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[Dr. Fernette Eide] Welcome, everyone!

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This is the first in what I hope will be

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a series of webinars that will be helpful

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to you, in our Dyslexic community at

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Dyslexicadvantage.com. What I'm going to

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do is do a brief overview of Dyslexia, and

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talk very briefly about the Dyslexic

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Advantage. We can talk more about that in

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a future meeting, perhaps, and I'll try at

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the end to address some of the questions

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that we had in our live webinar.

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First of all, it's good to recognize that

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one in five people are Dyslexic--extremely

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common. What that translates into is

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8.4 million school age children here in

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the United States who are Dyslexic. For

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every one who is identified, there will

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be 3 who will be missed. It 's really a

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staggering percentage. There are a lot of

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reasons for this, but teachers are often

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not trained in detail about how to

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recognize Dyslexia, and also, it's not

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widely understood, either, one of the

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common signs and features of Dyslexia.

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So, Dyslexic students have strong big

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picture skills. They are often known to be

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very creative, observant, empathetic,

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and great problem solvers. But they are

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slower to acquire fine detail, basic

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skills like reading ,writing , spelling,

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or mastery of math facts. Dyslexia will

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look different in different individuals,

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because it will vary in terms of a

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students age, verbal abilities, motor

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abilities, working memory, that short term

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memory that helps you keep information in

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mind, and individual students learning

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strengths; and also, temperament. I'm not

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talking in detail about testing here, but

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I wanted to introduce some of the common

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questions that people have. Testing for

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Dyslexia is called a clinical diagnosis,

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so it can't be done definitively with a

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checklist. It really needs to be done,

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ideally, with comprehensive testing with

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a professional who has a great deal of

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experience with the variations that can

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occur with Dyslexia. There is some debate

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that exists in terms of the best method,

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our preference, as I mentioned, is with

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comprehensive testing. Usually that

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entails some screening of vision, hearing,

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and motor ability, but also, standardized

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tests we like to use: a combination of IQ

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tests such as the WISC-IV, or the WIAS-IV

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for adults. These are standardized tests

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that involve estimates of verbal and

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non-verbal reasoning, working memory and

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processing speed; in addition, there are

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so-called achievement tests which look at

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performance, for instance, on phonology,

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on single-word reading, on passage

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reading, listening. There are other tests

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that are mentioned here, Nelson Denny is a

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particular test that is helpful when

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students are applying to the College

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Board for accommodations because those

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passages in the Nelson Denny reading tests

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are really better indicators of challenges

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that a student may have with college or

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graduate school level reading passages.

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Other things mentioned here are CTOPP, and

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some of the sub-tests listed: listening,

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comprehension, single word reading,

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reading comprehension, writing, spelling,

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phonology, math. In addition, we like to

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make sure that we are not just focusing

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on a students weaknesses, we like to find

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out what a student likes to do in their

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spare time, what they may be particularly

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talented in doing; we evaluate creative

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work and out-of-school activities. In

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general, as much as possible, this should

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be part of the basic assessment of

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students with Dyslexia. We shouldn't just

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focus on the weaknesses because that gives

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a very lopsided view of a student:

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where they are right now, as well as their

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potential in the future.

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So the hallmark of Dyslexia testing when

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using these methods of ability-achievement

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discrepancy is to look at how well a

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student may perform with thinking skills,

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reasoning skills that are communicated

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verbally, or non-verbally with puzzles

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or complex shapes or patterns that are

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presented in front of them, compared to

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for instance, written work or

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calculations. That ability-achievement

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discrepancy is the foundation for

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understanding specific learning

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disabilities, meaning that intellectual

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ability may be high, but there are certain

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patterns of specific weaknesses that are

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consistent with a specific learning

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disability.

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So, if we look at how Dyslexic students

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perform when they have a battery of

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tests such as this; here, on the Y axis

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are the scores that you might see in tests

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that are standardly done as part

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of the WISC test: this is an example of

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a student from our clinic. If average is

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10 for age, then these scores,

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similarities --that's a measure of

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analogical reasoning-- things like

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comprehension might be extremely strong.

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Here, this student was very high in block

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design. So being able to perceive and

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replicate different spatial patterns,

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these are all above the average of 10.

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Here, these other measures, things like

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how much information can be kept in mind

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at one time, a digit span, numbering,

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keeping numbers and letters in order,

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and coding--being able to copy different

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symbols in a rapid fashion, are below

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average. In this student's case,

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listening comprehension was at the

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98th %tile, single word reading was at the

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8th, pseudoword reading was at the

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3rd %tile--that's a measure of

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phonological awareness, and alphabet

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fluency-- how quickly you can actually

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name letters of the alphabet when presented

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in front of you, was at the 6th. The thing

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that I wanted to get across to you here

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is that the Dyslexic picture is really one

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of peaks and valleys, it's not a flat line.

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To look at....these are some additional

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sub-tests here, to look at some of the

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WIAT achievement scores here, again,

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look at 100 here representing standard

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scores, we had in our clinic students of

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average verbal IQ, Superior, Very

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Superior, and even above that. Again,

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what I want to convey to you mainly is

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the picture--if this is the average range,

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what you don't see, is a flat line, which

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is more typically the case for

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non-Dyslexic students, but instead you

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have Dyslexic students who really have

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extreme of abilities, and also, very

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specific weaknesses. Here, this is Oral

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Reading Accuracy, that contribute to the

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general reading picture. If we were to

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look only at the weaknesses, we are not

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really seeing the tremendous potential

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that exists among these students.

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So now, I am going to briefly go through

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the different ages. In elementary school,

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typically, Dyslexic students may present

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with some of the challenges on the left

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column here. Some students may be late

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talking, others, parents often say that

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they notice they seem to be slower with

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letter or other types of naming. They may

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have a low interest in books, mild

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mispronunciation errors might be seen.

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Things like "back-back" instead of

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"backpack" , "pisghetti" instead of

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"spaghetti", these are mispronunciations

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that are not just motor, motorically being

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able to pronounce the words, but more

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representative of a general issue with

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auditory processing and phonology. Often,

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Dyslexic students don't 'get' rhymes.

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It's because they are not hearing the same

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things as non-Dyslexic students are

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hearing. They may be slower in learning

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to read, have difficulty remembering their

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math facts, and also have some right-left

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confusion. This is an example of writing

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of a student who was told to write lower

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case letters. They had a lot of

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intrusions, had difficulty knowing what

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direction to write the letters. At the

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same time, in the early elementary

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years, these students may actually be

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very socially adept, they may show

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themselves to be excellent problem

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solvers, be fantastic, for instance, at

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real life problem-solving, asking good

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questions, and, for instance, show

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themselves in science experiments in

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class. Some of these students are very

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expressive non-verbally, they might be

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wonderful builders, great with Legos,

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K'nex, things like that, or-- are very

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artistic. These students are often

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creative. They have lots of ideas, and

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they may hide their difficulties.

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In late elementary school, the

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difficulties change a little bit. You

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still have some reading difficulties, of

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course, but writing also takes on greater

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importance. Examples here: this is a

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student who wrote, "I thought I could

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climb the mountain." This student had a

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great deal of auditory processing

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difficulties, and as a result, "could",

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"croud", was not very clearly heard, and

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as a result, an astute observer could

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pick up the writing difficulties were

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really a reflection of auditory

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processing difficulties that the student

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was having. The challenges that late

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elementary school students face include

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spelling problems, they have often weaker

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visual word form, grammatical

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difficulties; writing in general may be

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disorganized and slow, it may be hard to

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get ideas down onto paper. Word finding

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is another issue. Some of these students

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have actually vivid sensory perceptions

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and visual imagery, and it's hard for them

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to translate these perceptions into words.

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Rote memory also comes online as late

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elementary school students are expected

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to have more facts at their disposal,

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especially if the memorization involves

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lists of information that are not linked

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by a story: for example, things like state

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capitals. It can seem almost impossible to

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some students.At the same time, we also

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start seeing some real wonderful spatial

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talents in students in the late elementary

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school years. The science and math

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students also become prominent, and some

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students find they really excel in sports

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and take on leadership positions. These

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are students who are often socially adept.

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There is strong empathy. They are great

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team players. And the arts, as mentioned,

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also, clusters of strengths that we see

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in students.

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In the Middle and High School years`

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what is particularly a challenge is the

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quantity of reading and writing. It's at

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this time where students have to write a

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great deal more than previously. The

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misunderstanding of syntax, the structure

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of sentences, and limitations in

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vocabulary really can make schooling

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difficult. Standardized tests may also be

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difficult. Students may actually follow

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quite well in the classroom, but then be

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presented with information that is out of

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context, like in a standardized exam, and

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more subtle weaknesses than reading really

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come to bear. As a result, standardized

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test performance may be far below what a

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student is doing in the regular classroom.

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Other issues that are important for

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middle and high school and college

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students, things like the speed of being

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able to complete work, misreading question

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00:13:14,709 --> 00:13:17,864
prompts. Foreign Language can be a

269
00:13:17,864 --> 00:13:20,703
strength or a weakness for Dyslexic

270
00:13:20,703 --> 00:13:23,174
students. The most typical pattern is that

271
00:13:23,174 --> 00:13:27,739
students may actually fare fairly well by

272
00:13:27,739 --> 00:13:30,193
listening and doing the conversational

273
00:13:30,193 --> 00:13:32,574
aspects of language, but as Foreign

274
00:13:32,574 --> 00:13:35,460
Language progresses in the school system,

275
00:13:35,460 --> 00:13:37,776
and more conjugation and rote memory

276
00:13:37,776 --> 00:13:39,675
rules of language and grammar are

277
00:13:39,675 --> 00:13:42,475
required, then students have difficulty,

278
00:13:42,475 --> 00:13:44,809
If that is a significant issue, or

279
00:13:44,809 --> 00:13:47,351
students have fairly severe auditory

280
00:13:47,351 --> 00:13:48,940
processing difficulties, they really have

281
00:13:48,940 --> 00:13:52,172
trouble hearing the sounds, then we

282
00:13:52,172 --> 00:13:54,270
usually support and recommend a Foreign

283
00:13:54,270 --> 00:13:57,730
Language waiver. Middle, high school,

284
00:13:57,730 --> 00:14:00,730
and college are also the time where word

285
00:14:00,730 --> 00:14:02,771
heavy subjects like science, social

286
00:14:02,771 --> 00:14:05,528
studies can also cause trouble for

287
00:14:05,528 --> 00:14:07,403
students. The important thing I want to

288
00:14:07,403 --> 00:14:09,807
mention here is that there is often a

289
00:14:09,807 --> 00:14:11,807
discrepancy. Dyslexic students are often

290
00:14:11,807 --> 00:14:14,367
quite strong with science, and scientific

291
00:14:14,367 --> 00:14:17,598
thinking. It's only in that middle stage

292
00:14:17,598 --> 00:14:20,172
where a lot of science vocabulary is

293
00:14:20,172 --> 00:14:22,664
presented, where a student may suddenly

294
00:14:22,664 --> 00:14:25,309
feel that they are not good at science.

