What do Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawkings, Bill Gates, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, and me, Jace, all have in common? We are all dyslexic.
My speech will be focussing on dyslexia. I will explain what dyslexia is, how it can affect people, and how dyslexia is also a superpower!
For those of you who don’t know what dyslexia is, dyslexia is a learning difference that affects the skills you need to read, spell, and write. Dyslexia is probably more common than you think. It is the most common learning difference. 1 in 10 people have some form of dyslexia, whether they realize it or not.
So let’s get down to how our brains work. Everyone has 2 sides to their brains. The left side controls language, reading and writing. The right side controls music, art and your creativity. Someone with dyslexia uses the right side of their brain more than their left side, which makes reading harder. But most people with dyslexia CAN read, spell and write - it’s just a lot harder. We learn in a different way than people who do not have dyslexia!
I’m going to share some examples of how dyslexia affects me, which will help you understand more about this learning difference.
My mom and dad always tell me funny stories from when I was little. Like I couldn’t remember the days of the week, I couldn’t remember my birthday, I couldn’t remember the months of the year, and I couldn’t remember how to spell my name! And the name Jace isn’t a hard one to remember! It’s 4 easy letters. I was convinced it was spelt J-E-I-O-U! But of course it is actually J-A-C- E! That’s because a sequence of letters or numbers or even days of the week, mean nothing to me.
For me, I think I see in pictures. I’m not sure if this makes sense, but when someone is explaining something to me, or reading something to me, I turn it into pictures in my head to understand it. I can memorize facts and stats, but not by reading them, but by seeing pictures and hearing someone read them to me.
Reading is slow and spelling is very hard for me. But I am very good at all school subjects especially math. For all subjects, I use my iPad. My iPad can read text to me that I can’t read, and I can speak my answers into my iPad that I can’t spell.
So even though dyslexia makes learning a bit more difficult, it also makes us really good at some things!
People with dyslexia have a very cool ability to see things differently, and are fast problem solvers! Stephen Hawking (a theoretical physicist who is known for his work on black holes and the Big Bang Theory), Richard Branson (self made billionaire, astronaut and owner of over 400 businesses), Thomas Edison (the inventor of the light bulb), and Albert Einstein (known for developing the theory of relativity), are all dyslexic!
People with dyslexia are very artistic, are creative, are strategic thinkers, and have excellent verbal communication skills. Steve Jobs (the creator of the Apple phone in your pocket), Bill Gates (the creator of the Microsoft computer), Walt Disney (the creator of all of our favourite movies), Steven Spielberg (the director of even more of our favourite movies!) are all dyslexic.
Those are some of the most brilliant minds in our history, and they are all dyslexic! Dyslexia is kind of like a superpower if you ask me!
In conclusion, remember dyslexia is a learning difference that affects the skills you need to read, write, and spell. But it also means we have superpowers, and can achieve amazing things!