Research Guides (LibGuides): Neurodiversity: Dyslexia

Understanding Dyslexia

What is dyslexia? Dyslexia is a learning disability in reading. People with dyslexia have trouble reading at a good pace and without mistakes. They may also have a hard time with reading comprehension, spelling, and writing. But these challenges aren’t a problem with intelligence. This article gives an overview of the signs, symptoms, and causes of dyslexia.
Dyslexia Basics Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia refers to a cluster of symptoms, which result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. This article gives an overview of the basics of dyslexia, including its effects, diagnosis, and treatment.
Dyslexia Myths and Facts There are many signs or clues to dyslexia which are discussed in depth on this website; however it is also important to be aware of the misconceptions and myths surrounding the disorder. There are a number of myths regarding dyslexia. We have highlighted some of the more common ones.
The Many Strengths of Dyslexics What if we told you that being dyslexic can foster strengths that can help you excel? Here are several advantages reported by successful dyslexics that may help you along the way.

Organizations

American Dyslexia Association Should a seemingly intelligent child unexpectedly develop problems in school learning how to write, read or calculate, one should not delay, on the basis that they will go away on their own, but instead provide individual, specific and targeted help for the child before any other secondary problems manifest themselves. The ADA offers assistance with helping children with learning dyslexia, as well as resources for them, their families, and educators.
British Dyslexia Association The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) is the voice of dyslexic people. We aim to influence government and other institutions to promote a dyslexia friendly society that enables dyslexic people of all ages to reach their full potential. Their mission is to change society by removing barriers so that everyone with dyslexia can reach their full potential in education, in employment and in life.
Decoding Dyslexia Decoding Dyslexia is a network of parent-led grassroots movements across the country concerned with the limited access to educational interventions for dyslexia within the public education system. We aim to raise dyslexia awareness, empower families to support their children and inform policy-makers on best practices to identify, remediate and support students with dyslexia.
The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is the oldest organization dedicated to the study and treatment of dyslexia. It is also committed to providing complete information and services to address the full scope of dyslexia and related reading and writing challenges.
Made by Dyslexia We’re a global charity, led by successful dyslexics. We’ve built the world’s largest community of dyslexic people and our allies. Our purpose is to help the world to understand the value of Dyslexic Thinking.
The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity (YCDC) is the preeminent source of cutting-edge research, informed advocacy and trustworthy resources to help those with dyslexia reach their full potential. The Center’s tools and resources are used widely by parents, educators and those with dyslexia to advocate for greater recognition and support for dyslexic children and adults.

Resources & Tools

6 Dyslexia Tools for Adults at School, Work, and Home Between 5 to 15 percent of Americans have dyslexia, a reading disability that can make it difficult to read, write, and spell. While dyslexia is most often diagnosed in early childhood, these learning struggles often continue into adolescence and adulthood. If you or a loved one experiences dyslexia, discover these dyslexia tools and technologies for adults to use at school, work, and home.
Assistive Technology Apps And Tools for Students & Adults with Dyslexia Assistive Technology offers greater independence for those individuals with learning disabilities/dyslexia and will also “level the playing field” for students and adults. Many dyslexic students will continue using Dyslexia Assistive Technology as an adult. With technological advancements, assistive technology has become a crucial aid to all dyslexics in the classroom and workplace. Assistive technology, software, apps, and devices assist many dyslexics with their productivity in all their day-to-day activities.
Dyslexia Tools And Resources For Adults Dyslexia is not a disease that can be cured. It needs to be worked around and managed. In many cases, dyslexia remains undiagnosed because people choose to give up on their academic endeavors instead of getting assessed for special learning needs. The good news is that there is no need to hide behind excuses or run from the real cause of the inability to write or read. Acts like the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and IDEA Act of 1997 recognize the inability to learn through reading and writing as a ‘learning disability’ and mandate providing individualized education programs (IEPs) and tools and resources to dyslexic adults to extract better participation from them. So, we bring you here a complete account of several supports available for your creative genius.
Featured Success Story: Ben Worthington This is a brief story of how a guy with dyslexia turns so called deficits into veritable strengths, from Captain Chaos to Mr. List, who eventually becomes the proud owner of a fine website selling online courses for IELTS.
Read and Spell Blog TTRS from Read and Spell is modular in design and contains 24 levels with 31 modules in each level. A module typically takes a few minutes to complete and we recommend taking 2-3 modules a session. Student success is encouraged by immediate feedback and positive reinforcement. This feedback includes a score that is based on completion rates and accuracy, not speed or time taken. Their blog contains information on dyslexia and other similar disorders, as well as tips and tricks on working with them.
Where to find help for adult dyslexia For dyslexic children and adults who don’t get the help they need, this can lead to feelings of low self-worth and a lack of confidence in the classroom or workplace. That’s why diagnosing dyslexia is an important first step, followed by seeking out support from local groups and national organizations, such as the British and American Dyslexia Associations. No two individuals with dyslexia will have exactly the same needs, but with access to the right accommodations and an effective strategy program, dyslexic adults can boost literacy skills, increase confidence and gain a better understanding of their own strengths and abilities.