295
00:14:25,309 --> 00:14:27,257
It's important to look out for that,

296
00:14:27,257 --> 00:14:29,618
because these students often just need

297
00:14:29,618 --> 00:14:32,168
more encouragement, they might need more

298
00:14:32,168 --> 00:14:35,690
repetition, and even some tutoring. But

299
00:14:35,690 --> 00:14:38,268
often if they can get through this period

300
00:14:38,268 --> 00:14:40,135
of time where the vocabulary and the

301
00:14:40,135 --> 00:14:44,703
technical language of science is mastered,

302
00:14:44,703 --> 00:14:46,735
and gapped to the point where you actually

303
00:14:46,735 --> 00:14:48,795
have to think and critically analyze

304
00:14:48,795 --> 00:14:51,099
observations, that's where Dyslexic

305
00:14:51,099 --> 00:14:53,132
Students can really excel and do fantastic

306
00:14:53,132 --> 00:14:59,636
work, even breakthrough work in research.

307
00:14:59,636 --> 00:15:01,867
Organization is also a typical issue at

308
00:15:01,867 --> 00:15:06,363
this age. That occurs for a number of

309
00:15:06,363 --> 00:15:09,080
reasons. Sometimes the organizational

310
00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:13,703
difficulties reflect inter-connected and

311
00:15:13,703 --> 00:15:17,701
immersive thinking style, as a result, it

312
00:15:17,701 --> 00:15:21,668
is hard to prioritize information and to

313
00:15:21,668 --> 00:15:25,013
"chunk" it, categorize what they know,

314
00:15:25,013 --> 00:15:29,403
and then put it in a sequence. I think in

315
00:15:29,403 --> 00:15:31,322
another webinar what I might do is --

316
00:15:31,322 --> 00:15:33,768
we can talk more about the executive

317
00:15:33,768 --> 00:15:35,568
function organizational aspects of

318
00:15:35,568 --> 00:15:39,733
Dyslexia. At the same time that we talk

319
00:15:39,733 --> 00:15:41,334
about the challenges that occur at this

320
00:15:41,334 --> 00:15:44,202
age, it's often really exciting to see

321
00:15:44,202 --> 00:15:47,589
these students really start breaking out

322
00:15:47,589 --> 00:15:49,397
of the pack in terms of their higher

323
00:15:49,397 --> 00:15:52,765
order thinking. Often, students will

324
00:15:52,765 --> 00:15:57,475
surprise their teachers with really

325
00:15:57,475 --> 00:16:01,620
striking insights, different perspectives

326
00:16:01,620 --> 00:16:06,269
on themes, or questions that are presented

327
00:16:06,269 --> 00:16:09,809
in the classroom. Students can thrive in

328
00:16:09,809 --> 00:16:12,033
project based learning and the arts,

329
00:16:12,033 --> 00:16:14,867
verbal talents are often also noted at

330
00:16:14,867 --> 00:16:18,101
this age. Some Dyslexic students actually

331
00:16:18,101 --> 00:16:22,199
have a wonderful span, being able to keep

332
00:16:22,199 --> 00:16:24,478
information in, and as a result they can

333
00:16:24,478 --> 00:16:28,133
excel in things such as Drama or Debate,

334
00:16:28,133 --> 00:16:30,533
because they can keep in long arguments

335
00:16:30,533 --> 00:16:33,035
and what people have said, in their memory

336
00:16:33,035 --> 00:16:35,799
banks, and then be able to analyze it and,

337
00:16:35,799 --> 00:16:38,433
for instance, to counter arguments when

338
00:16:38,433 --> 00:16:43,631
presenting in that kind of forum.

339
00:16:43,631 --> 00:16:47,534
Leadership, also, is a very common talent

340
00:16:47,534 --> 00:16:50,064
cluster among Dyslexic students. Often,

341
00:16:50,064 --> 00:16:54,763
if a parents says, "I don't know what kind

342
00:16:54,763 --> 00:16:57,766
of talent my student has, maybe there is

343
00:16:57,766 --> 00:17:02,233
no specific talent or creative drive. If

344
00:17:02,233 --> 00:17:04,635
we ask more questions, what we find out

345
00:17:04,635 --> 00:17:08,633
is that these students, their strength may

346
00:17:08,633 --> 00:17:12,808
be social. It's not that they prefer to be

347
00:17:12,808 --> 00:17:16,943
in the science lab, or prefer to be doing

348
00:17:16,943 --> 00:17:19,534
math equations, or physics; these students

349
00:17:19,534 --> 00:17:22,068
really may seem to have no particular

350
00:17:22,068 --> 00:17:25,904
special talents or gifts, but it's their

351
00:17:25,904 --> 00:17:28,267
gift is actually social. What they really

352
00:17:28,267 --> 00:17:31,831
are is making friends all over the school

353
00:17:31,831 --> 00:17:34,235
with different ages, and that's going to

354
00:17:34,235 --> 00:17:37,531
be a great talent in practically any

355
00:17:37,531 --> 00:17:39,469
profession.

356
00:17:39,469 --> 00:17:41,464
I also want to mention a bit about stealth

357
00:17:41,464 --> 00:17:44,510
Dyslexics there. Stealth Dyslexics often

358
00:17:44,510 --> 00:17:47,502
fly under the radar of

359
00:17:47,502 --> 00:17:52,264
detection. Stealth Dyslexia in younger

360
00:17:52,264 --> 00:17:55,037
children is usually seen in a setting of

361
00:17:55,037 --> 00:17:57,769
gifted children who may be able to

362
00:17:57,769 --> 00:18:00,000
compensate for some of their weaknesses

363
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,304
but, as Dyslexia evolves in older

364
00:18:02,304 --> 00:18:05,568
students, often they can crack the code

365
00:18:05,568 --> 00:18:08,400
of reading for comprehension purposes.

366
00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:10,097
They can often read silently with good

367
00:18:10,097 --> 00:18:13,611
comprehension, but their challenges come

368
00:18:13,611 --> 00:18:18,707
out more with oral reading accuracy, and

369
00:18:18,707 --> 00:18:21,466
with speed of processing, and with

370
00:18:21,466 --> 00:18:24,634
writing. Organizational issues also

371
00:18:24,634 --> 00:18:26,513
contribute to some of the writing

372
00:18:26,513 --> 00:18:29,290
difficulties with Stealth Dyslexia. It's

373
00:18:29,290 --> 00:18:31,468
another big topic, to talk about Stealth

374
00:18:31,468 --> 00:18:35,970
Dyslexia, so maybe we can put that off

375
00:18:35,970 --> 00:18:39,402
for another webinar if there is interest.

376
00:18:41,652 --> 00:18:45,001
College and the Workplace: this is really

377
00:18:45,001 --> 00:18:48,304
a new field, a lot...a new area.

378
00:18:48,304 --> 00:18:51,537
There has been a lot of discussion about

379
00:18:51,537 --> 00:18:54,865
the early years of Dyslexia, but, I think

380
00:18:54,865 --> 00:19:00,229
it is going to be really an explosion of

381
00:19:00,229 --> 00:19:02,961
understanding about Dyslexia in the

382
00:19:02,961 --> 00:19:06,194
workplace in the coming decade. As much

383
00:19:06,194 --> 00:19:08,429
in, for college, it is the quantity of

384
00:19:08,429 --> 00:19:09,907
reading and writing that can be

385
00:19:09,907 --> 00:19:11,901
particularly tough, we typically see

386
00:19:11,901 --> 00:19:13,356
students in the first two years of college

387
00:19:13,356 --> 00:19:15,168
have their greatest struggles. Sometimes

388
00:19:15,168 --> 00:19:17,341
students will try a little bit of college,

389
00:19:17,341 --> 00:19:19,433
really have trouble, and then have to

390
00:19:19,433 --> 00:19:22,633
step out, try again, and then over the

391
00:19:22,633 --> 00:19:26,134
course of some time, the brain matures

392
00:19:26,134 --> 00:19:28,164
a little bit more, and then they can

393
00:19:28,164 --> 00:19:31,353
actually balance schooling when they are

394
00:19:31,353 --> 00:19:33,369
a little bit older. Another thing that we

395
00:19:33,369 --> 00:19:35,404
see is that, although the first 2 years are

396
00:19:35,404 --> 00:19:37,200
the toughest because there is a lot of

397
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,166
required reading, and a lot more rote

398
00:19:39,166 --> 00:19:41,833
information...Dyslexic students, if they

399
00:19:41,833 --> 00:19:46,068
can "push their way through" those first 2

400
00:19:46,068 --> 00:19:49,968
years, they may really find the upper two

401
00:19:49,968 --> 00:19:53,553
years quite a bit easier as they are used

402
00:19:53,553 --> 00:19:57,998
to deep thinking, and analysis, and the

403
00:19:57,998 --> 00:20:01,137
thinking part of college, where they work,

404
00:20:01,137 --> 00:20:03,979
is not hard for most Dyslexic students.

405
00:20:03,979 --> 00:20:07,267
It's really just the rote memorization

406
00:20:07,267 --> 00:20:09,499
work that is required in the early years,

407
00:20:09,499 --> 00:20:11,835
and the sheer quantity of books that need

408
00:20:11,835 --> 00:20:13,067
to be read.

409
00:20:13,067 --> 00:20:15,366
Time management: a big issue for many

410
00:20:15,366 --> 00:20:17,268
students in the college years. Getting

411
00:20:17,268 --> 00:20:18,772
through their major requirements, that's

412
00:20:18,772 --> 00:20:21,471
often, as I said, the worst part. If you

413
00:20:21,471 --> 00:20:25,433
can request reduced courseload, that's

414
00:20:25,433 --> 00:20:27,801
very helpful for many students. Many

415
00:20:27,801 --> 00:20:30,034
students also find they need to break

416
00:20:30,034 --> 00:20:33,035
out their school schedule so that they

417
00:20:33,035 --> 00:20:35,997
take some classes over summer.

