Dyslexics Have Special Abilities?
In my previous post, Is Dyslexia A Gift I questioned the assumption that dyslexia is a gift. Core to the gift or curse debate is the basic model behind dyslexia. Is dyslexia the failing of key areas of the brain relating to language? Or is it that certain creative areas of the brain are so enhanced that they block out or interfere with language abilities? Many people believe that it is an enhancement and point to great scientists and artists who are dyslexic. Personally I think this is wishful thinking because no parent wants to think about their child being handicapped. It is also because we do not see those dyslexics for whom it really is a curse. A nobel prize winning scientist being dyslexic is news. A homeless person or drug user or petty criminal who is dyslexic and has no qualifications is not news. We only see the one or two people who have the winning dyslexia lottery tickets not the millions of dyslexics who brought the ticket but won nothing.
So when I found a study on Eide Neurolearning that claimed that dyslexics have improved visuo-spatial abilities, e.g. being able to visualize and manipulate a shape in their mind, I was interested. The study Dyslexia linked to talent: Global visual-spatial ability, concludes “In two investigations, we found an association between dyslexia and speed of recognition of impossible figures, a global visual-spatial task. This finding suggests that dyslexia is associated with a particular type of visual-spatial talent—enhanced ability to process visual-spatial information globally (holistically) rather than locally (part by part)“. This seems like a clear proof of dyslexics having special abilities which goes against the evidence. As the study’s authors admit “Investigations into the possibility that individuals with dyslexia are superior in visual-spatial abilities has, however, yielded conflicting findings. Individuals with reading disorders have been found to have visual-spatial abilities that are superior [list of studies], inferior [list of studies] and comparable [list of studies] to controls.“.
So why did this study find that dyslexic’s have a special talent? I believe that the answer is in how the participants where selected: “Middle and high school students with dyslexia from an independent school for students with dyslexia were compared to public school students. The dyslexia and control groups were distributed reasonably equally across grade level and age“. This is an American study so ‘public school’ means state funded and operated whereas ‘independent’ means private or fee paying school. So non-dyslexic state school children are being compared with children attending a school specially designed for dyslexics whose parents who can afford to pay for private schooling. The difference in education these two groups of children are getting will be massive. Class sizes, teacher’s skill levels, curriculum and teaching methods are all going to be different. All this study does is show that children from a independent school do better than children from a public school.
Find Out More:
Books:
- Bean Bag Activities & Coordination Skills: For Early Childhood & Adaptable for Special Education (CD)
- Worksheets! For Teaching Social Thinking and Related Skills: Breaking Down Concepts for Teaching Students with High Functioning Autism, Asperger Syndrome, Pdd-nos, Nonverbal Learning Disability, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Adhd
- My Backward Life with Dyslexia
- Andy and His Yellow Frisbee
- Andy and His Yellow Frisbee
Comments on: Dyslexics Have Special Abilities?
Hi Chris – Sorry it took us so long to visit and comment on your blog. Wow, you pull together an amazing amount of material here. Bravo for you!
We just wanted to add a comment about your concern with independent vs. public school students. Of course, you are right that these students should be matched for other characteristics -but we still wonder if many of the dyslexic kids were only at the independent school because they couldn’t ’succeed’ at public school. At least that’s often the case of the kids we see. Often an independent school for dyslexics is not a family’s first choice for their children. They may arrive there only after struggling in a non-dyslexic program. Anyway, something to think about.
Posted by: Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide November 5th, 2005 at 4:00 am
Thanks for the kind words and feeback.
It could be that children with high visual / spatial abilities end up in independent schools because they were not suited for public school but I believe this is the least likely explanation. Simply because these children would not end up in an independent school without parents who are actively involved in their education. Presumably these are parents who are also well off compared to the average public school family. It is the different social backgrounds, expectations, parental encouragement and the learning environment I believe is more important in developing skills such as visual spatial awareness than any gift dyslexia may grant.
This is not to say dyslexia should be seen as a curse and when dealing with individual children they need to hear positive messages. My concern with talking about dyslexia as a gift is that we (i.e. society) forget that it is a disability. One in twenty children are dyslexic. These children are across the social spectrum with wide ranging intellectual abilities. Many will be born to parents who cannot or will not take the effort to get them into independent schools. Most are born with average or below IQ’s. Most go to run down state funded schools with large class sizes taught by teachers with inadequately training and resources. By placing a positive message on dyslexia we run the risk of making it acceptable to leave these children to struggle and fail because they have a ‘gift’.
Posted by: Chris Tregenza November 6th, 2005 at 4:05 pm
My son is dyslexic and am looking to put him in a school that is out of state, boarding. Do you know of any grants that could help me. The tuition is over $ 40,000 yr. I’m interested in the Gow school
I’d appretiate any advice you could give.
Karen Norton
Posted by: karen August 8th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I am a graduate of The Gow School and it is a great school. Each case of LD is different and so I don’t know how to describe it being for your son, but the school is a fabulous school in all areas. It is the oldest school in the nation that is individually for LD and Dyslexia.
Posted by: Michael Fannon September 6th, 2008 at 3:01 am
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