Podcasts

Chrislexia Audiobooks for dyslexics who love stories but don't love reading!
Dyslexia Explored Sharing dyslexia stories from all stages and walks of life to help parents of Tween/Teens with Dyslexia find practical and helpful tips.
Dyslexia is Our Superpower Dyslexia Is Our Superpower aims to show the world that dyslexia truly is a superpower. The podcast has two components: One component is conversations with dyslexics from all walks of life as we focus on the positive aspects of dyslexia and prove one chat at a time that there are many ways to succeed as a person with dyslexia. The other component is what we call Kweshtens & Kapes. This is Q&A dyslexia style! Produced by Gibby Booth.
Truth About Dyslexia I’m Stephen, in the podcast listen along to see if you connect with my thoughts, have a few ‘aha’s’ along the way. I speak about having both Dyslexia and ADHD. With real life lessons that I hope will help you.

Video Playlists

Dyslexia Videos | Neurodiversity at Uconn A collection of our favorite videos relating to dyslexia.
Ted Talks- Dyslexia This playlist of Ted Talks about dyslexia offers perspectives from a wide variety of speakers on different aspects of the condition.

Videos

Dyslexia is a learning disability that people are born with. This language processing disorder can hinder reading, writing, spelling, and sometimes even speaking. Dr. Horowitz talks about dyslexia and its impact on individuals with LD.

Think dyslexia is just a childhood issue? Think again. This webinar sheds light on how dyslexia evolves from middle age to later life, focusing on symptoms and coping strategies.

5% to 10% of the global population have Dyslexia, yet it is still seen as a disability. Ryan recounts comic tales from his childhood to shed light on the fact that Dyslexia has many advantages, and some of the greatest creatives have Dyslexia. The world shouldn’t see it as a negative trait but rather a driver for creativity, problem solving and innovation.

The speaker takes us on his personal journey of understanding and accepting his neurodiversity and the steps he now takes towards championing dyslexic thinking as a super power in our age of robots. Thinking differently is not a disability in this age, it is a huge asset to all businesses and educational settings.