418
00:20:35,997 --> 00:20:38,100
In the workplace, the things that are the

419
00:20:38,100 --> 00:20:41,073
most difficult for young Dyslexics are

420
00:20:41,073 --> 00:20:46,738
tasks that require repetitive, and say for

421
00:20:46,738 --> 00:20:50,744
instance, data entry, clerical tasks,

422
00:20:50,744 --> 00:20:54,935
that's kind of like that fine detail that

423
00:20:54,935 --> 00:20:59,267
is difficult for many Dyslexics. Filling

424
00:20:59,267 --> 00:21:01,466
out forms, because information is not

425
00:21:01,466 --> 00:21:05,532
contextual...questions that also rise,

426
00:21:05,532 --> 00:21:08,839
should I disclose my Dyslexia in the

427
00:21:08,839 --> 00:21:11,934
workplace? It can really be an important

428
00:21:11,934 --> 00:21:14,635
issue for many people.

429
00:21:14,635 --> 00:21:16,438
So at the same time there are really

430
00:21:16,438 --> 00:21:18,632
significant challenges at the college

431
00:21:18,632 --> 00:21:22,594
level and in the workplace, as said,

432
00:21:22,594 --> 00:21:25,303
in higher education, and in careers, this

433
00:21:25,303 --> 00:21:27,931
is often where Dyslexics shine because

434
00:21:27,931 --> 00:21:30,983
they are fantastic problem solvers,

435
00:21:30,983 --> 00:21:33,442
whether it's people problems, system

436
00:21:33,442 --> 00:21:36,433
problems, or technical problems. Dyslexic

437
00:21:36,433 --> 00:21:38,278
strengths often involve strategic

438
00:21:38,278 --> 00:21:41,300
thinking, many Dyslexics are strong with

439
00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:45,935
empathy and seem particularly good at team

440
00:21:45,935 --> 00:21:49,074
building. Dynamic Reasoning, which is one

441
00:21:49,074 --> 00:21:51,429
of the mind strengths, is something that

442
00:21:51,429 --> 00:21:55,402
we also seem to see more often sort of

443
00:21:55,402 --> 00:21:58,661
"turning on" in the college graduate

444
00:21:58,661 --> 00:22:01,272
school or workplace years. Being able to

445
00:22:01,272 --> 00:22:03,629
spot trends and predict what's going to

446
00:22:03,629 --> 00:22:05,400
happen, which is important for so many

447
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,765
different cutting edge careers.

448
00:22:07,765 --> 00:22:10,791
Entrepreneurship, Dyslexics, as many of

449
00:22:10,791 --> 00:22:12,698
you many know, really excel as

450
00:22:12,698 --> 00:22:16,506
entrepreneurs. They make up 35-40% of the

451
00:22:16,506 --> 00:22:18,633
successful entrepreneurs here in the

452
00:22:18,633 --> 00:22:21,396
United States. So, really highly

453
00:22:21,396 --> 00:22:23,907
over-represented among successful

454
00:22:23,907 --> 00:22:27,029
entrepreneurs compared to the general

455
00:22:27,029 --> 00:22:29,289
population.

456
00:22:30,799 --> 00:22:32,913
And what about older Dyslexic adults?

457
00:22:32,913 --> 00:22:36,526
It's important to be aware if either you

458
00:22:36,526 --> 00:22:40,742
or a friend or family member is suspected

459
00:22:40,742 --> 00:22:43,359
to have Dyslexia,that...if you are over

460
00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:45,889
the age of 40, the chances are, you were

461
00:22:45,889 --> 00:22:50,370
never formally identified. Part of that

462
00:22:50,370 --> 00:22:53,359
reason is because at that time the

463
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,228
federal legislation actually hadn't taken

464
00:22:56,228 --> 00:23:00,396
place, so there was no pressure to

465
00:23:00,396 --> 00:23:03,462
identify Dyslexia, it wasn't identified

466
00:23:03,462 --> 00:23:06,832
in the school system yet. Really, the

467
00:23:06,832 --> 00:23:08,967
legislation only took effect for people

468
00:23:08,967 --> 00:23:12,818
who are now younger than the age of 40.

469
00:23:12,818 --> 00:23:17,903
Many older Dyslexic adults got by--

470
00:23:17,903 --> 00:23:19,796
succeeded--with personal strengths,

471
00:23:19,796 --> 00:23:22,200
with people talents, as mentioned before,

472
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:24,542
strategic thinking and problems solving,

473
00:23:24,542 --> 00:23:26,236
and they found that "real life" was easier

474
00:23:26,236 --> 00:23:30,754
than school. When we polled our community

475
00:23:30,754 --> 00:23:32,759
here at Dyslexic Advantage, many people

476
00:23:32,759 --> 00:23:34,267
said that people supports were very

477
00:23:34,267 --> 00:23:37,136
important, technology less so, but, that

478
00:23:37,136 --> 00:23:40,442
soon will be changing. In answer to the

479
00:23:40,442 --> 00:23:42,736
question, "Am I still Dyslexic?"---yes,

480
00:23:42,736 --> 00:23:44,772
you are! It's a brain wiring difference.

481
00:23:44,772 --> 00:23:47,359
Most Dylsexic adults are able to read and

482
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:49,613
understand, but their reading may be slow,

483
00:23:49,613 --> 00:23:51,973
and writing and spelling even more

484
00:23:51,973 --> 00:23:54,095
challenging than reading...that's what

485
00:23:54,095 --> 00:23:55,886
most people tell us.

486
00:23:57,676 --> 00:24:00,693
In answer to the question about the brain

487
00:24:00,693 --> 00:24:03,377
science of Dyslexia, "Are Dyslexic brains

488
00:24:03,377 --> 00:24:06,192
different?"---Yes, they are. Here is an

489
00:24:06,192 --> 00:24:09,471
example from Manuel Casanova, a

490
00:24:09,471 --> 00:24:14,088
neuroscientist here represented the

491
00:24:14,088 --> 00:24:17,108
different brain volumes in Dyslexics versus

492
00:24:17,108 --> 00:24:21,578
non-Dyslexics in terms of color. There

493
00:24:21,578 --> 00:24:23,596
were larger right hemispheric brain

494
00:24:23,596 --> 00:24:26,239
volumes among Dyslexics compared to

495
00:24:26,239 --> 00:24:31,764
non-Dyslexics. Some of that....I think

496
00:24:31,764 --> 00:24:34,076
this might be helpful in giving you an

497
00:24:34,076 --> 00:24:37,332
idea of what the differences are. If you

498
00:24:37,332 --> 00:24:38,866
process more information in the right

499
00:24:38,866 --> 00:24:40,733
hemisphere, versus the left hemisphere,

500
00:24:40,733 --> 00:24:45,836
this is an example from some really

501
00:24:45,836 --> 00:24:47,757
fascinating split brain studies from

502
00:24:47,757 --> 00:24:53,008
Sperry and Gazzaniga. These experiments

503
00:24:53,008 --> 00:24:54,975
were not done on Dyslexic or non-Dyslexic

504
00:24:54,975 --> 00:24:59,094
subjects...they were not done on Dyslexic

505
00:24:59,094 --> 00:25:04,079
subjects. Instead,patients who were under

506
00:25:04,079 --> 00:25:06,931
going a procedure which actually split the

507
00:25:06,931 --> 00:25:10,402
hemispheres. So what it told us was what

508
00:25:10,402 --> 00:25:12,499
do the respective hemispheres do when they

509
00:25:12,499 --> 00:25:16,127
process language. For example, when one

510
00:25:16,127 --> 00:25:18,271
of these split-brained patients were

511
00:25:18,271 --> 00:25:23,498
flashed the word "knight" on a screen, if

512
00:25:23,498 --> 00:25:27,575
it was flashed on the screen in a way that

513
00:25:27,575 --> 00:25:31,115
the left hemisphere saw the word, then the

514
00:25:31,115 --> 00:25:34,171
person said, "It says knight." But

515
00:25:34,171 --> 00:25:36,392
interestingly, if it was flashed on the

516
00:25:36,392 --> 00:25:38,676
screen so that the right hemisphere saw

517
00:25:38,676 --> 00:25:42,830
the word, the person said this, " I have a

518
00:25:42,830 --> 00:25:45,406
picture in my mind, but I can't say it.

519
00:25:45,406 --> 00:25:48,002
Two fighters in a ring, ancient, using

520
00:25:48,002 --> 00:25:50,075
uniforms and helmets on horses, trying

521
00:25:50,075 --> 00:25:53,532
to knock each other off....knights?" What

522
00:25:53,532 --> 00:25:58,304
this reflects is, although language is

523
00:25:58,304 --> 00:26:00,336
really represented on both sides of the

524
00:26:00,336 --> 00:26:02,726
brain, depending on whether you have more

525
00:26:02,726 --> 00:26:05,666
left sided processing or right sided

526
00:26:05,666 --> 00:26:08,099
processing, how that information is

527
00:26:08,099 --> 00:26:12,739
organized, stored ,and expressed is very

528
00:26:12,739 --> 00:26:15,529
different. On the left hemisphere, the

529
00:26:15,529 --> 00:26:17,445
language centers tend to focus on

530
00:26:17,445 --> 00:26:21,063
specific, exact information. In the right

531
00:26:21,063 --> 00:26:24,512
hemisphere, it's more associational. So

532
00:26:24,512 --> 00:26:27,036
there are these complex images and stories

533
00:26:27,036 --> 00:26:30,406
associated with a word. As a result, when

534
00:26:30,406 --> 00:26:32,732
students are say, in their middle or their

535
00:26:32,732 --> 00:26:34,599
high school years, and you know they know

536
00:26:34,599 --> 00:26:37,262
so much information. You've asked them to

537
00:26:37,262 --> 00:26:40,763
write about it. Sometimes what you see is

538
00:26:40,763 --> 00:26:44,992
really this kind of "complex perception"

539
00:26:44,992 --> 00:26:47,942
that is really hard to put into words.

