No, kids with dyslexia do not inherently have higher IQs, but their intelligence varies across the full spectrum (average, above-average, gifted), with dyslexia being a specific learning disorder unrelated to overall cognitive ability, meaning many smart people have dyslexia, and they often excel in areas like creativity and problem-solving despite reading challenges, challenging the myth that slow reading means low intelligence.
But if a child has a low IQ and additional problem with dyslexia, that just is going to mean that they're going to have even more difficulty learning to read. But knowing that, most people with dyslexia are, at least, average or above-average IQ. So, it is not related to intelligence at all.
Oftentimes, parents fear that a dyslexia diagnosis indicates their child is less intelligent than their peers. Nevertheless, dyslexia is not exclusive to any particular level of intelligence; it can affect individuals with average, above-average, and highly gifted intellect.
In reality, dyslexia has absolutely no impact on intelligence, and dyslexics are as likely to have ideas as good as anyone else's (indeed, their capabilities to think outside the box may even mean that they have more ideas).
Twice exceptional or 2e is a term used to describe students who are both intellectually gifted (as determined by an accepted standardized assessment) and learning disabled, which includes students with dyslexia.
Bill Gates, one of the richest people in the world didn't let his dyslexia hold him back.
These creative processing skills allow dyslexics to see the bigger picture, and visualise new solutions. This skill is really valuable to employees, in fact, 50% of NASA employees are dyslexic. They are deliberately hired because of their excellent critical thinking skills and spatial awareness.
Famous actors like Johnny Depp, Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom all have dyslexia. Pablo Picasso's teachers described him as “having difficulty differentiating the orientation of letters”.
What these strengths mean
Research by the University of Strathclyde has found that people with dyslexia are much better at being curious and exploring new ideas and more likely to be found in careers where this is an advantage, such as art, media, architecture, creativity, engineering and inventing things!
Both mothers and fathers can pass dyslexia on to their children if either parent has it. There is roughly a 50% – 60% chance of a child developing dyslexia if one of their parents has it.
Actress Jennifer Aniston has publicly shared that she was diagnosed with dyslexia in her 20s, a diagnosis that explained lifelong struggles with reading, writing, and retaining information, leading her to believe she wasn't smart until discovering the learning disorder. She discovered this during an eye exam, where she realized her eyes jumped words when reading, and the diagnosis helped her understand past difficulties, transforming her self-perception.
Do you:
Understanding and supporting individuals with Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, and Dyspraxia is essential for fostering an inclusive and effective learning environment. These disorders can also coincide with other conditions such as ADHD and Autism, requiring a comprehensive approach.
Strong Memory Skills:
Many people with dyslexia have excellent long-term memory, particularly when it comes to experiences and visual information.
Consistent with earlier work showing that RAN, letter name knowledge, and phonological awareness are core predictors of dyslexia (Catts, Fey, Zhang, & Tomblin, 2001; Pennington & Lefly, 2001), these studies highlight the slow development of language, phonological awareness, and decoding-related skills, including poor ...
Spelling is one of the biggest, and most widely experienced difficulties for the dyslexic child and adult. Most dyslexic people can learn to read well with the right support, however, spelling appears to be a difficulty that persists throughout life.
Inventiveness and big-picture, long-term thinking are among the skills and strengths linked to these explorative behaviours. The researchers link dyslexia to human evolution over hundreds of thousands of years, where humans – and our brains – have had to adapt to constant change, rather than one fixed environment.
In the medical field, per the American Psychiatric Association (APA), dyslexia falls under the category of specific learning disorder, since disorder is the term used when making a diagnosis.
Ryan Gosling has accumulated praise for movies like The Notebook, La La Land, and Barbie. However, behind this fame, his life's story was full of bravery. The Hollywood hunk faced dyslexia and Adhd as a kid. School was difficult, and bullying made it worse.
Some of these successful entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson and Charles Schwab, credit their success to dyslexia as one of the contributing factors that lead to the development of their innovative thinking and their remarkable success.
The big news from a recent Hollywood Reporter article on actress Jennifer Aniston is her revelation that she struggled with dyslexia as a young person. She didn't receive a diagnosis, and the comfort and understanding that it can bring, until her early 20s.
Jobs that require visual thinking such as graphic design or web development – jobs for those who are creative may be more suitable. People-skills jobs where dyslexic people can excel include management roles, team leaders and customer service jobs – anything involving human interaction rather than written.
A distinct set of cognitive skills - including creativity, visualisation, problem-solving, communication, and big-picture thinking - often found in people with dyslexia. These skills fuel dyslexic entrepreneurs to thrive when creating and scaling successful businesses.
Individuals with dyslexia think outside the box.
One description we hear often is seeing the entire forest, then the individual trees, rather than seeing the trees first like most people. From this different vantage point, someone with this condition will often come up with an innovative solution to each problem.