{"id":7020,"date":"2016-03-10T11:36:12","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T11:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/?p=7020"},"modified":"2026-03-30T09:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:20:18","slug":"7-things-you-wont-know-about-dyslexia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/7-things-you-wont-know-about-dyslexia\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Things You Won’t Know About Dyslexia"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Dyslexics are often described as big picture, out of the
\nbox thinkers, but there\u2019s much more to it than that…
\nAnd new scientific research can tell us why.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

More and more, we are hearing about twice exceptional dyslexics (2e)…Those dyslexics who struggle to read and spell, but are highly intelligent, gifted learners.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is even more exciting is that these 2e learners often end up in our tertiary academic institutions and dedicate their lives to unraveling the mystery surrounding the dyslexic brain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew Schneps<\/strong> is one such individual and I have been reading all about his work… and it is very exciting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew<\/strong> is an astrophysicist and is carrying out research at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics<\/strong>…<\/span><\/p>\n

…More specifically he has been investigating talents for science among those with dyslexia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a short summary of what he and others have discovered…<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Dyslexics are faster to identify visual jokes or anomalies, as in this artwork (top of page) titled \u2018Section of Relativity<\/strong><\/em>\u2019 by M.C. Escher<\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Dyslexics have a greater sense of \u2018things out of place\u2019. For example being better at accurately identifying black holes from noise in outer space when compared to their non-dyslexic colleagues.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Dyslexics are\u00a0better at interpreting and memorizing blurry looking images that resembled x-rays, an advantage that could be useful in medicine and science.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Another researcher, Gadi Geiger<\/strong> and his colleagues at MIT<\/strong> found that individuals with dyslexia could distribute their attention far more broadly compared to typical non-dyslexic readers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          This was measured by getting study participants to identify flashing letters spaced at various distances apart from a narrow field to a broader periphery.<\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Gadi Geiger<\/strong> and his colleagues also applied this broader attention theory to sound as well by conducting a study that simulated the sounds of a cocktail party.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            They found that people with dyslexia were better able to pick out and identify more words spoken by voices widely distributed in a room when compared to non-dyslexics.<\/span><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Learning to read changes our brains and as a result we gain and lose certain visual capabilities. This is demonstrated by the research studies below.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              \"LittleIlliterate adults who were taught to read were shown to lose the ability to accurately identify images that were the mirror image of each other. This indicated that changes had occurred in the brain as reading was acquired.<\/span><\/p>\n

              A non-dyslexic competent reader requires the ability to accurately focus their attention on letter symbols, as their eyes scan a sentence, to quickly and accurately flit from one word to the next…<\/span><\/p>\n

              So it could be hypothesized that one reason people with dyslexia struggle with reading is they have difficulty focusing their specific visual attention.<\/span><\/p>\n

                \n
              1. A research study by an Italian team led by Andrea Facoetti<\/strong> showed that children with dyslexia often exhibited impairments in visual attention.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                The team demonstrated this by measuring the visual attention capabilities of 82 preschoolers\u00a0who had not yet been taught to read.<\/span><\/p>\n

                At the conclusion of Grade Two the researchers again assessed the children and found that those who had difficult focusing their visual attention in preschool had more difficulty learning to read.<\/span><\/p>\n

                You may be asking… how do all these skills represent advantages for the dyslexic and for the greater community at large?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

                However think about it…<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n