Dyslexia should be redefined as a strength rather than a disability, researchers at the University of Cambridge suggest.
The neurological condition is linked to “enhanced abilities” in areas like discovery, invention and creativity.
These skills are vital in helping humans adapt to changing environments, researchers say.
Dyslexia is typically described as a brain disorder or learning difficulty. But new research suggests dyslexia is in fact a vital tool that has helped humanity adapt.
What is dyslexia?
What does the new dyslexia research say?
In the journal Frontiers in Psychology, researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK argue that dyslexia shouldn’t be framed as a disorder.
They find that people with dyslexia actually have “enhanced abilities” in certain areas including discovery, invention and creativity.
“We urgently need to start nurturing this way of thinking to allow humanity to continue to adapt and solve key challenges,” said lead author, Taylor.
What were the findings?
The researchers concluded that people with dyslexia are specialists in exploration and curiosity. This ‘explorative bias’, as they describe it, plays a “crucial role” in human survival by helping us adapt to changing environments.
Inventiveness and big-picture, long-term thinking are among the skills and strengths linked to these explorative behaviours.
What does other dyslexia research say?
A growing movement and body of research supports the redefinition of dyslexia as a strength rather than a weakness.
The Value of Dyslexia, a report by professional services firm EY and Made by Dyslexia, a charity that is redefining dyslexia, argues that dyslexic strengths can help employers navigate the changing world of work.
Dyslexic people can show ‘strong’, ‘very strong’ and ‘exceptional’ performance across a range of “cognitive abilities, system skills, complex problem-solving skills, content skills, process skills and technical skills,” the authors say.
People with dyslexia have strengths that are increasingly in demand. Image: EY / Made by Dyslexia (p29)
There is evidence of links between dyslexia and creativity, entrepreneurship and attainment in sport, highlighted in the journal Psychology Today by neurodivergent academic Robert Chapman.
Professional astrophysicists with and without dyslexia were tested for their ability to spot a particular characteristic in a black hole.
“The scientists with dyslexia … were better at picking out the black holes from the noise, an advantage useful in their careers,” said dyslexic astrophysicist Matthew H Schneps in an article for the journal Scientific American.
Which well-known people have dyslexia?
British dyslexia charity Helen Arkell lists a host of famous dyslexics of past and present, including physicist Albert Einstein, artists Leonardo da Vinci and Pablo Picasso, film director Steven Spielberg, and John Lennon.
Three American presidents were also believed to be dyslexic – John F Kennedy, George Washington and George W Bush.
Source: The Print
