Saturday, July 16, 2005
Dyslexia For Cure Found
I've been thinking quite a bit about creativity lately. Considering the Ph.D. program I am entering, I'll be thinking quite a bit more about creativity over the next 4 to 5 years, and possibly, the rest of my life. This blog is, more than likely, going to start talking a lot about creativity too. I've thought about splitting the two topics -- creativity and general life -- into two blogs but, for now, we'll stick with the one.
The ethereal quality of creativity lends itself to many various forms of study. The study of creativity in medicine is taken up by researchers with MRI machines doing brain scans to see where creativity in the brain occurs. Psychologists study creativity and describe it using one set of methods while behavioral scientists work to describe the component pieces of creativity using others. Some people look at group creativity and the social interactions that can create or hinder the creative process.
On Friday evening I was listening to The Infinite Mind on NPR about dyslexia. They describe dyslexia as an inability to learn language. They also describe dyslexia as a glitch. Listening to the people on the show though, they made dyslexia sound much more like an inability to learn unstructured systems. These people could learn algebra but couldn't spell very well. I know I'm going to display some ignorance of my own here (I do it all the time), but listening to this show, combined with my own learning and experience, leaves me with many unanswered questions I would like to share. Of course, I will also try to share the logic on how I got to these questions.
It is known that all people learn differently. In general we share enough in common such that standardized classes and course work are fine for most of us, yet, in reality, some of us are more visual than others, some learn better with words, some learn better with logic and equations, and so on. According to the program, dyslexic people have a higher average IQ than those without dyslexia. People with dyslexia are also known for displaying higher levels of creativity (who knows what measures they are using to describe creativity). So, even though these people have an ability to learn, may even be smarter than average, and are by some measures more creative, our medical system has labeled dyslexia as a glitch! These people may be some of the brightest out there, we know learning styles differ, and yet we are trying to force these people into a standardized system and label their abilities as a fault.
It is quite possible I am missing some bigger piece of the medical puzzle. But I certainly don't understand the negative label. Well, I guess I do. It has to come from the fact that, in the past, dyslexia was viewed as a block to learning. But the learning isn't the problem, from all of the descriptions, the problem is the traditional style used. Dyslexic people can and do learn. Some of the greatest thinkers of our time (Albert Einstein) were dyslexic. The problem may not be with dyslexic people but with our education system's capability of handling people with broad learning styles.
I also wonder if dyslexia operates like a full-on full-off or if it is more linear. Is there a range of dyslexia possibilities? More than likely, again showing my ignorance, dyslexia is just a label for people that exhibit enough of a given set of characteristics to be given a label. For instance, let's say you have to have 6 of 10 characteristics. What about the people that have 5 characteristics? Are they somehow, magically not dyslexic? But then, also, won't there be people that exhibit 9 or even all 10 characteristics? Are they, by some other measure, more dyslexic?
Here's the part where I get to quit authoring my questions and start to posit my ideas. I am guessing that all people show some form of dyslexia (they already say 1 out of 7 children have dyslexia). As an example, as far as I know I don't have dyslexia but I am horrible with grammar, can't spell, read slow, but am good at math. I bet, with time and research, we will find that we have the wrong label. Dyslexia is a term that will become antiquated and a new way of thinking will emerge where the grouping of descriptors that differentiate between people that are better at rote memorization versus logical understanding will emerge.
The ethereal quality of creativity lends itself to many various forms of study. The study of creativity in medicine is taken up by researchers with MRI machines doing brain scans to see where creativity in the brain occurs. Psychologists study creativity and describe it using one set of methods while behavioral scientists work to describe the component pieces of creativity using others. Some people look at group creativity and the social interactions that can create or hinder the creative process.
On Friday evening I was listening to The Infinite Mind on NPR about dyslexia. They describe dyslexia as an inability to learn language. They also describe dyslexia as a glitch. Listening to the people on the show though, they made dyslexia sound much more like an inability to learn unstructured systems. These people could learn algebra but couldn't spell very well. I know I'm going to display some ignorance of my own here (I do it all the time), but listening to this show, combined with my own learning and experience, leaves me with many unanswered questions I would like to share. Of course, I will also try to share the logic on how I got to these questions.
It is known that all people learn differently. In general we share enough in common such that standardized classes and course work are fine for most of us, yet, in reality, some of us are more visual than others, some learn better with words, some learn better with logic and equations, and so on. According to the program, dyslexic people have a higher average IQ than those without dyslexia. People with dyslexia are also known for displaying higher levels of creativity (who knows what measures they are using to describe creativity). So, even though these people have an ability to learn, may even be smarter than average, and are by some measures more creative, our medical system has labeled dyslexia as a glitch! These people may be some of the brightest out there, we know learning styles differ, and yet we are trying to force these people into a standardized system and label their abilities as a fault.
It is quite possible I am missing some bigger piece of the medical puzzle. But I certainly don't understand the negative label. Well, I guess I do. It has to come from the fact that, in the past, dyslexia was viewed as a block to learning. But the learning isn't the problem, from all of the descriptions, the problem is the traditional style used. Dyslexic people can and do learn. Some of the greatest thinkers of our time (Albert Einstein) were dyslexic. The problem may not be with dyslexic people but with our education system's capability of handling people with broad learning styles.
I also wonder if dyslexia operates like a full-on full-off or if it is more linear. Is there a range of dyslexia possibilities? More than likely, again showing my ignorance, dyslexia is just a label for people that exhibit enough of a given set of characteristics to be given a label. For instance, let's say you have to have 6 of 10 characteristics. What about the people that have 5 characteristics? Are they somehow, magically not dyslexic? But then, also, won't there be people that exhibit 9 or even all 10 characteristics? Are they, by some other measure, more dyslexic?
Here's the part where I get to quit authoring my questions and start to posit my ideas. I am guessing that all people show some form of dyslexia (they already say 1 out of 7 children have dyslexia). As an example, as far as I know I don't have dyslexia but I am horrible with grammar, can't spell, read slow, but am good at math. I bet, with time and research, we will find that we have the wrong label. Dyslexia is a term that will become antiquated and a new way of thinking will emerge where the grouping of descriptors that differentiate between people that are better at rote memorization versus logical understanding will emerge.
# posted by chilort @ 3:34 PM 