540
00:26:47,942 --> 00:26:49,802
These are students, if you question them,

541
00:26:49,802 --> 00:26:51,861
they know a lot about the topic, and yet

542
00:26:51,861 --> 00:26:53,374
there are very few words they have written

543
00:26:53,374 --> 00:26:56,975
on the page. Again, I think it's just a

544
00:26:56,975 --> 00:27:02,466
great example that really can inform more

545
00:27:02,466 --> 00:27:04,130
understanding of why writing is so

546
00:27:04,130 --> 00:27:07,301
difficult for many students. There are

547
00:27:07,301 --> 00:27:09,508
specific ways to actually encourage

548
00:27:09,508 --> 00:27:12,336
elaboration. Translate pictures into words,

549
00:27:12,336 --> 00:27:14,542
for instance, that particularly can work

550
00:27:14,542 --> 00:27:18,316
well with many Dyslexic students.

551
00:27:20,406 --> 00:27:25,196
So, I think we'll probably have a special

552
00:27:25,196 --> 00:27:28,257
session on some of the brain research

553
00:27:28,257 --> 00:27:30,312
studies in Dyslexia, because it's

554
00:27:30,312 --> 00:27:33,961
fascinating and I think a lot of you would

555
00:27:33,961 --> 00:27:39,133
have great discussion of some of the

556
00:27:39,133 --> 00:27:43,740
observations. We really want to encourage

557
00:27:43,740 --> 00:27:47,850
more sharing between Dyslexic populations

558
00:27:47,850 --> 00:27:51,262
and the researchers who are trying to

559
00:27:51,262 --> 00:27:53,271
study Dyslexia. I think it is very

560
00:27:53,271 --> 00:27:56,130
important, and will help things all the

561
00:27:56,130 --> 00:28:00,262
way around. A theory or a model that is

562
00:28:00,262 --> 00:28:02,400
helpful to think about, what the balance

563
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:06,076
is in Dyslexia is this fine detail and big

564
00:28:06,076 --> 00:28:10,426
picture aspect of Dyslexia. Dyslexia as

565
00:28:10,426 --> 00:28:15,330
a trade-off is a trade-off for more big

566
00:28:15,330 --> 00:28:18,331
picture thinking at the expense of fine

567
00:28:18,331 --> 00:28:21,003
detail. Here we have a quote form Manuel

568
00:28:21,003 --> 00:28:24,463
Casanova, he said, "Dyslexia is a pattern

569
00:28:24,463 --> 00:28:26,398
of connectivity that favors longer

570
00:28:26,398 --> 00:28:28,192
connections at the expense of shorter

571
00:28:28,192 --> 00:28:31,126
ones, as measured by spaces between cell

572
00:28:31,126 --> 00:28:33,666
minicolumns. This pattern of connectivity

573
00:28:33,666 --> 00:28:36,167
may yield a greater capacity for abstract,

574
00:28:36,167 --> 00:28:38,758
'visionary' thinking".

575
00:28:38,758 --> 00:28:42,476
What Dr. Casanova has found is that if

576
00:28:42,476 --> 00:28:45,592
white matter connections are measured in

577
00:28:45,652 --> 00:28:48,431
Dyslexics versus non-Dyslexics, there are

578
00:28:48,431 --> 00:28:53,866
clear differences. In fact, the pattern

579
00:28:53,866 --> 00:28:56,701
between these connections looks like

580
00:28:56,701 --> 00:29:00,727
there is kind of extremes, where, if there

581
00:29:00,727 --> 00:29:03,165
is a normal distribution in the middle,

582
00:29:03,165 --> 00:29:05,960
at one extreme favoring the fine detail

583
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:09,571
are autistic individuals. And at the other

584
00:29:09,571 --> 00:29:12,396
end, favoring big picture, are Dyslexic

585
00:29:12,396 --> 00:29:15,956
individuals. The picture over here on the

586
00:29:15,956 --> 00:29:19,905
left, shows this trade-off between autism

587
00:29:19,905 --> 00:29:23,235
and Dyslexia. Here, Dyslexia patterns

588
00:29:23,235 --> 00:29:25,671
with these long projectios and pathways

589
00:29:25,671 --> 00:29:27,699
in the frame, favor these top-down

590
00:29:27,699 --> 00:29:29,726
cognitive style. What is the big picture?

591
00:29:29,726 --> 00:29:31,904
What is the information we need to know.

592
00:29:31,904 --> 00:29:33,976
What's the context. It tends to be more

593
00:29:33,976 --> 00:29:37,527
holistic and gestault in terms of

594
00:29:37,527 --> 00:29:42,936
processing, and good synthesizing that

595
00:29:42,936 --> 00:29:45,353
comes as a result of this.

596
00:29:46,653 --> 00:29:49,139
If you look at the fine detal/ big picture

597
00:29:49,139 --> 00:29:54,697
trade-off, in other practical clinical

598
00:29:54,697 --> 00:29:57,871
academic situations, the fine detail

599
00:29:57,871 --> 00:30:00,401
picture are things like specific facts

600
00:30:00,401 --> 00:30:01,841
where you are trying to master knowledge

601
00:30:01,841 --> 00:30:03,637
in isolation. You are trying to learn

602
00:30:03,637 --> 00:30:07,103
rules and procedures and information

603
00:30:07,103 --> 00:30:08,768
that is supposed to be predictable,

604
00:30:08,768 --> 00:30:14,215
orderly, and for instance, rote. At the

605
00:30:14,215 --> 00:30:18,357
other end, the Dyslexic style is more big

606
00:30:18,357 --> 00:30:22,466
picture. It's "gist". It's conceptual.

607
00:30:22,466 --> 00:30:25,964
This kind of pattern works well for best

608
00:30:25,964 --> 00:30:28,978
fit; looking at themes , patterns ,and

609
00:30:28,978 --> 00:30:31,706
stories; information that is personal and

610
00:30:31,706 --> 00:30:34,564
presented in context, and has associations

611
00:30:34,564 --> 00:30:37,721
and relationships. You can imagine that

612
00:30:37,721 --> 00:30:40,131
this kind of big picture style is so

613
00:30:40,131 --> 00:30:42,039
helpful in many disciplines,

614
00:30:42,039 --> 00:30:44,786
where you are trying to look at real-life

615
00:30:44,786 --> 00:30:49,599
trends or real-life problems. You can also

616
00:30:49,599 --> 00:30:53,169
imagine that in early elementary school,

617
00:30:53,169 --> 00:30:57,334
where fine detail and rules and procedures

618
00:30:57,334 --> 00:31:00,159
are being mastered, that's a particular

619
00:31:00,159 --> 00:31:03,936
time that is difficult for many Dyslexics.

620
00:31:03,936 --> 00:31:06,161
Going back to big picture: experiences,

621
00:31:06,161 --> 00:31:10,545
kinesthetic learning, also contribute to

622
00:31:10,545 --> 00:31:12,301
this big picture understanding of

623
00:31:12,301 --> 00:31:15,606
information. Big Picture thinking is often

624
00:31:15,606 --> 00:31:18,276
non-sequential, it can be messy because

625
00:31:18,276 --> 00:31:20,006
you are really looking at the "best fit",

626
00:31:20,006 --> 00:31:22,373
it doesn't have to be exact. Surprise and

627
00:31:22,373 --> 00:31:24,539
Novelty are often really important for

628
00:31:24,539 --> 00:31:27,336
Big Picture because it might cause you to

629
00:31:27,336 --> 00:31:31,269
completely re-set your picture and your

630
00:31:31,269 --> 00:31:34,129
perspective. This pattern is thought to be

631
00:31:34,129 --> 00:31:37,708
more intuitive, rather than explicit.

632
00:31:40,668 --> 00:31:43,956
If you look at this trade-off between Fine

633
00:31:43,956 --> 00:31:47,099
Detail and Big Picture, the short

634
00:31:47,099 --> 00:31:48,836
connection type processes in the brain

635
00:31:48,836 --> 00:31:50,305
are things like Phonological

636
00:31:50,305 --> 00:31:52,232
discrimination. What is the difference

637
00:31:52,232 --> 00:31:55,639
between "ba" and "da"? Was it "bat" or

638
00:31:55,639 --> 00:32:01,406
"dat"? Reading has a lot of fine detail

639
00:32:01,406 --> 00:32:03,699
associated with it. Is there an "s" on the

640
00:32:03,699 --> 00:32:05,797
end of the word or is there not? Again,

641
00:32:05,797 --> 00:32:08,309
rote memory, information that could be

642
00:32:08,309 --> 00:32:10,533
quickly processed and more automatic.

643
00:32:10,533 --> 00:32:14,206
On the other side, the kinds of tasks that

644
00:32:14,206 --> 00:32:16,336
are important for long connections in the

645
00:32:16,336 --> 00:32:18,612
brain are things like analogical thinking;

646
00:32:18,612 --> 00:32:23,336
how is this like that? Spatial reasoning,

647
00:32:23,336 --> 00:32:27,336
which requires often different...how

648
00:32:27,336 --> 00:32:29,957
would that object be rotated in space?

649
00:32:29,957 --> 00:32:31,794
Engineers are very good at things like

650
00:32:31,794 --> 00:32:34,638
that. Mental Simulation, again, not

651
00:32:34,638 --> 00:32:38,026
exact but actually approximate. Big

652
00:32:38,026 --> 00:32:40,932
picture processes are often slower, and

653
00:32:40,932 --> 00:32:45,628
as mentioned, less automatic.

654
00:32:45,628 --> 00:32:46,969
If you look at the fine detail challenges

655
00:32:46,969 --> 00:32:49,362
in younger students, what are the sorts of

656
00:32:49,362 --> 00:32:53,062
things that you'd see? -- Is that the

657
00:32:53,062 --> 00:32:58,476
letter 'b' or 'd'? Did you say 'wold' or

658
00:32:58,476 --> 00:33:02,973
'world'? Was 4 plus 4 eight, or seven, or

659
00:33:02,973 --> 00:33:06,405
six? --These pieces of information are

660
00:33:06,405 --> 00:33:09,569
very exact and specific short connection

661
00:33:09,569 --> 00:33:14,774
type of tasks. Letter recognition, sound

662
00:33:14,774 --> 00:33:16,995
discrimination, fact retrievals,

663
00:33:16,995 --> 00:33:21,532
sequencing. What are the fine detail

664
00:33:21,532 --> 00:33:23,674
challenges that older students face?