Books

Dyslexia and Me by Onyinye Udokporo Throughout my life I have been told directly and indirectly that dyslexia is found in particular people... [In fact] dyslexia can be found in someone like me. It isn't just 'okay' but something to be proud of. This book has been written because I want people to know that dyslexia can be found in people of every colour, creed, or circumstance. In this book, rising star entrepreneur Onyinye Udokporo shares her story of growing up dyslexic in a society where neurodivergence was always presented as a white male issue. Onyinye discusses her experience of being diagnosed at 11 years old, starting a business the following year, gaining a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school and going on to complete two degrees by the age of 22, while also being honest about the difficulties she faced throughout including with bullying and anxiety. She shares the tips she picked up over the years for thriving with dyslexia and the strategies she used to overcome her difficulties in reading and writing well, staying organised and speaking with confidence. Illuminating wider issues of systemic racism in the educational sector and providing a timely reminder that dyslexia can be found in any community and culture, this is an empowering story of surviving and thriving in the face of adversity.
Call Number: Ebook
ISBN: 9781787759442
Publication Date: 2022-09-21
This Is Dyslexia: the definitive guide to the untapped power of dyslexic thinking and its vital role in our future by Kate Griggs THIS IS DYSLEXIA explains how dyslexic minds process information differently and explores the unique set of skills that make them experts at problem solving, empathy, and communication. Filled with advice from well-known dyslexics, stories from Grigg's own personal experience and techniques to overcome challenges, Griggs shares her expertise on how we as a society can accommodate and celebrate dyslexia.
Call Number: *Available by Request
ISBN: 9781529149265
Publication Date: 2022-03-01
The Adult Side of Dyslexia by Kelli Sandman-Hurley This book shares interviews and insights from adults with dyslexia, sharing the obstacles they have faced in life and the things that helped them overcome them. Based on lived experience, these accounts provide practical tips and advice for those supporting young people with dyslexia and those who have been recently diagnosed.
Call Number: Ebook
ISBN: 9781787754751
Publication Date: 2021-11-18
The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain by Brock L. Eide M.D., M.A. Fernette F. Eide M.D. The revised and updated edition of The Dyslexic Advantage includes eighteen rich new profiles of remarkable individuals with dyslexia—such as several world-renowned scientists, a Pulitzer Prize–winning poet, a world-record-setting memory specialist, three MacArthur “Genius” Award winners, the technical advisor for the Jurassic Park movies, and many more. Meanwhile, the enormous advances in dyslexia research over the last ten years provide valuable new insights for educators, employers, parents, dyslexic adults, and anyone interested in neurodiversity and human cognition. Blending personal stories with hard science, The Dyslexic Advantage (Revised and Updated) provides empowering advice on how to identify, understand, nurture, and enjoy the strengths of the dyslexic mind.
Call Number: *Available by Request
ISBN: 9780593472248
Publication Date: 2023

Journals

Annals of Dyslexia Annals of Dyslexia is dedicated to the scientific study of dyslexia, its co-morbid conditions, and other language-learning disorders, especially those affecting literacy acquisition. Annals of Dyslexia publishes original studies, significant reviews, and well-documented reports of evidence-based instructional practices to remediate and prevent reading difficulties.
Reading and Writing Reading and Writing publishes high-quality scientific articles pertaining to the processes, acquisition, and loss of reading and writing skills. The journal fully represents the necessarily interdisciplinary nature of research in the field, focusing on the interaction among various disciplines, such as linguistics, information processing, neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, speech and hearing science and education.
Journal of Language Research Journal of Language Research (JLR) is a double-blind peer-reviewed international journal which aims to publish articles in the fields of language learning and teaching in general, foreign or second language learning, language and linguistics studies. The journal is published annually and accepts manuscripts in English and Turkish. Teachers and researchers are always welcome to submit unpublished, original, and full-length articles that are not under review in any other journals.

