Dear all, I have been meaning to post several things here. Lots of good things are happening lately related to better understanding dyslexia and talent. I will start with a short version of our proposal for a roundtable discussion to be held in Boston later this month at the annual meeting of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities (IARLD). It summarizes various new developments and trends. Best wishes, Tom West
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Revised Final Draft
– June 6, 2013
IARLD Roundtable Discussion -- Boston,
Mass., June 27-29, 2013
Special Talents and Successful Outcomes Among
Adults with Dyslexia – Recent Developments
Thomas G. West, Henry B. Reiff, John W. Hagen, Nicole Ofiesh
Overview
From the time of the earliest
researchers (in the 1890s) until Samuel Torrey Orton (in the 1920s) and Norman
Geschwind (in the 1980s), the central puzzle of dyslexia has always been the
linkage of high abilities in some areas with remarkable and unexpected
difficulties and disabilities in other areas. For more than a century we have
recognized this pattern, but have generally focused on only one aspect. With
the best of intentions, we have learned much about how to fix the problems that
those with dyslexia experience but we have done almost nothing to develop a
deeper understanding of the varied and hard-to-measure talents and abilities
that many also possess – although these same talents are seen as increasingly valuable
in a vastly changed economy and workplace. Some suggest that this neglected
research agenda could provide the greatest potential for substantial future research
progress. This roundtable discussion will focus on the pros and cons of
increasing research emphasis on the strengths and talents. This topic was
discussed in a Roundtable in the IARLD Conference in Miami in 2010. Recent
publications and targeted conferences suggest that the topic is rapidly gaining
more serious attention than only three years ago.
The coordinators of this session have long been strong
proponents of looking seriously at the apparent special abilities of those with
dyslexia -- in all their great variety. However, the topic tends to be
controversial. Some researchers and practitioners feel that there are really no
special talents -- or rather, there are no talents that are valuable in a
traditional academic context. Others are uncomfortable about discussing
strengths and talents since it would confuse funding sources that are unwilling
to provide support for investigations of strengths and talents rather than
handicaps and deficiencies. Many individuals with dyslexia who have been highly
successful with respect to scientific discovery, technological innovation or
entrepreneurial business claim that their success,
their accomplishments and their special ways of seeing come directly from their
distinctive dyslexic way of thinking -- not in spite of their dyslexia. Some
proponents argue that identifying and developing such talents is an important foundation
for individual self worth as well as future educational and occupational
success. Other proponents make a much greater claim -- that major contributions
can be made to the larger (increasingly specialized) society by the distinctive
ways of thought seen in many highly successful dyslexics: the rapid and
insightful comprehension of extremely complex information; the propensity to
avoid “group think” and deliver highly innovative solutions to fundamental
scientific problems; the capability to see patterns completely missed by well
trained and experienced professionals; the apparent unusual proficiency in visual
thinking well suited to new and powerful information visualization
technologies.
Recently, the study of the talents seen in those with
dyslexia is gaining increasing interest among a small group of innovative
researchers. Much has changed in recent years that
would suggest that these initiatives may be much closer to taking place: a
small but important conference of foundation heads, researchers and highly successful
dyslexic individuals (with their families) took place in April 2013; the
increasing influence of the “learning sciencies” and the “positive psychology”
movement; efforts to integrate dyslexia research with work psychology research
(in the UK and elsewhere); books, articles, blogs and websites devoted to “the
dyslexic advantage.” The discussion will also focus on how young adults
in the workplace can improve their quality of life through intentional
development of the attributes of successful adults with learning disabilities.
The roundtable discussion will address the following issues:
(1) How do the early case histories underscore the existance
of very high visual and spatial capabilities along with the difficulties that
those with dyslexia frequently have with reading, writing, composition, memory
or organization?
(2) How have recent technological changes begun to increase
the value of the visual and spatial strengths that many adults with dyslexia
exhibit just as they seem to make their
academic difficulties less and less important?
(3) What approaches need to be changed in the classroom –
for dyslexics and non-dyslexics alike -- to support the individual strengths
and gifts of each learner?
(4) With the reexamination of the traditional research focus
on pathology and intervention, are we beginning to see that we are researching
the wrong kinds of things – and that we should shift instead to understanding
how persons with dyslexia can tap into special strengths that fit well in a
transformed economy?
(5)
Recent work on understanding diversity among persons in terms of cognition and
competence provides good evidence that societal progress is dependent upon the
multiple contributions from individuals with far ranging talents. How can we
develop research and practice approches that maximize the benefit of high
diversity in both education and work?
References
American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 1985. Adults
with learning disabilities: A call
to action [Position Statement]. Available from www.asha.org/policy.
Eide,
Brock L., MD, MA, and Fernette F., MD. 2011. The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic
Brain. New York: Hudson Street Press.
Gerber, P. J., Ginsberg, R., & Reiff, H. B., 1992.
Identifying alterable patterns in employment success for highly successful
adults with learning disabilities.
Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 475-487.
Goleman, D., 1996.
Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York: Bantam Books.
Johnson, D., & Blalock, J., 1987. Adults
with learning disabilities: Clinical
studies. New York: Grune &
Stratton.
Nicolson,
Roderick I., and Angela J. Fawcett, 2008. Dyslexia,
Learning and the Brain. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Reid,
Gavin, and Jane Kirk, 2001. Dyslexia in
Adults: Education and Employment. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reiff, H.B., Gerber, P.J., & Ginsburg, R., 1997. Exceeding expectations: Successful adults
with learning disabilities. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
Seligman,
M.E.P., 1990. Learned
optimism. New York: Knopf.
West,
Thomas G., 2004. Thinking Like Einstein:
Returning to Our Visual Roots with the Emerging Revolution in Computer
Information Visualization. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
West,
Thomas G., 2005. “The Gifts of Dyslexia: Talents Among Dyslexics and Their
Families,” Hong Kong Journal of
Paediatrics (New Series), vol. 10, pp. 153-158.
West,
Thomas G., 2009. In the Mind’s Eye:
Creative Visual Thinkers, Gifted Dyslexics and the Rise of Visual Technologies.
Second edition. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
For
additional information:
Thomas
G. West (Session Co-coordinator): Research Scholar, National Library of
Medicine, NIH. Mobile, 202-262-1266. Institutional address: Krasnow Institute
for Advanced Study, Advisory Board, 4400 University Drive, MS 2A1, George Mason
University, Fairfax, Virginia 22030-4444. Email: thomasgwest@gmail.com.
Blog: http://inthemindseyedyslexicrenaissance.blogspot.com.
Henry B. Reiff, Ph.D. (Session Co-coordinator): Graduate and Professional Studies, McDaniel College, Westminster, Maryland 21157. hreiff@mcdaniel.edu.