665
00:33:23,674 --> 00:33:25,311
Things like homonyms-- was that 'hear',

666
00:33:25,311 --> 00:33:29,759
or 'here'? Choosed or chose? You'll hear

667
00:33:29,759 --> 00:33:30,962
students say, "I know what that means,

668
00:33:30,962 --> 00:33:32,623
but I can't explain why, or I can't

669
00:33:32,623 --> 00:33:38,602
pronounce it. Was that punctuation rules

670
00:33:38,602 --> 00:33:41,300
that's a fine detail? Was it studies with

671
00:33:41,300 --> 00:33:44,240
an apostrophe 's' or with an '-ies'?"

672
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:51,035
Examples of fine detail challenges have

673
00:33:51,035 --> 00:33:53,804
been studied in brain systems. These are

674
00:33:53,804 --> 00:33:56,097
from fMRI studies. A famous study by

675
00:33:56,097 --> 00:33:59,972
John Gabrieli at Stanford, and what it

676
00:33:59,972 --> 00:34:01,523
shows you is that in typically reading

677
00:34:01,523 --> 00:34:03,465
children, when they were listening to a

678
00:34:03,465 --> 00:34:05,930
rhyme, there is activation in these two

679
00:34:05,930 --> 00:34:10,099
circles. When Dyslexic students were

680
00:34:10,099 --> 00:34:11,252
given the same rhymes--this was an

681
00:34:11,252 --> 00:34:13,100
interesting study because the students

682
00:34:13,100 --> 00:34:15,698
didn't have to make a decision about

683
00:34:15,698 --> 00:34:16,901
anything, they were just listening to

684
00:34:16,901 --> 00:34:19,450
rhyming words in the scanner. You can

685
00:34:19,450 --> 00:34:22,364
see, it is much less of a match betwe4en

686
00:34:22,364 --> 00:34:24,899
those. But when students were remediated,

687
00:34:24,899 --> 00:34:27,463
with a variety of methods--some was

688
00:34:27,463 --> 00:34:29,603
auditory training, another was a

689
00:34:29,603 --> 00:34:33,932
phonological method--that, improvement in

690
00:34:33,932 --> 00:34:36,298
that sound discrimination could be seen on

691
00:34:36,298 --> 00:34:38,196
an fMRI, and that correlated with the

692
00:34:38,196 --> 00:34:41,229
tests that they gave the children. It's

693
00:34:41,229 --> 00:34:44,212
important to note that these kinds of

694
00:34:44,212 --> 00:34:49,259
tests are not useful for diagnosis, at

695
00:34:49,259 --> 00:34:50,648
that point there is a lot of individual

696
00:34:50,648 --> 00:34:53,095
variations. Mostly what can be gleaned,

697
00:34:53,095 --> 00:34:54,828
at least at this point in time, come from

698
00:34:54,828 --> 00:34:58,769
groups of students with controls, rather

699
00:34:58,769 --> 00:35:02,595
than relying on a single person or so.

700
00:35:02,595 --> 00:35:04,544
It's not as if you could go and have a

701
00:35:04,544 --> 00:35:06,771
scan and find out that you are Dyslexic.

702
00:35:06,771 --> 00:35:09,266
It's still a clinical diagnosis or

703
00:35:09,266 --> 00:35:10,775
identification.

704
00:35:10,775 --> 00:35:12,169
Another thing I wanted to mention here,

705
00:35:12,169 --> 00:35:13,833
because we talked a bit about Stealth

706
00:35:13,833 --> 00:35:15,967
Dyslexia. This is some fascinating work

707
00:35:15,967 --> 00:35:19,828
from Fumiko Hoeft. What she found when

708
00:35:19,828 --> 00:35:22,639
she studied Stealth Dyslexics was that

709
00:35:22,639 --> 00:35:26,782
there was more brain grey matter seen in

710
00:35:26,782 --> 00:35:29,594
Stealth Dyslexics, as well as more

711
00:35:29,594 --> 00:35:32,733
activation in areas associated with

712
00:35:32,733 --> 00:35:35,326
contextual learning. So, these are

713
00:35:35,326 --> 00:35:38,030
students who had trouble with single word

714
00:35:38,030 --> 00:35:40,406
reading, but were actually quite strong in

715
00:35:40,406 --> 00:35:45,206
reading words within a story or a context.

716
00:35:45,206 --> 00:35:47,764
The interesting part about this is that

717
00:35:47,764 --> 00:35:51,196
the extra brain grey matter in these

718
00:35:51,196 --> 00:35:53,773
context areas is consistent with the

719
00:35:53,773 --> 00:35:58,601
strength that certainly we see among

720
00:35:58,601 --> 00:36:02,472
Stealth Dyslexics, about contextual

721
00:36:02,472 --> 00:36:07,792
learning, and being able to function well

722
00:36:07,792 --> 00:36:10,311
in applied problem solving.

723
00:36:14,301 --> 00:36:17,651
In fact, these slides were taken from

724
00:36:17,671 --> 00:36:20,167
Dr. Hoefts presentation at our conference

725
00:36:20,167 --> 00:36:23,163
on Dyslexia and Talent, she challenged

726
00:36:23,163 --> 00:36:25,936
the concept of Dyslexia being deficit,

727
00:36:25,936 --> 00:36:30,370
only, as she presented her work. I highly

728
00:36:30,370 --> 00:36:32,530
recommend checking out the videos from our

729
00:36:32,530 --> 00:36:35,230
conference on our You-tube channel,

730
00:36:35,230 --> 00:36:44,028
youtube.com/dyslexicadvantage. Her talk

731
00:36:44,028 --> 00:36:48,947
there showed that Stealth Dyslexics, as

732
00:36:48,947 --> 00:36:51,532
much, have that contextual top-down

733
00:36:51,532 --> 00:36:55,936
processing, being able to use brain

734
00:36:55,936 --> 00:37:01,668
pathways in order to do decoding and

735
00:37:01,668 --> 00:37:05,066
problem solving. She also presented and

736
00:37:05,066 --> 00:37:07,904
showed us some work from Ken Pugh at the

737
00:37:07,904 --> 00:37:10,669
Haskins Lab at Yale that showed that

738
00:37:10,669 --> 00:37:12,666
there seems to be a trade off between

739
00:37:12,666 --> 00:37:15,936
reading and visual spatial processing

740
00:37:15,936 --> 00:37:19,199
ability. In fact, from that work, it looks

741
00:37:19,199 --> 00:37:23,396
like the weaker the reading ability, the

742
00:37:23,396 --> 00:37:26,100
stronger the visual spatial talent. Sort

743
00:37:26,100 --> 00:37:31,666
of a fascinating result. It was building

744
00:37:31,666 --> 00:37:33,700
on some previous work that showed that

745
00:37:33,700 --> 00:37:36,567
Dyslexics outperformed non-Dyslexics in

746
00:37:36,567 --> 00:37:40,613
terms of spatial rotation and problem

747
00:37:40,613 --> 00:37:44,602
solving types of work. That might account

748
00:37:44,602 --> 00:37:47,934
for why Dyslexics are over-represented in

749
00:37:47,934 --> 00:37:50,309
fields such as engineering and

750
00:37:50,309 --> 00:37:52,900
architecture. So what she put in her slide

751
00:37:52,900 --> 00:37:56,001
is that these kinds of data challenge

752
00:37:56,001 --> 00:38:00,036
accounts suggesting that Dyslexia is a

753
00:38:00,036 --> 00:38:03,191
deficit. It is not, it's a trade off. You

754
00:38:03,191 --> 00:38:05,995
can't just look at weaknesses associated

755
00:38:05,995 --> 00:38:09,166
with Dyslexia, the whole picture is a

756
00:38:09,166 --> 00:38:12,829
trade off. Some abilities are very strong,

757
00:38:12,829 --> 00:38:14,790
or even above average, while other things

758
00:38:14,790 --> 00:38:19,206
are the more traditional Dyslexia related

759
00:38:19,206 --> 00:38:22,136
challenges with reading and writing.

760
00:38:22,136 --> 00:38:26,171
I did want to mention some of the Dyslexic

761
00:38:26,171 --> 00:38:29,540
strength literature here. Some examples,

762
00:38:29,540 --> 00:38:31,997
Dyslexics, as I mentioned, outperform

763
00:38:31,997 --> 00:38:34,416
non-Dyslexics on a variety of tasks. Here,

764
00:38:34,416 --> 00:38:40,379
some in a previous study, if you do these

765
00:38:40,379 --> 00:38:43,970
spatial puzzles here on the left, Dyslexics

766
00:38:43,970 --> 00:38:46,286
are better than non-Dyslexics at these

767
00:38:46,286 --> 00:38:49,189
things. On creative insight problems, it

768
00:38:49,189 --> 00:38:51,739
shows that more problems were correctly

769
00:38:51,739 --> 00:38:54,410
solved by the Dyslexic group compared to

770
00:38:54,410 --> 00:38:56,994
the non-Dyslexic group. As mentioned,

771
00:38:56,994 --> 00:38:58,627
Dylsexics are over-represented in schools

772
00:38:58,627 --> 00:39:00,471
of art and engineering in surveys that

773
00:39:00,471 --> 00:39:04,440
have been done, as well as surveys of

774
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,481
successful entrepreneurs.

775
00:39:09,541 --> 00:39:12,158
These are some of the data that we've had

776
00:39:12,158 --> 00:39:15,100
from our clinic. These are WISC scores,

777
00:39:15,100 --> 00:39:17,193
here are various measurements on the

778
00:39:17,193 --> 00:39:20,462
WIAT, for those of you who know about the

779
00:39:20,462 --> 00:39:23,073
technical aspects of these tests. So, if

780
00:39:23,073 --> 00:39:26,342
100 is the average, I think what I really

781
00:39:26,342 --> 00:39:30,131
wanted to show you here is that there are

782
00:39:30,131 --> 00:39:32,466
some areas that are below average, below

783
00:39:32,466 --> 00:39:35,666
the line at 100 of things like working

784
00:39:35,666 --> 00:39:38,502
memory, processing speed, sentence

785
00:39:38,502 --> 00:39:40,634
repetition. Here are things like oral

786
00:39:40,634 --> 00:39:45,274
reading accuracy, and math facts fluency.