Selected Articles

Dyslexia at Work: 4 Big Myths We Want to Bust; Succeed With Dyslexia; February 27, 2023 It’s amazing to see that the corporate world is waking up to the power of neurodivergent potential. So many more people with dyslexia are getting into work and finding roles that they love— but sadly, there are still some myths and social stigmas that occur around neurodivergent minds in the workplace that can be harmful to public perceptions of neurodivergent people. They can impact hiring chances, make working less comfortable and more arduous, and most crucially, cut workers off from the support they’re entitled to and the support they need. Here are some of our least favourite serial offenders from the world of dyslexia and neurodiversity at work
Defining and understanding dyslexia: past, present and future; Oxford Review of Education; August 12, 2020 Dyslexia is a difficulty in learning to decode (read aloud) and to spell. DSM5 classifies dyslexia as one form of neurodevelopmental disorder. Neurodevelopmental disorders are heritable, life-long conditions with early onset. For many years, research on dyslexia proceeded on the basis that it was a specific learning difficulty – specific meaning that the difficulty could not be explained in terms of obvious causes such as sensory problems or general learning difficulties (low IQ). However, the failure to find qualitative differences in reading, and phonological skills, between children with dyslexia and children with more general learning problems led this kind of ‘discrepancy’ definition to fall from favour. The Rose Review stated that dyslexia can occur across the IQ range and that poor decoding skills require the same kinds of intervention irrespective of IQ. In this paper, we argue that loosening the criteria for dyslexia has influenced common understanding of the condition and led to diagnostic confusion. In the longer term, the use of the term may need to change. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Developmental dyslexia: emotional impact and consequences; Austrailian Journal of Learning Difficulties; June 2018 Learning disabilities are associated with mental health, behavioural and social difficulties. Developmental dyslexia is a particularly salient example of a learning disability that is associated with social and emotional consequences that are not considered primary features of the disorder. These issues can remain and, in some cases, escalate in adulthood. Practitioners should be made aware of the consequences of the emotional impact of such learning disabilities. The following is a comprehensive review of over 100 journal articles investigating the emotional consequences of developmental dyslexia. Articles published between 1980 and 2018 were found using keywords “dyslexia” and “emotion” or “internalizing behaviour”, “externalizing behaviour”, “depression” or “anxiety”. This review provides an overview of the literature investigating the emotional consequences of developmental dyslexia and suggestions to avoid or at least minimize these consequences on the individual, their family and society are provided.
Individuals with dyslexia use a different visual sampling strategy to read text; Scientific Reports; March 19, 2021 Individuals with dyslexia present with reading-related deficits including inaccurate and/or less fluent word recognition and poor decoding abilities. Slow reading speed and worse text comprehension can occur as secondary consequences of these deficits. Reports of visual symptoms such as atypical eye movements during reading gave rise to a search for these deficits’ underlying mechanisms. This study sought to replicate established behavioral deficits in reading and cognitive processing speed while investigating their underlying mechanisms in more detail by developing a comprehensive profile of eye movements specific to reading in adult dyslexia. Using a validated standardized reading assessment, our findings confirm a reading speed deficit among adults with dyslexia. We observed different eye movements in readers with dyslexia across numerous eye movement metrics including the duration of a stop (i.e., fixation), the length of jumps (i.e., saccades), and the number of times a reader’s eyes expressed a jump atypical for reading. We conclude that individuals with dyslexia visually sample written information in a laborious and more effortful manner that is fundamentally different from those without dyslexia. Our findings suggest a mix of aberrant cognitive linguistic and oculomotor processes being present in adults with dyslexia.
Insider accounts of dyslexia from research mathematicians; Educational Studies in Mathematics; February 7, 2022 Within educational research, dyslexia and other disabilities are typically conceptualized as deficits. The theory of neurodiversity encourages researchers to conceptualize cognitive differences as natural forms of human diversity with unique sets of challenges and strengths. Using neurodiversity as our theoretical framework, we analyze the experiences of five research mathematicians with dyslexia as told through personal narratives to find common strengths and challenges for dyslexic thinkers at the highest level of mathematics. We report on 4 themes: (1) highly visual and intuitive ways of mathematical thinking, (2) issues with language and translation between forms, (3) issues with memorization of mathematical facts and procedures, and (4) resilience as a strength of dyslexia that matters in mathematics. We use our participants’ insights to explore how neurodiversity, a theory of cognitive disability developed by and for neurodiverse people, could expand opportunities for research. We call for mathematics educators to consider the strengths and challenges of dyslexic learners, as well as valuing expertise from insider perspectives.
The relationship between emotional experience with dyslexia and work self-efficacy among adults with dyslexia; Dyslexia;December 12, 2017 This study responds to a call for more research on working adults with dyslexia investigating how employment-related factors affect and relate to one another. Two important work-related factors are self-efficacy and emotional experience with dyslexia. Work self-efficacy is viewed one of the most vital intrapersonal capacities in the work environment. It can be viewed as a subjective indicator of work success and is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct. Research speaks to a unique emotional experience stemming from living with an often misunderstood and stereotyped learning difference. The participants were 173 working adults with dyslexia (average age = 43.5 years, females = 56.6%) who participated in a web-based survey. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that more negative or uncomfortable emotions emanating from living with dyslexia predicted lower levels of total work self-efficacy, work attributes, work competency, and work anxiety over and beyond background contextual variables. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Neurodiversity: Dyslexia

What is Dyslexia?