Q: What do Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Branson, and Albert Einstein have in common?
A: They are all intelligent people with dyslexia.
It may come as a surprise to you, but as many as one in five people around the world have dyslexia. The general understanding of dyslexia is that it is a learning disability that affects reading and spelling skills. A more accurate description of dyslexia is a genetic difference in someone’s ability to process information. This simply means that a person with dyslexia may think and learn differently than a neurotypical person.
For example, if you were to compare people’s cognitive profiles, or the pattern of relative strengths and difficulties someone has across various cognitive domains, such as typing speed, auditory memory, and visual processing speed, a dyslexic cognitive profile would appear uneven compared to a neurotypical one. This is because people with dyslexia tend to be exceptionally good at some things and less capable at others, while neurotypical people generally have similar cognitive abilities. Although people with dyslexia have different abilities that often result in challenges with spelling, reading, or memorizing facts, they typically perform above average in skills such as communication, reasoning, visualization, and creative problem solving. problems.
Still, in a survey of more than 1,000 employees with dyslexia, three in four people (75%) said they hide their dyslexia from hiring managers for fear of putting themselves at a disadvantage. Much of this fear stems from years of bad experiences in the school system. People with dyslexia who have been judged, punished, or repressed for their difficulties with skills like spelling or grammar in the classroom may be less confident entering the workforce.
In addition, traditional benchmarking tools, such as standardized tests (SATs), psychometric tests, and recruitment filters, put people with dyslexia at a disadvantage. These tools often compare dyslexics to the very things they find challenging (such as timed written tests) and can lead them (and others) to mistakenly believe that they are not as smart as their peers.
If you identify as someone with dyslexia, know that this is, in fact, a big mistake. Your differences can be your strength, and you can use them to excel in the workforce.
dyslexia as strength
Neuroscience and fMRI show that dyslexic brains really are “wired” differently. The left parietal temporal area of their brains uses different neural pathways that help people with dyslexia to think differently, creatively, and laterally. The axons linking the minicolumns in dyslexic and nondyslexic brains also differ in length, so this difference has an impact on cognitive reasoning. While dyslexic brains tend to do well with “general image processing,” they have trouble with “fine detail processing.” As a result, dyslexic thinkers can solve problems and see patterns that others sometimes can’t, and that’s incredibly valuable to employers.
In April 2022, LinkedIn added dyslexic thinking as a skill, according to new research finding that dyslexic thinking skills align with in-demand soft skills for the future: creativity, organization, problem-solving, communication, and visualization. Within a week, more than 10,000 people had added him to their profiles.
If you have dyslexia, here are some research-backed reasons to stop hiding your ability. Dyslexic thinkers are brilliant at:
imagining: Dyslexic thinkers are great at creating new work or putting a whole new spin on new ideas. This often stems from being great visualizers, which means they can take a problem and visualize what something will look like after the changes. Visual thinking helps them find new solutions, from creating 3D models and reinventing computer software to creating more compelling presentations.
Reasoning: By making use of “big picture processing,” people with dyslexia are exceptional at making complex connections between problems, topics, and data to solve problems. They see opportunities where others don’t and, as a result, find it easier to innovate than most people.
Interpersonal skills: Dyslexic thinkers excel at empathy, negotiation, and oral expression. They are also very self-aware. These skills help make them great leaders who can build, support, and empower teams, people, and organizations.
Managing challenges at work
As a word of caution: While this information, and the recognition, is empowering, it can still seem challenging to acknowledge, own, and highlight your strengths and challenges once you land a job. This is especially true if you have been fed a false narrative about your own intelligence throughout your years in the school system.
So start small. Just as you need to be open about your strengths, you need to be open about your challenges. Here are some things you might have trouble with at work and simple adjustments you can make or request to mitigate them.
Information overload, especially via email.
Reading and writing large amounts of information takes more time for dyslexics. An inbox full of emails can be overwhelming. Some people with dyslexia also experience visual stress when reading, especially when there is glare while reading black type on a bright white background. Calls, voice messages, and face-to-face conversations work much better. Alternatively, print out the information and read it from a hard copy to make it easier to understand.
Conflicting or unclear priorities when multitasking.
Lack of clarity can cause anxiety and stress. You can manage this by asking for clear, concise instructions and knowing when to prioritize what. Asking one question at a time can also be helpful as it helps break down the information you need. People with dyslexia also have trouble remembering a lot of information. It might help to take voice notes on a phone, ask for written instructions, especially like flowcharts, or use mind maps or clues to retain information.
Long and overly complicated meetings with previous readings.
Not just people with dyslexia, nobody likes endless and boring meetings, as they often waste time and provide information that could have been included in a pithy email. Sometimes the pain of a boring meeting is even exacerbated by pre-readings distributed at the beginning of the hour, where everyone is expected to read a document and discuss it. People with dyslexia tend to be distractible, may lose their place frequently, feel like words are moving or jumbled, or find reading in a limited amount of time very stressful.
For brainstorming meetings, ask if they can be moved to asynchronous meetings, using platforms like Mural that allow people to add their ideas beforehand and can be a win-win. Alternatively, ask the meeting owner to hand out any reading material at the meeting beforehand, so you have more time with the material.
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As a dyslexic thinker, know that you have great value in the workplace. Improving your understanding and building on your strengths will help you thrive at work.
Source: news.google.com