787
00:39:45,274 --> 00:39:47,603
At the same time, there's some

788
00:39:47,603 --> 00:39:49,864
spectacularly high scores as well of

789
00:39:49,864 --> 00:39:52,693
things like verbal reasoning ability,

790
00:39:52,693 --> 00:39:56,806
oral word fluency, reading comprehension

791
00:39:56,806 --> 00:40:02,065
can be very strong among some Stealth

792
00:40:02,065 --> 00:40:04,429
Dyslexics, and things like that. Math

793
00:40:04,429 --> 00:40:07,032
problem solving can also be in the average

794
00:40:07,032 --> 00:40:10,036
range or very high amongst some clusters

795
00:40:10,036 --> 00:40:13,016
of students. The main point getting across

796
00:40:13,016 --> 00:40:16,769
here, Dyslexics are not a flat line. They

797
00:40:16,769 --> 00:40:18,606
don't have even abilities. They are

798
00:40:18,606 --> 00:40:21,866
lop-sided in this way, but it's also a

799
00:40:21,866 --> 00:40:24,627
huge mistake to believe that Dyslexia is

800
00:40:24,627 --> 00:40:27,306
weakness only. It's also accompanied by

801
00:40:27,306 --> 00:40:30,666
some pretty impressive strengths. If we

802
00:40:30,666 --> 00:40:32,880
are not looking for them, we need to be.

803
00:40:35,770 --> 00:40:38,386
This just reinforces that the up-side

804
00:40:38,386 --> 00:40:41,068
conceptual ability typically far exceeds

805
00:40:41,068 --> 00:40:44,017
academic achievement. Often, what we've

806
00:40:44,017 --> 00:40:48,090
seen when we spend time with these students

807
00:40:48,090 --> 00:40:50,876
is that they really have extraordinary

808
00:40:50,876 --> 00:40:53,341
conceptual ability, often 1grade, 2 grades,

809
00:40:53,341 --> 00:40:56,086
sometimes even more above their grade.

810
00:40:56,086 --> 00:40:58,192
It's something to be looked for because it

811
00:40:58,192 --> 00:41:00,936
can be very frustrating, not only to have

812
00:41:00,936 --> 00:41:03,165
to spend extra time with the basic rote

813
00:41:03,165 --> 00:41:07,670
aspects of schooling, but to not be fed

814
00:41:07,670 --> 00:41:09,613
for their advanced conceptual ability can

815
00:41:09,613 --> 00:41:14,441
be a recipe for problems, because then

816
00:41:14,441 --> 00:41:17,137
school really doesn't hold any excitement

817
00:41:17,137 --> 00:41:21,305
or joy for them. It's not uncommon, for

818
00:41:21,305 --> 00:41:23,367
instance,where we've had students who

819
00:41:23,367 --> 00:41:26,537
were placed in gifted classrooms, but with

820
00:41:26,537 --> 00:41:28,233
accommodations to support them for

821
00:41:28,233 --> 00:41:31,604
reading and writing. That's why we like the

822
00:41:31,604 --> 00:41:33,401
comprehensive testing--you have to look

823
00:41:33,401 --> 00:41:35,495
for the strengths as well as the

824
00:41:35,495 --> 00:41:37,033
challenges if you are going to be doing a

825
00:41:37,033 --> 00:41:40,300
good assessment for Dyslexia.

826
00:41:40,300 --> 00:41:42,981
So, maybe that's a good segway into the

827
00:41:42,981 --> 00:41:46,934
next and final part of this talk, Dyslexic

828
00:41:46,934 --> 00:41:51,999
talents in children. There are a wide

829
00:41:51,999 --> 00:41:53,767
range of talents that we see among these

830
00:41:53,767 --> 00:41:55,232
students, things like spatial problem

831
00:41:55,232 --> 00:41:57,099
solving, this is a fantastic maze birthday

832
00:41:57,099 --> 00:41:59,509
card that an 8 year old happened to bring

833
00:41:59,509 --> 00:42:01,866
with him, and he showed me actually how it

834
00:42:01,866 --> 00:42:04,735
could be solved. Often students really

835
00:42:04,735 --> 00:42:06,453
excel or are precocious at hands on

836
00:42:06,453 --> 00:42:11,068
projects. They may have unusual

837
00:42:11,068 --> 00:42:13,868
perspectives. Here is an example of a

838
00:42:13,868 --> 00:42:17,699
drawing of a bike from Michael Critchley's

839
00:42:17,699 --> 00:42:20,359
work, a 9 year old was spontaneously

840
00:42:20,359 --> 00:42:23,710
drawing a bike from an aerial view.

841
00:42:23,710 --> 00:42:25,440
Spatial talents can also present in the

842
00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:27,996
kinds of things they do. We've had a

843
00:42:27,996 --> 00:42:32,536
number of soccer goalies, hockey goalies,

844
00:42:32,536 --> 00:42:40,331
who are Dyslexic. Some of that may be just

845
00:42:40,331 --> 00:42:46,239
pure athletic ability, but many cases, I

846
00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:49,576
think it's spatial, and it's being able to

847
00:42:49,576 --> 00:42:51,735
...a little bit of dynamic reasoning, to

848
00:42:51,735 --> 00:42:54,066
see how people are moving, and to know

849
00:42:54,066 --> 00:42:56,482
where the ball is going to go next. We've

850
00:42:56,482 --> 00:42:59,476
also had a number of accomplished sailors

851
00:42:59,476 --> 00:43:01,342
among our student group, we have parents,

852
00:43:01,342 --> 00:43:06,192
also, who are very good at navigation,

853
00:43:06,192 --> 00:43:08,997
sailing. This is another kind of complex

854
00:43:08,997 --> 00:43:11,759
system where Dyslexics can excel at,

855
00:43:11,759 --> 00:43:14,428
factoring in things like the weather,

856
00:43:14,428 --> 00:43:16,996
wind, the current, and being able to know

857
00:43:16,996 --> 00:43:21,642
where you are and where you'll be.

858
00:43:24,582 --> 00:43:26,794
At the same time, the talents in Dyslexic

859
00:43:26,794 --> 00:43:29,525
children aren't limited to just spatial

860
00:43:29,525 --> 00:43:32,360
abilities. Some students are extremely

861
00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:34,905
verbally gifted. They can be wonderful

862
00:43:34,905 --> 00:43:38,066
storytellers, have advanced conceptual

863
00:43:38,066 --> 00:43:41,072
reasoning as I mentioned, great verbal

864
00:43:41,072 --> 00:43:43,573
reasoning...walking arguments, in fact.

865
00:43:43,573 --> 00:43:45,807
Some of these students, you can see, they

866
00:43:45,807 --> 00:43:48,307
are socially perceptive. We also see

867
00:43:48,307 --> 00:43:50,703
students who have particularly strong

868
00:43:50,703 --> 00:43:55,672
math and science abilities. One of the

869
00:43:55,672 --> 00:43:57,909
questions we were asked in the live

870
00:43:57,909 --> 00:43:59,466
webinar was a question about dynamic

871
00:43:59,466 --> 00:44:01,515
reasoning, and when does that present?

872
00:44:01,515 --> 00:44:03,118
Although that's typically an older

873
00:44:03,118 --> 00:44:05,683
presenting gift among Dyslexic students,

874
00:44:05,683 --> 00:44:08,341
we also can see that among students who

875
00:44:08,341 --> 00:44:11,537
really thrive with for instance, video

876
00:44:11,537 --> 00:44:14,159
gaming or imagining video gaming. This is

877
00:44:14,159 --> 00:44:16,343
a drawing that one student brought in to

878
00:44:16,343 --> 00:44:19,068
us about how he would plan a game, and

879
00:44:19,068 --> 00:44:21,639
what you can see is it is a very complex

880
00:44:21,639 --> 00:44:24,399
diagram. It had a lot of feedback loops,

881
00:44:24,399 --> 00:44:26,184
--if this happened, this would go to

882
00:44:26,184 --> 00:44:29,086
here--and students really love the

883
00:44:29,086 --> 00:44:31,767
complexity of systems like this. Sometimes

884
00:44:31,767 --> 00:44:34,245
gaming at this age may be the best way to

885
00:44:34,245 --> 00:44:37,614
kind of analyze things like that. Older

886
00:44:37,614 --> 00:44:39,671
students can get involved in things like

887
00:44:39,671 --> 00:44:42,121
Game Theory, or Economics, but in the

888
00:44:42,121 --> 00:44:46,571
early ages -- maybe video gaming or

889
00:44:46,571 --> 00:44:51,699
imaginary worlds or fantasy may satisfy

890
00:44:51,699 --> 00:44:56,341
that craving for complexity. Dyslexic

891
00:44:56,341 --> 00:44:58,606
students we often find, are very

892
00:44:58,606 --> 00:45:00,935
metacognitive. There is a study of college

893
00:45:00,935 --> 00:45:02,866
students that found Dyslexic students had

894
00:45:02,866 --> 00:45:05,666
stronger metacognitive abilities than

895
00:45:05,666 --> 00:45:08,199
non-Dyslexic students, maybe because they

896
00:45:08,199 --> 00:45:10,402
had a harder time with rote memory. They

897
00:45:10,402 --> 00:45:12,502
are often extremely analytical. When we

898
00:45:12,502 --> 00:45:14,399
did a survey at Dyslexic Advantage dot

899
00:45:14,399 --> 00:45:17,062
com, I think the analytical strength was

900
00:45:17,062 --> 00:45:18,968
among the highest that people reported

901
00:45:18,968 --> 00:45:21,733
of their talents that they seemed to use

902
00:45:21,733 --> 00:45:24,135
commonly in their workplace and their

903
00:45:24,135 --> 00:45:25,261
jobs.

904
00:45:28,451 --> 00:45:31,161
When we surveyed the talents in our

905
00:45:31,161 --> 00:45:34,006
parents that we saw for the students in

906
00:45:34,006 --> 00:45:37,831
our clinic, we had probably an unusual

907
00:45:37,831 --> 00:45:41,830
cluster of parent careers, because we

908
00:45:41,830 --> 00:45:46,326
are near Microsoft and Boeing, but, 43%

909
00:45:46,326 --> 00:45:48,364
of the parents from out clinic were in

910
00:45:48,364 --> 00:45:50,359
engineering, computers, science, or

911
00:45:50,359 --> 00:45:52,329
economics. Twenty-five percent were in

912
00:45:52,329 --> 00:45:54,081
business, upper management, or sales.

