This is a project I did for school for peer tutoring. I thought it was interesting, so I decided to put it here!

Dyslexia is a learning disability where the individual has difficulties learning to read, communicate, and has trouble understanding social situations. People with dyslexia are unique because they react differently to what is around them. They usually are creative thinkers because of their unique mental processing. Although dyslexia is considered a serious disability, the dyslexic is actually a creative learner.

Dyslexics have many different traits. Some traits dyslexics have are include persistence, good concentration, creativity, ambition, and curiosity, although each person has different combinations of these traits. They also have superior reasoning, the capability of seeing things differently from others, the love of complexity, the ability to do many things at the same time, and they can quickly masters new concepts. Some negative traits include reversing letters and numbers, having a sense of under achievement, being a slow reader, problems with self-esteem, and problems with phonics and spelling. In an interview Rondi Lightmark had with Thomas Scheidler, Scheidler said that dyslexics are good at "sports that require more of a flow to them...such as soccer or skiing. Balance and coordination in these are more important overall than remembering a specific sequence, as in football, [or] baseball...They tend to excel in those sports." Some dyslexics have good coordination and are good at those types of sports. Also in the interview, Lightmark stated, "Einstein is the most quoted example of a gifted dyslexic that people use. It’s been commonly reported that when he found his theory of relativity, basically he ‘saw’ it...as opposed to working it out in logical sequence. And then the problem was that he had to figure out how to write about it." The classic dyslexics have this same problem. They see the answer in their head, but trying to find out how they got the answer is very difficult.

People with learning disabilities feel stupid and sometimes withdraw from social contact, because they feel embarrassed, and people tease them. Dyslexics often feel left out. They get frustrated and embarrassed because they cannot do what other people consider simple. They need to be self-confident. They should participate in activities and get to know people. They also need to learn to deal with failure. Everyone fails sometimes, and they could ask others for advice to help them out.

Since creative thinkers think and learn in pictures instead of words, they think a lot faster and the information goes right to the subconscious mind. Because they are thinking in pictures, there is a lot of multi-dimensional information that their brain can change to help them with intuitive thinking, perception, and other thought processes. A lot of times they have thought delays because their brain is processing so much information at one time. Thinking this way gives creative thinkers a good advantage, but they have difficulty with words that do not have a picture to go with them. Creative thinkers find it easy to move from one field to another. They master new subjects quickly and become instant experts. Instead of looking at the details of something, they look at everything, and they can see things clearer.
Creative thinkers have very good reasoning and concentration skills. Using these skills, they can see things that other people would not notice, such as being able to predict something by looking at some patterns that have occurred and seeing ahead. Since creative thinkers are very creative and curious, they have the perfect combination for discovering new things superior reasoning and concentration skills.

People with learning disabilities often have mental abilities that a lot of people cannot comprehend. Although most creative thinkers do not have these abilities, some have abilities that approaches the supernatural. Some of these people can do things such as causing time to go slower or faster, doing complex math in their head without going through all the steps, and controlling events. Since they can view things in slow motion, this allows them to be able to see what the outcome of something will be. This ability helps them in sports since they can see where the ball or puck will end up. For example, in Daniele M.’s article, DB said, "In a hockey game, I was waiting for a pass from the corner of the rink and I was able to see the location to shoot on the goal and calculate the angle to pass and shoot in one motion. It was easy because everything seemed to be occurring in slow-motion." DM stated "I can solve many equations in my head. I do not need to go through all the steps on paper, I see them in my head."

People with dyslexia can be extremely successful after they learn how to handle their disability. Their gift of creative thinking gives them advantages others do not have. Unfortunately, sometimes they do not realize that, and they consider themselves stupid. Dyslexics do not have to let their disability control them—they should control it.

Lightmark, Rondi. "Dyslexia and Creativity An Interview With Thomas Scheidler." Dyslexia, Learning Disabilities, and Literacy Resource Site. On-line. Internet. December 1997. Available: http://www.greenwood.org/rescreat.html.

M., Daniele, and Paul F. Murray. "Creative Thinking: Your Personal Capacity to Unlock Genius Abilities, Avoid Embarrassment, Gain Respect, and Be Popular." The Advantages of Being Dyslexic and ADD. On-line. Internet. December 1997. Available: http://www.capecod.net/~rbf/a_Dyslexia_ADD2.html.

RBF Foundation, LTD. "What Can Dyslexic and ADD People Do Better Than Others?" The Advantages of Being Dyslexic and ADD. On-line. Internet. December 1997. Available: http://www.capecod.net/~rbf/a_Dyslexia_ADD7.html.