When people hear the word “dyslexia,” they often picture a child who struggles with reading, writing, and spelling. I thought a dyslexic person reversed letters in a word or easily lost their place on a page. But it’s about more than that. The Mayo clinic defines dyslexia as “a learning disorder characterized by reading difficulties due to problems with identifying speech sounds and how they relate to letters and words.” Dyslexia is not about intelligence, but how the brain processes language.
My son was diagnosed with dyslexia in 8th grade, after years of frustration in school. He is one of the 20% of U.S. students who struggles with this reading disorder. He was not just falling behind in school; he was losing confidence in himself. He felt stupid. That was harder to watch than his bad grades and papers filled with phonetically spelled words.
At age 22, my son admits that he has never read a book from cover to cover … if he read it at all. As a senior in college, classes continue to be a struggle for him, especially those with a lot of reading and writing. But he excels in classes where he can think innovatively and be creative. For example, he does very well on oral presentations and creative projects. Through this journey with my son, I saw that dyslexia did not define him, it revealed his strengths, or what I like to call his “superpowers.”
Spending over 35 years in business, I see how beneficial these skills are in the workforce. People with dyslexia have strong problem-solving skills because they can think outside the box and approach problems in a non-linear way. This helps them make connections between unrelated concepts – a huge skill that I have found not everyone has. Being able to look at complex problems from a different angle and explore multiple perspectives at the same time to produce solutions is a true talent. In my experience, these are the thinkers who generate step-change ideas that drive innovation and growth. Maybe this is why 35% of U.S. entrepreneurs have dyslexia! (Source: www.amanet.org/articles/new-research-reveals-many-entrepreneurs-are-dyslexic.)
Through the psychologist who tested my son, I learned that dyslexia is frequently associated with having a natural curiosity to discover and understand new things. My son is very curious and asks great questions. He used to drive his elementary teachers crazy with all his questions. They thought he was deliberately being annoying (and that may also be true), but he said he was interested and really wanted to know more.
In the Under the Couch book series, Justin, one of the main characters, is dyslexic and cannot read. In Book 9, Castle, he goes on an under-the-couch adventure with his older brother to a faraway kingdom where books rule everything. Yet when danger appears, it is not the ability to read well that saves the day – it was Justin’s ability think creatively and make connections from previous adventures to come up with great solutions.
Because some schools still rely heavily on reading and writing and are not great at teaching students who are neurodivergent, children with dyslexia, like my son, feel stupid. In my books, I want children with dyslexia, or any other learning challenge, to see themselves reflected in these stories as heroes with superpowers … because they are. They are heroes to be resilient enough to face their differences, and their superpower is the ability to think differently which could enable them to play a huge role in this world. Maybe the struggling students today are the minds for tomorrow that will discover how to get rid of the microplastics in our oceans, remove pesticides from the soil, build gravity-free rockets, or tap into the crystalline grid in the Earth for free energy. Maybe.
While dyslexia is considered a “disorder,” it is also a different way of thinking, learning, and approaching the world that can turn struggling students into entrepreneurs and innovators. For parents dealing with children who struggle in school, remember that your child is not broken; they just learn differently. With help, patience, and encouragement, they may accomplish more than you ever dreamed.