Dyslexia Myths and Realities

Hi, there, I’m here to talk to you a little bit about the realities of dyslexia, which is real. It’s brain-based, and it causes some problems with those of us that have it with how we read and spell words. And it’s really hard for us to learn how to do those things. It’s really that simple. It’s interesting though because as we’ve explored the scientific basis of dyslexia, we’ve learned a great deal.

But the interesting thing about societies and cultures is we often have myths.

And when we don’t have a scientific basis to understand and explain things, we come up with myths that make sense of it to us. Cuz as humans we’re meaning making machines, I mean, that’s what we do. We make meaning out of the world around us. And I’d like to say we have two big myths or mythical dyslexics in the world. One mythical dyslexic, which we didn’t choose for ourselves by the way, it’s not based on our lived experiences, but how others perceive and characterize us. Is the stupid, lazy, dyslexic that doesn’t try hard enough, and maybe if he or she is lucky, they’ll outgrow it. Those are three big myths. One, that somehow has dyslexia is linked to intelligence. And those of us that have it are just too darn stupid to learn how to read and spell.

Second big myth, we’re lazy, we’re not working hard. If we just worked hard enough, man, if we just tried a little bit harder, how many times have you heard that? Try harder. Why aren’t you doing it? Man, this shouldn’t be this hard. And then the myth number three for the mythical dyslexic is we’ll just outgrow it. Well, maybe mom, maybe dad, maybe grandma or grandpa, if we just let them try a little bit longer. Maybe if we retain them this year, maybe they’ll grow out of it by third or fourth grade. Well, what do we know about this mythical dyslexic, especially those of us, this lived experience? One, it’s got nothing to do with IQ as the research has shown us.

IQ doesn’t help us identify us, it just doesn’t. There’s lots of reasons why we may not do the best on the IQ test. Nothing to do with our potential, by the way. Look at me, who would have thought when I had a below-average IQ, I would have grown up to be the editor-in-chief of Annals of Dyslexia. Be a leading research scientist and neuroscientist in the area of dyslexia. No, not by that IQ test. No, you wouldn’t have. IQ, we’ve learned, in the realities of dyslexia, has very little to do with dyslexia.

And there’s lots of us who don’t show our full potential on those tests. And those of us who are struggling to read, and spell have a brain basis for it, not an intelligence basis for it. You know what I remember doing a lot more of than my peers? Working a lot harder. I wasn’t lazy, I worked so hard, I stayed up so long just like I’m sure many of you have. A reality of dyslexia is we have to work harder. We have to stay after school. We have to go early before school. We have to go to summer school to do what we need to do in life, which is equip ourselves with literacy. That’s the reality. And three, you know what, we’ve really demystified this one. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of instruction over a long period of time. And when we’re given that, we will overcome dyslexia. We will rise above dyslexia to achieve literacy, but we’re not going to outgrow it.

And I know my lived reality is I still struggle to read some words, and I still struggle mightily with spelling, despite being a fully grown adult who is very successful in life. So that’s one mythical dyslexic that society thrust upon us. What’s the second one? Well, some people say that I’m the second one, however, I just told you that I didn’t have an average or above average IQ in the third grade. But the second mythical dyslexic is the poster child that I supposedly represent and so many other bright little people.

We’re the precocious ones. We’re really smart. We’re too smart for our own good, and it’s clear that we’re capable of so much more, but we can’t read and spell very well. So, it’s this idea that somehow, we’re exceptional because we’re so precocious and intelligent. That we are gifted in some way that we haven’t found yet. Well, again, let me go back to that myth number one, intelligence.

It doesn’t help us find dyslexia, it just doesn’t. And there are some precocious people with dyslexia who when they’re young children will score average to above average.

The tricky bit is in the second myth, we’re always above average, we’re always exceptional. Yeah, but that’s not the reality. We’re found on all spectrums of intelligence. What unifies us is, as you know, as I speak to those of us from our community, is the fact that it’s hard for us to learn how to read and spell, bottom line. Maybe those precocious ones aren’t living at their potential, and they have to hold the shame that comes with being thought of as being lazy too, and I’m sorry for that.

No one should have to feel that shame of being thought to be too lazy because you’re not living up to your potential. And I’ve met many individuals from our community who feel that shame. And just for those of us who didn’t score above average on an IQ, you’re not going to outgrow this either, or you too need structured literacy intervention to support you in your trajectory. So those are the two mythical dyslexics, they really link back to this idea of intelligence. Either we’re too darn stupid or we’re so bright that it’s obvious that we should be doing better, but clearly, we’re just not applying ourselves.

But here’s the realities, guys, those were thrust upon us in a time of ignorance when we didn’t have a scientific basis, when we lived in the shadows of the cave. It’s time to come out of the cave. It’s time to walk into the full light that we’ve learned from the science of reading and own our stories and share them for the reality. Because there’s more than just us at vest. The fourth myth is that our parents didn’t love us enough, that our communities aren’t good enough, and that our home lives, Aren’t the best they could be. That’s a myth. What we need are protective factors. And yes, a wonderfully rich home environment full of books and literacy is a great protective factor. But it’s not the silver bullet that’s going to prevent dyslexia. It’s a horrible lie.

That is because of our communities that love us, that isn’t the case. So it’s bigger than just us. Cuz they brought our moms and dads, and our communities, and those elders who love us into this myth and these mythical stories that we tell ourselves.

But again, myths are from a period of time when we don’t have the light of science and we do now. And part of those communities will be our multilingual communities and those who are emerging multi-literate.

Dyslexia is found in all languages. And if your home language isn’t English and you’re in an English-speaking school, you too might have something about your neurobiology that makes it difficult for you, and you may need structured literacy as well in an intensive format. It’s time to move past the mythical dyslexics of the world. It’s time for us to speak and raise awareness for ourselves and speak from our own live narratives, which we can speak from truth to that reality. Contextualized within the science, this brought light to everything.

So I invite all of you to shatter the myths and live your reality.

Thank you so much for all you do. Thank you for being part of our community. And those allies out there, thank you for rising your voices to support us and let us honor ourselves and our truths.

Thank You,

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Jose Amoros