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Richard Branson is dyslexic. He says: “Dyslexics are very good at looking at things differently, at seeing the big picture. This means we see some things more clearly than people who aren’t dyslexic.”
Other notable dyslexics include Tom Cruise, William Hewlett (co-founder of Hewlett Packard) and Whoopi Goldberg. Kate Griggs, (founder of Xtraordinary People) writing in the latest HR & Training Journal highlights Yale University’s view that dyslexia can be a source of exceptional creativity, innovation and higher level thinking.
It got me thinking about “person specifications” and how often we look for just those characteristics. When we talk about the sort of person we want for that key new role the sort of things we look for are:
- Lateral thinking
- Creativity
- Someone who can see the “bigger picture”
- Innovation
- Vision
Julia Goodman (Founder of Personal Presentation Ltd) writing in the same journal, suggests that dyslexia wires people to think “outside the box” and gives them “a natural aptitude for compelling verbal communication, producing people who have the potential to inspire those around them with fresh vision.”
Looking at posts on www.beingdyslexic.co.uk I was struck by comments from those who had been at an event where it was suggested that dyslexia should be “eradicated”. People, quite justifiably, weren’t too keen on being eradicated! On a more practical note, there is good advice for those applying for jobs:
Judith Sanson, Executive Director of Dyslexia research suggests people with dyslexia are upfront about it at interview, and explain the benefits:
“this means that I work extra hard to reach the highest standards in my work; I walk the extra mile with added commitment; I see the wider picture and use my special gifts as someone who sees outside the box”.
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From The People Grower
Anne Axford is associate director for learning and development at Portsmouth PCT.
Readers' comments (7)
Anonymous | 12-Feb-2010 4:10 pm
Am I alone in finding this article very confusing? The Yale website seems to say that reading and intelligence do not develop in tandem in people with dyslexia but do in people without it. If this is an accurate summary, it means that some dyslexic people are more intelligent than their reading ability might suggest and others, presumably, less. Taking a sample of one from a self-publicist like Richard Branson is surely not really telling us anything. As for eliminating dyslexia, if it is preventing people doing things, then it may be worth "treating it" whatever that means, and if this "eradicates" it then that would be a good thing, at least for those who do not feel they gain from it. Unlike the famous couple who engineered a deaf child like themselves, I would try to help a child of mine avoid or minimise the effects of dyslexia if I could.
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Graeme Wadlow | 12-Feb-2010 6:17 pm
The contribution from Anne Axford only further demonstrates the complete lack of understanding of the cognitive deficits which are the underlying cause of the dyslexic symptom.
Dyslexia is an educational disability, which has medical or cognitive underlying causes, and most dyslexics are not adequately informed by dyslexia industry (The British Dyslexia Association, Dyslexia Action, Local Education Authorities etc about the precise nature of the possible cognitive deficits that cause them to have the dyslexic symptom.
There is a raft of high quality research available regarding dyslexia fro those willing and able to want to understand the complexities that surround this man made communication problem.
You could start by reading the 200 plus research papers I have collated in my online PubMed Research paper collections which are listed and accessable from my Wikipedia user page at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dolfrog
or you could access the research papers listed on the CiteULike dyslexia group web page at
http://www.citeulike.org/group/12693
The contribution from Anne Axford is pure ignorance
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drseide | 13-Feb-2010 0:13 am
Thanks for the article, Anne. Too often people think of dyslexia as only a disability, but because dyslexics show a 2-fold over-representation in creative disciplines such as engineering, design, astrophysics, and entrepreneurship, mistakes are made by seeing dyslexia from only the narrow view.
We've opened a social network (http://dyslexicadvantage.ning.com) that we feel has a more balanced view of dyslexia - highly successful dyslexics were able to achieve their dreams not only by overcoming their challenges, but because of their dyslexic strengths.
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Graeme Wadlow | 15-Feb-2010 4:38 am
What has not been mentioned by either Fernette or Anne is that although we dyslexics can develop alternative cognitive skills to cope with the cognitive deficits or disorders which cause us have the dyslexic symptom.
The cognitive deficits or disorders which cause us to have the dyslexic symptom, for some of which there is no cure, always remain a problem and require a great deal of daily support.
What is never mentioned in theses glossy reviews are the support teams helping these successful dyslexics, and how some were lucky enough to have families who could afford the odd business failure to help their offspring. Most of these successful dyslexics never mention the crucial support they need to enable them to be successful.
And if a dyslexic does not have the support they need it is all too easy to become a victim disability discrimination even while working for a company own by a successful dyslexic like Virgin.
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Sam Page | 15-Feb-2010 8:35 pm
Hi Anne,
I was more than concerned when first reading your post that you were implying that beingdyslexic.co.uk suggested dyslexia could be eradicated! However, I think you are reffering to posts on our forums which are opinions expressed by people about an event.
www.beingdyslexic.co.uk is all about "being dyslexic is being someone amazing" and focussing on the positives - sometimes people have different opinions and we like to make sure these can be shared in our forums. Whether it's so we can support and encourage the people, or simply debate the issues!
All the best,
Sam
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Suzanne Mallabone | 16-Feb-2010 10:30 am
That's a very emotive title! By eradicating dyslexia, does that mean rounding us all up and putting us in concentration camps, or is it more in the realms of genetic engineering? That's also assuming its a genetic condition. Correct me if I am wrong, the Government in the UK have not agreed on whether it is genetic. I think there is a lot of confusion about dyslexia. The information on the topic is sparse and inconsistent and draws out a lot of anomalies. There is still no agreement about what causes it amongst scientists. To view it is a purely educational issue is rather short-sighted.
I can only assume the dyslexic people on the forum, were those perhaps struggling with dyslexia, or indeed with the undyslexia-friendly society that we live in. I could take it further than that, and say that our society is not even disability friendly. There is still a lot of work to be done.
Yes I agree there are sometimes benefits to being dyslexic and there are traits that are useful in entrepreneurship (32% entrepreneurs are dyslexic according to Cass Business School).
Nevertheless, day to day living for people with dyslexia can be very stressful. There are real overlaps with stress, anxiety and depression and many other co-morbidity's. Many people with dyslexia have experienced bullying and discrimination at some point from what they tell me.
There is still little public awareness about simple reasonable adjustments that can be made for people with dyslexia that can benefit everyone.
I run a local support group in Nottingham called Nottingham Dyslexic Support. I started an online support group for this group, it had now become international. http://dyslexicsupport.ning.com.
The site works on the basis of self help that speaking to other people that understand can be of immense benefit. We talk, openly honestly and frankly about the good and the bad sides to being dyslexic.
We hold regular chat parties. There is one tonight at 6pm UK time. Come along and join us, you might learn a few things from people with dyslexia, I know I will...
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Peter West | 1-Mar-2010 1:00 pm
I am struggling to understand this correspondence. Lets assume that there are some jobs that those with dyslexia cannot do. They will then be steered by career choices, advice and market forces into other jobs. Therefore, they may be over-represented in those jobs and under-represented in, say, accountancy (assuming dyslexia is a barrier - I am guessing here as a non-sufferer). In other words, we should expect over-representation in some jobs, even if dyslexics are no better at those jobs than others, simply because they must be under-represented in other jobs. And as for the eradication of those with dyslexia, what does this mean? Eradicating the problem, presumably, not the people? But is this to be done simply by a change of definition? I fear that the editors might have done a bit more to improve this blog before it was published, at present it shows the problems of blogocracy and mass communication.
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