patterns, or relationships, or
recombining information in new and
interesting ways. While many people think
that Dyslexic individuals are the
proverbial last kid chosen in the great
gym class of life, even a quick check
confirms that the Dyslexic Community
contains many of the most creative, and
accomplished individuals on the planet.
We all know their names and we all know
their accomplishments, and many of them
are here tonight. With such a team, and
with such abilities, how could we as a
Dyslexic Community possibly lose? Yet,
somehow, we are losing. Despite the
scattered successes we've enjoyed, this
is clearly the case. Currently, 3/4's of
all Dyslexics students aren't identified,
and most who are, still are not receiving
an education that either remediates their
challenges or helps to nurture and
develop their talents. Our failure to
understand and engage students doesn't
just lead to underachievement and fewer
chances to develop their talents, but also,
tragically, to heightened risks of suicide,
depression, delinquency, and substance
abuse. The situation for adults in the
workplace is not much better. We are
consistently under-employing and putting
individuals into jobs that are not well
tailored for them. The bottom line, the
Dyslexic community is losing badly and
the score is being kept and lost in the
damaged lives. What's most remarkable
about the failure is that it is occuring
without a team that truly represents the
Dyslexic Community ever taking the field.
How can this be? Every day, Dyslexic
individuals are tackling and solving the
very toughest problems in business,
science, politics, health care, personal
relationship and every other area of
human endeavor using their remarkable
creative talents. So why then do so few of
these creative individuals apply these
talents directly to addressing the
challenges faced by other Dyslexic
individuals? Why do our great Dyslexic
thinkers who show such boldness in
tackling so many possible problems, seem
content to let others make the case for the
value of Dyslexic minds? Why aren't they
more involved in charting the courses of
the organizations and institutions that
work to help Dyslexic students and adults?
Again, there are many exceptions present
in this room, I'm speaking of a population
of 20% of the United States. Why aren't we
seeing more people like we see in this
room? Why do we lack a clear Dyslexic
community where Dyslexic Individuals and
their families feel linked by a common
identity and experience through which they
can join together to make their voices
heard? These findings are so surprising,
they call for an answer. We think we know
at least in part what that answer is. We
believe that we experts, the professionals,
the researchers and educators have focused
so much on the deficits, or "disabilities"
as we call them, that accompany Dyslexic
processing, that we focus so much on the
awkward steps, rather than the soaring
flight that we've deprived one of the
most creative, dynamic, and accomplished
groups of individuals on this planet of
the confidence they need to express
themselves on their own behalf. We've
consistently failed to recognize what a
Dyslexic mind is for, and the advantages
that have led to it's high prevalence in
the population. We've done this so much
that we've firmly conveyed a view of the
Dyslexic mind as a kind of disability. And
in the process, we've deprived the Dyslexic
leaders and innovators who show such
boldness in their own professions of the
confidence to argue and work on their own
behalf. We know from long observation
that most non-dyslexic individuals simply
can't understand how thoroughly the years
of struggle in the classroom and workplaces
can undermine the self-confidence of even
the most accomplished individuals, making
it hard for them to believe with conviction
that their minds have valuable talents and
abilities, let alone to express this belief
with conviction to others. We built
organizations, institutions, and careers
by focusing on Dyslexia related challenges,
while almost entirely neglecting the things
that Dyslexic minds do well. As a result,
when Dyslexic individuals come to so many
of the events that we organize, all they
hear is what they can't do, not what they
can. No wonder so many have stopped coming.
We should be ashamed at the lack of
interest we've shown in Dyslexia associated
strengths, and in our failure to even say,
I may not yet have all the data that I
want, but I can see there is something
special about you, and about the way you
view the world. Our Dyslexic friends have
clearly noticed when visionaries like
Norman Geschwind, Margaret Rawson. Thomas
West, and even Samuel Orton begin pointing
out the strengths Dyslexics individuals
often show, that many of us have seemed
more intent on critiquing their data and
methods than on learning from their
observations. Even on rare occasions when
we've recognized the abilities, we've
often concluded that they arose because
Dyslexic individuals were so bad at
reading and spelling, they had to funnel
their energies into the few areas where
they had a chance to succeed. The
message we've conveyed is clear, your
deficits are your assets. Your strengths
are just those few areas where you've
managed to avoid the downward pull of
your weaknesses. How can we suppose in
such a hostile climate, Dyslexic
individuals who've already been taught to
doubt themselves would feel confident
enough to assert themselves on their own
behalf? Instead, many have stayed on the
sidelines, handing the fight to others, as
if they needed permission to speak, and
that permission had been denied. But
permission isn't needed. The evidence is
clear, and getting clearer all the time.
There really are benefits to having a
Dyslexic kind of mind. These benefits are
just the kinds that make Dyslexic
individuals so capable of speaking and
strategizing on their own behalf. All that
is needed is the confidence to begin. The
Dyslexic communtiy is like a lion that's
been kept in a cage supposedly for it's
own protection. But you don't defend a
lion, you just turn it loose. That's our
goal this weekend, to unleash the power
of the Dyslexic Community to address the
challenges facing it's members, so we can
begin building the confidence and community
that we need to create change. We believe
the place to start is by moving beyond an
exclusive focus on Dyslexia associated
challenges, to focus more on the strengths
and talents Dyslexic people often show. We
should promote a more balanced and
positive view, a positive identity that
Dyslexic individuals can embrace, and
which can draw the support of a non-Dylexic
world eager to benefit from Dyslexic
creativity, innovation, and problem
solving. We should set clear goals and
pursue concrete strategies from more
productively educating Dyslexic students
and employing Dyslexic workers. We should
learn to identify, nurture, and use the
strengths that are an essential part of
Dyslexic processing. This isn't a
feel-good, wouldn't it be nice if it were
true motivational pitch. A strength
based approach is the most practical,
and productive one we could adopt. It
leads directly to concrete strategies for
research, education, work, community
building, and advocacy. We are here this
weekend to explore strategies in each
of these areas. Our goal isn't to replace
other efforts, but to add to and aid them,
and to create new interests in a
non-Dyslexic community that wonders why
it should care. By focusing on strengths,
we can show what we'll all gain if we make
schools and work places that can foster
and harness the power and creativity of
the Dyslexic mind. And to the incredible
Dyslexic individuals who've been pushed to
the sidelines, to the visionaries,
pioneers, innovators in the Dyslexic
Community, it's time to come out of the
stands and come into the field. This is
your game, and your creativity, practical
know-how and relentless energy can turn
the tide. Remember, many of the most
important challenges facing this Dyslexic
Community are not technical, or scientific,
they're practical. Like how to change the
way the non-Dyslexic world perceives the
value of the dyslexic mind. How to provide
an education that nourishes Dyslexic
strengths, and remediates challenges at
an affordable cost that's available to all
students. And how to change the way the
non-Dyslexic world perceives the value
of the Dyslexic mind. How to design jobs
that fit well and use the talents of
Dyslexic individuals while avoiding the
pitfalls that prevent advancement. These
are the same kinds of problems that many
of you tackle every day, and no one does
it better. This weekend is just the
beginning of the conversation. As we
explore the implications of the strength
based approach, for building a positive
Dyslexic image and identity, educating and
employing Dyslexic individuals, and future
directions for the Dyslexic Movement,
let's each think about what we can offer to
make a world where more Dyslexic
individuals can flourish by using their
talents.
Thank you. [clapping]
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