913
00:45:54,081 --> 00:45:57,861
Other occupations included pilot,coaches,

914
00:45:57,861 --> 00:46:00,736
counselors, and veterinarians. There were

915
00:46:00,736 --> 00:46:04,204
strengths that build on personal

916
00:46:04,204 --> 00:46:06,570
communication, empathy, but also things

917
00:46:06,570 --> 00:46:08,674
like problem solving and spatial

918
00:46:08,674 --> 00:46:15,198
visualization and reasoning. This is just

919
00:46:15,198 --> 00:46:17,709
a little pie chart looking at the

920
00:46:17,709 --> 00:46:20,494
different kinds of careers that we found

921
00:46:20,494 --> 00:46:23,876
when we polled individuals from our

922
00:46:23,876 --> 00:46:25,963
community.

923
00:46:30,343 --> 00:46:33,064
Okay, this brings me to Dyslexic Mind

924
00:46:33,064 --> 00:46:35,771
Strengths and I'll come into a close here.

925
00:46:35,771 --> 00:46:38,396
MIND is an acronym that we use that

926
00:46:38,396 --> 00:46:40,299
stands for Material Reasoning,

927
00:46:40,299 --> 00:46:42,136
Interconnected Reasoning, Narrative

928
00:46:42,136 --> 00:46:43,971
Reasoning, and Dynamic Reasoning. These

929
00:46:43,971 --> 00:46:46,715
are brain-based mechanisms that contribute

930
00:46:46,715 --> 00:46:48,600
to Dyslexic strengths.

931
00:46:54,850 --> 00:46:57,842
Material Reasoning is an ability to

932
00:46:57,842 --> 00:46:59,872
reason about the physical characteristics

933
00:46:59,872 --> 00:47:02,273
of objects in a material universe, largely

934
00:47:02,273 --> 00:47:04,466
spatial reasoning ability. Material

935
00:47:04,466 --> 00:47:07,096
reasoners are often able to, for instance,

936
00:47:07,096 --> 00:47:10,531
figure out how things work, gears,

937
00:47:10,531 --> 00:47:13,996
pulleys, for example. This is a drawing

938
00:47:13,996 --> 00:47:17,072
from a great little builder in our clinic.

939
00:47:17,072 --> 00:47:18,818
At 6 years old, he was already drawing

940
00:47:18,818 --> 00:47:22,132
ships in cross-section from an aerial

941
00:47:22,132 --> 00:47:25,568
view. This child's understanding of what

942
00:47:25,568 --> 00:47:28,970
a boat is certainly better than a standard

943
00:47:28,970 --> 00:47:31,536
six year old who doesn't have that strong

944
00:47:31,536 --> 00:47:35,854
physical knowledge of what things are.

945
00:47:38,124 --> 00:47:39,771
The "I" stands for Interconnected

946
00:47:39,771 --> 00:47:41,872
Reasoning, and that's an ability to spot

947
00:47:41,872 --> 00:47:43,469
connections or relationships between

948
00:47:43,469 --> 00:47:45,878
different objects, concepts, or points

949
00:47:45,878 --> 00:47:48,785
of view. An ability to connect diverse

950
00:47:48,785 --> 00:47:50,871
perspectives, or see things from different

951
00:47:50,871 --> 00:47:53,737
points of view can be used in all kinds of

952
00:47:53,737 --> 00:47:58,676
situations, from things like the work

953
00:47:58,676 --> 00:48:00,401
place, working in businesses,

954
00:48:00,401 --> 00:48:05,729
corporations, to writing novels, or...in

955
00:48:05,729 --> 00:48:07,430
the military, being able to see a

956
00:48:07,430 --> 00:48:11,507
battlefield from different perspectives.

957
00:48:11,507 --> 00:48:15,698
This is really an incredible strength, but

958
00:48:15,698 --> 00:48:19,170
it can also be a challenge when students

959
00:48:19,170 --> 00:48:21,432
are younger, and they have trouble picking

960
00:48:21,432 --> 00:48:24,792
one, or narrowing what they want to say

961
00:48:24,792 --> 00:48:28,170
in a paper. Interconnected Reasoning

962
00:48:28,170 --> 00:48:32,803
allows individuals to unite information,

963
00:48:32,803 --> 00:48:34,333
to assume a global or "big picture"

964
00:48:34,333 --> 00:48:36,860
perspective, and to also determine large

965
00:48:36,860 --> 00:48:39,472
scale features like gist -- what's the

966
00:48:39,472 --> 00:48:43,861
"gist" of the situation, or context.

967
00:48:45,031 --> 00:48:46,925
N stands for Narrative Reasoning, and

968
00:48:46,925 --> 00:48:49,570
that's an ability to create stories by

969
00:48:49,570 --> 00:48:51,591
connecting a series of mental scenes from

970
00:48:51,591 --> 00:48:53,735
past personal experience, as well as a

971
00:48:53,735 --> 00:48:56,170
tendency to use stories to recall the

972
00:48:56,170 --> 00:48:58,944
past, understand the present, and imagine

973
00:48:58,944 --> 00:49:04,176
the future. We have a lot of gifted

974
00:49:04,176 --> 00:49:08,404
storytellers in our clinic. We've seen

975
00:49:08,404 --> 00:49:11,526
that in adults with Dyslexia that

976
00:49:11,526 --> 00:49:14,903
storytelling ability can be great for all

977
00:49:14,903 --> 00:49:17,241
kinds of occupations, not just writing,

978
00:49:17,241 --> 00:49:20,009
but also communicating a vision in a

979
00:49:20,009 --> 00:49:23,727
workplace as a business leader or, for

980
00:49:23,727 --> 00:49:28,371
instance, in the courtroom with a lawyer,

981
00:49:28,371 --> 00:49:30,159
who can communicate and really connect

982
00:49:30,159 --> 00:49:33,066
to the jury. So, Narrative Reasoning is

983
00:49:33,066 --> 00:49:37,104
really a fascinating strength associated

984
00:49:37,104 --> 00:49:40,740
with Dyslexia. Many students are able to

985
00:49:40,740 --> 00:49:44,031
use stories to really boost their memory

986
00:49:44,031 --> 00:49:48,173
for information in the classroom.

987
00:49:48,173 --> 00:49:50,140
Which brings us to the last Mind Strength,

988
00:49:50,140 --> 00:49:52,867
Dynamic Reasoning. That's an ability to

989
00:49:52,867 --> 00:49:55,566
recombine the elements of the past to

990
00:49:55,566 --> 00:49:58,099
predict or simulate future outcomes.

991
00:49:58,099 --> 00:50:00,130
Dynamic Reasoning really builds on

992
00:50:00,130 --> 00:50:04,086
pattern recognition. It often involves

993
00:50:04,086 --> 00:50:06,812
personal rather than abstract memory.

994
00:50:06,812 --> 00:50:09,572
It can be great for highly changeable or

995
00:50:09,572 --> 00:50:11,568
ambiguous situations, where there is

996
00:50:11,568 --> 00:50:14,939
incomplete knowledge. Cutting edge fields,

997
00:50:14,939 --> 00:50:18,104
finance...if suddenly you have a crash of

998
00:50:18,104 --> 00:50:20,291
a stock market, what is going to happen

999
00:50:20,291 --> 00:50:22,079
next? It's not ever happened before like

1000
00:50:22,079 --> 00:50:25,967
this...A lot of Dyslexic dynamic reasoners

1001
00:50:25,967 --> 00:50:29,634
really excel in times like this because

1002
00:50:29,634 --> 00:50:32,806
they are trend spotters, pattern people,

1003
00:50:32,806 --> 00:50:36,212
they look at best fit, and so, it doesn't

1004
00:50:36,212 --> 00:50:38,235
matter if it hasn't happened before, they

1005
00:50:38,235 --> 00:50:39,499
will make a good prediction for the

1006
00:50:39,499 --> 00:50:42,635
future. As mentioned, Dynamic Reasoning

1007
00:50:42,635 --> 00:50:45,233
uses these "best fit" cognitive processes

1008
00:50:45,233 --> 00:50:47,092
rather than rule-based, deductive, or

1009
00:50:47,092 --> 00:50:50,103
formulaic thinking. Rather , Dynamic

1010
00:50:50,103 --> 00:50:52,630
Reasoners used cases and examples. They

1011
00:50:52,630 --> 00:50:54,812
like to connect the dots in order to

1012
00:50:54,812 --> 00:50:57,424
predict what is going to happen next.

1013
00:50:57,424 --> 00:51:00,460
Particularly good for areas that are

1014
00:51:00,460 --> 00:51:02,866
completely new, as mentioned, new

1015
00:51:02,866 --> 00:51:04,860
domains of knowledge... A very famous

1016
00:51:04,860 --> 00:51:07,320
highly successful Dyslexic researchers in

1017
00:51:07,320 --> 00:51:10,064
all kinds of fields, and inventors, also

1018
00:51:10,064 --> 00:51:14,787
in business and finance, as mentioned.

1019
00:51:19,557 --> 00:51:21,938
I just want to talk a bit--I'm just about

1020
00:51:21,938 --> 00:51:23,898
to close--about some of the trade-offs

1021
00:51:23,898 --> 00:51:25,640
that happen in memory, based on the

1022
00:51:25,640 --> 00:51:28,363
Dyslexic processing style. As mentioned,

1023
00:51:28,363 --> 00:51:30,742
rote memory is a relative weakness for

1024
00:51:30,742 --> 00:51:35,066
many Dyslexics. It's non-contextual, it's

1025
00:51:35,066 --> 00:51:36,960
generalized (generic), like a dictionary

1026
00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:41,426
definition. The strength side of memory

1027
00:51:41,426 --> 00:51:43,427
for many Dyslexics is personal memory,

1028
00:51:43,427 --> 00:51:45,996
it's like an episode, scene-based. It

1029
00:51:45,996 --> 00:51:48,758
occurs at a specific time and place, and

1030
00:51:48,758 --> 00:51:53,561
often uses cases and examples with

1031
00:51:53,561 --> 00:51:58,355
connection of these, in order to create a

1032
00:51:58,355 --> 00:51:59,727
big picture.

