Do Dyslexics Have An Advantage?

Submitted by Judy Hanning on Tue, 2016-05-17 12:49

Have you ever heard that dyslexia might actually give advantages to the child's left hemisphere? While dyslexia is a weakness when it comes to writing -- which also comes from the left hemisphere -- this video theorizes that in the time the brain doesn't spend on distinguting the differences between letters and numbers, it instead does something else. And the results are extraordinary.

In school, non-dyslexic students are trained to use the left hemisphere of their brain for linear sequencing, which is how we learn to write letters properly and break down the spelling of a word. This, in turn, trains the left hemisphere to do these types of tasks, while the right brain performs holistic processing. Dyslexics are not able to use the left hemisphere for linear sequencing, but that means they are able to use both sides of the brain for holistic processing. This helps them to see things differently, which makes them very good artists.

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What's the brain change or difference that makes dyslexics so good at holistic visual spatial processing? The argument, although it is not proven, it seems highly likely, is that it is a result of the weakness of the dyslexics' left hemisphere.

Key Takeaways:

1
Non-dyslexics are trained to use the left hemisphere of their brain for linear sequencing, not holistic processing.
2
Non-dyslexics utilize the left hemisphere for phonology or breaking down words, while right hemisphere is responsible for holistic processing.
3
The advantage of the dyslexics is that they use both left and right hemisphere of the brain for visual-spatial processing.
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