Dyslexia occurs on a spectrum. It can present as being very mild to very severe.

In fact some people may never be aware that they have dyslexia in their lifetime. Dyslexia does not mean that the child can’t learn, in fact they are generally very intelligent, they just learn in a different way.

Dyslexia offers many strengths including being highly creative, having big picture thinking, incredible problem solving skills and strengths in sports and/or creative arts (dance, singing and/or acting). These characteristics reflect the right hemisphere of the dyslexic brain being dominant. Author of ‘A Whole New Mind’ Daniel H. Pink believes that “The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: designers, inventors, teachers, storytellers — creative and emphatic “right-brain” thinkers whose abilities mark the fault-line between who gets ahead and who doesn't.” This is very encouraging for those with dyslexia and focus on this idea may assist in inspiring these children. Many ‘left brain’ jobs such as accounting, law, software engineering and administration can be easily automated or outsourced, however the ‘right brain’ is much harder (if not impossible) to automate or outsource. These children have this strength!

If we teach these children in a way that they understand and can learn, they will have the opportunity to succeed. We just need to give them the right tools. Early intervention is the key and belief in them is even more important. Allow them to shine in their strengths and they will change the way they approach learning. We can teach one to read and write but we can’t teach what they already have - a highly creative mind, strong problem solving ability and the ability to see the big picture.