1033
00:52:01,517 --> 00:52:05,372
Why Dyslexic Strengths matter? There has

1034
00:52:05,372 --> 00:52:07,041
been a lot of controversy and discussion

1035
00:52:07,041 --> 00:52:11,304
about whether it's important to address

1036
00:52:11,304 --> 00:52:13,640
strengths associated with Dyslexic

1037
00:52:13,640 --> 00:52:15,666
students. We think it is absolutely

1038
00:52:15,666 --> 00:52:19,916
essential. This is another student in

1039
00:52:19,916 --> 00:52:25,381
our clinic. This is percentile, now, and

1040
00:52:25,381 --> 00:52:29,574
the average range is at the 50 percentile

1041
00:52:29,574 --> 00:52:33,738
mark. If a student has this kind of oral

1042
00:52:33,738 --> 00:52:37,571
expression, listening comprehension, but

1043
00:52:37,571 --> 00:52:41,726
down here visual matching, or math facts,

1044
00:52:41,726 --> 00:52:45,532
fluency; looking at the whole picture is

1045
00:52:45,532 --> 00:52:47,764
really essential for understanding the

1046
00:52:47,764 --> 00:52:50,265
pressure points that a student is feelilng

1047
00:52:50,265 --> 00:52:52,830
in school. How to optimize and have

1048
00:52:52,830 --> 00:52:55,466
challenge in the areas where they are

1049
00:52:55,466 --> 00:52:58,638
actually thriving at, but also support and

1050
00:52:58,638 --> 00:53:00,909
reasonable expectations for their

1051
00:53:00,909 --> 00:53:03,987
weaknesses. Understanding, for instance,

1052
00:53:03,987 --> 00:53:07,105
visual matching is a sub-test which can

1053
00:53:07,105 --> 00:53:10,196
be associated with these so-called

1054
00:53:10,196 --> 00:53:12,001
"careless mistakes" that happen with

1055
00:53:12,001 --> 00:53:15,666
mathematics. There is often a little

1056
00:53:15,666 --> 00:53:18,912
drift that can occur for many Dyslexics.

1057
00:53:18,912 --> 00:53:20,803
They'll look at numbers, then they'll look

1058
00:53:20,803 --> 00:53:24,069
again, and the numbers may switch place.

1059
00:53:24,789 --> 00:53:27,364
They are called careless mistakes, but

1060
00:53:27,364 --> 00:53:28,866
they aren't really careless, they are

1061
00:53:28,866 --> 00:53:31,174
perceptual mistakes. Understanding this

1062
00:53:31,174 --> 00:53:33,876
extra difficulty, rather than give them

1063
00:53:33,876 --> 00:53:38,517
more and more rote problems to solve, it's

1064
00:53:38,517 --> 00:53:40,188
good to really see the whole pictureof

1065
00:53:40,188 --> 00:53:42,959
things, and be able to assign fewer

1066
00:53:42,959 --> 00:53:45,980
problems. Also, projects that will appeal

1067
00:53:45,980 --> 00:53:47,956
to the areas of their strength, and the

1068
00:53:47,956 --> 00:53:51,196
modes that they learn fast in.

1069
00:53:51,196 --> 00:53:56,123
Dyslexics often have extreme discrepancies

1070
00:53:56,123 --> 00:53:57,936
between their different cognitive

1071
00:53:57,936 --> 00:54:01,765
abilities. Failure to recognize that can

1072
00:54:01,765 --> 00:54:03,406
really take a toll on their esteem and

1073
00:54:03,406 --> 00:54:04,963
emotional health. It's very important,

1074
00:54:04,963 --> 00:54:07,366
what the environment is, as I mentioned,

1075
00:54:07,366 --> 00:54:12,766
what the expectations should be. On the

1076
00:54:12,766 --> 00:54:16,508
positive side, recognizing student's

1077
00:54:16,508 --> 00:54:19,862
strengths, really have powerful effects

1078
00:54:19,862 --> 00:54:22,598
on these students' futures. We've had so

1079
00:54:22,598 --> 00:54:24,360
many students come back to us, and tell

1080
00:54:24,360 --> 00:54:28,908
us, just understanding their situation,

1081
00:54:28,908 --> 00:54:31,923
seeing what they were good at, getting

1082
00:54:31,923 --> 00:54:34,476
the whole picture of what they were facing

1083
00:54:34,476 --> 00:54:37,406
was very empowering, very encouraging.

1084
00:54:37,406 --> 00:54:39,176
And what we've talked to highly

1085
00:54:39,176 --> 00:54:41,645
accomplished individuals as adults, they

1086
00:54:41,645 --> 00:54:44,327
often said, "Having my mom or dad really

1087
00:54:44,327 --> 00:54:47,880
believe in me, understand me, or a teacher

1088
00:54:47,880 --> 00:54:50,929
who encouraged me, recognized that my

1089
00:54:50,929 --> 00:54:53,329
ideas were really good, really helped

1090
00:54:53,329 --> 00:54:55,243
carry me through a difficult time, and a

1091
00:54:55,243 --> 00:54:57,305
time I really needed to put in a lot of

1092
00:54:57,305 --> 00:55:01,039
extra work compared to my peers."

1093
00:55:01,969 --> 00:55:06,662
I wanted to share this brain study. It is

1094
00:55:06,662 --> 00:55:11,418
really fascinating. In this test, subjects

1095
00:55:11,418 --> 00:55:13,458
were asked to silently generate the verb

1096
00:55:13,458 --> 00:55:16,872
associated with a noun. For example, if

1097
00:55:16,872 --> 00:55:20,606
they were given the example of a boat,

1098
00:55:20,606 --> 00:55:23,006
what would you expect the boat to do?

1099
00:55:23,006 --> 00:55:25,396
It would be sailing, Just thinking of

1100
00:55:25,396 --> 00:55:29,091
sailing, and not even saying anything, the

1101
00:55:29,091 --> 00:55:31,905
red brain, these are cross-sections from

1102
00:55:31,905 --> 00:55:34,739
the base of the brain, up to the top. The

1103
00:55:34,739 --> 00:55:36,911
red parts are all the different parts of

1104
00:55:36,911 --> 00:55:38,523
the brain that

1105
00:55:38,523 --> 00:55:40,336
non-Dyslexics used when they were thinking

1106
00:55:40,336 --> 00:55:44,470
of that. The blue parts were all the parts

1107
00:55:44,470 --> 00:55:46,445
where Dyslexics subjects were using, so

1108
00:55:46,445 --> 00:55:48,700
completely different areas of

1109
00:55:48,700 --> 00:55:51,306
the brain to process things. Just

1110
00:55:51,306 --> 00:55:53,430
understanding how different Dyslexic

1111
00:55:53,430 --> 00:55:56,653
processing is from non-Dyslexics, really

1112
00:55:56,653 --> 00:56:01,470
can help us understand why there can be

1113
00:56:01,470 --> 00:56:03,972
a disconnect in the classroom, why many

1114
00:56:03,972 --> 00:56:07,245
Dyslexics are not well understood, and

1115
00:56:07,245 --> 00:56:10,705
why we need to work and do more research,

1116
00:56:10,705 --> 00:56:15,792
and more policies that improve our

1117
00:56:15,792 --> 00:56:19,978
understanding of how to optimize work

1118
00:56:19,978 --> 00:56:21,826
places and classrooms for Dyslexic

1119
00:56:21,826 --> 00:56:23,720
people.

1120
00:56:25,740 --> 00:56:28,469
What next? Dyslexic [Advantage] is now a

1121
00:56:28,469 --> 00:56:32,452
501c3 organization. We hope that you will

1122
00:56:32,452 --> 00:56:35,095
watch and share videos from the conference

1123
00:56:35,095 --> 00:56:40,700
conference. This is the youtube url--

1124
00:56:40,700 --> 00:56:45,245
youtube.com/dyslexicadvantage . We hope

1125
00:56:45,245 --> 00:56:48,936
you really consider making a donation to

1126
00:56:48,936 --> 00:56:50,466
the Webinar series, we'd like to continue

1127
00:56:50,466 --> 00:56:55,006
to do these, and be able to create a

1128
00:56:55,006 --> 00:56:58,565
library that can help more individuals.

1129
00:56:59,625 --> 00:57:02,795
The focus of our group is to look at

1130
00:57:02,795 --> 00:57:06,228
reframing Dyslexia. Too often right now,

1131
00:57:06,228 --> 00:57:08,769
Dyslexia is thought to be a stigma, and

1132
00:57:08,769 --> 00:57:10,704
many people believe that Dyslexics are

1133
00:57:10,704 --> 00:57:14,606
low potential people. For that reason, we

1134
00:57:14,606 --> 00:57:16,608
need to speak out more. A lot of people

1135
00:57:16,608 --> 00:57:21,774
need to make steps to educate their peers,

1136
00:57:21,774 --> 00:57:25,191
and friend and family members about the

1137
00:57:25,191 --> 00:57:27,845
high potential associated with Dyslexia,

1138
00:57:27,845 --> 00:57:31,540
and the talent side. Our goal is to

1139
00:57:31,540 --> 00:57:33,326
identify and help more students and

1140
00:57:33,326 --> 00:57:36,534
adults to share more of the research and

1141
00:57:36,534 --> 00:57:39,829
applications of strength based focus, so

1142
00:57:39,829 --> 00:57:41,131
that we can help our students in

1143
00:57:41,131 --> 00:57:44,039
classrooms, and more employees and

1144
00:57:44,039 --> 00:57:49,034
workplaces. Education, of course, extends

1145
00:57:49,034 --> 00:57:51,441
to parents, teachers, and non-Dyslexics,

1146
00:57:51,441 --> 00:57:53,931
and what we'd like to do, is improve

1147
00:57:53,931 --> 00:57:55,889
awareness all the way around about the

1148
00:57:55,889 --> 00:57:58,499
talent side of Dyslexia, and help build

1149
00:57:58,499 --> 00:58:00,625
our community, so it's better

1150
00:58:00,625 --> 00:58:03,673
opportunities for everyone. So, thank

1151
00:58:03,673 --> 00:58:07,223
you very much for joining us, and please

1152
00:58:07,223 --> 00:58:10,331
get in touch with us so if we can help

1153
00:58:10,331 --> 00:58:12,289
more, if you've got ideas for future

1154
00:58:12,289 --> 00:58:15,458
webinars, or if we can answer some

1155
00:58:15,458 --> 00:58:18,947
questions. Thank you!