dyslexic entreprenuers

Hi everyone hope you are all well:

I am dyslexic and I am also, so I have been told a, social entrepreneur but I am still not sure about that. I am not alone in being a dyslexic entrepreneur as studies show that over 30% entrepreneurs are dyslexic. 

I have a theory that the percentage of dyslexic social entrepreneurs is higher. 

We are creative problem solvers, holistic thinkers, insightful, intuitive, persistent, determined and ambitious which describes social entrepreneurs in general. We have to be to get things done. More importantly dyslexics have a strong sense of justice, maybe thats because so many of we dyslexics endure injustice all of our lives.

Dyslexia Pathways supporting dyslexic entrepreneurs

Many thanks for reading #PeaceLoveGroovyness

Steve McCue

the medicalisation of dyslexia

Dyslexia is not a condition it is a state of being. I am dyslexic therefore I am, and I will always be dyslexic and happy to be so. The worst thing that ever happened to dyslexics was the medicalisation of dyslexia. Now we are being told our brains are broken and do not function as they should. We are being smothered under a tidal wave of medibabble that only doctors understand. But the general gist is we dyslexics have a medical coondition which has to be treated. Richard Branson managed to function pretty well with his dyslexia as have many other dyslexics without any, "remediation". Many dyslexics find their own ways.

Dyslexics are not taught in ways they can learn and access learning taking place in the classroom. Teachers are not trained to teach dyslexics or any child with learning difference during teacher training. Qualified teachers go into classrooms totally unprepared to teach a significant number of kids they are there to teach. Many dyslexic kids learn from a very early age that they are stupid, that they cannot do the work in school, that they cannot learn and many just give up trying at school. The medical model of disability would say its because of your condition of dyslexia. I would say, and the social model of disability would say, its a failure of the education system. 

A hint for anyone with dyslexic kids doing homework

Because dyslexia can affect working / short term memory it is more productive to have regular breaks every 30 to 40 minutes when doing home work. So rather than letting your child work for two solid hours which will overtax their working memory. Encourage them to do two or three or even four shorter sessions over two hours with regular 5 to 10 minute breaks. The breaks also give them a chance to rechrarge their concentration batteries.

A fomous dyslexic on his dyslexia

A well know famous dyslexic Richard Branson:

 "At the age of eight I still couldn't read. I was soon being beaten once or twice a week for doing poor class work or confusing the date of the Battle of Hastings." – Richard Branson: Founder of a whole series of Virgin enterprises "Perhaps my early problems with dyslexia made me more intuitive: when someone sends me a written proposal, rather than dwelling on detailed facts and figures, I find that my imagination grasps and expands on what I read." - Richard Branson, from Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way, Times Business, 1998       

Being positive about dyslexia

Some of the positives about dysexia. We are

• Highly creativity
• Excellent lateral thinkers and problem solvers0
• Highlty visually and spatially aware
• Great communicators
• Determined

However, employers have to provide a dyslexia friendly working environment to enable dyslexics to use their positive attributes. It is not rocket science to become dysexia friendly and it will benefit your business, your dyslexic employees, your customers and service users.

2009 report on dyslexia from the Literacy Commission says it all

This excerpt from a 2009 report from the Literacy Commission says it all

There are thought to be about 80,000 Scottish children diagnosed with dyslexia, many of whom will leave school "functionally illiterate", meaning they have a reading age of less than nine-and-a-half. The 80.000 are just those lucky enough to have been assessed.  Its not that we cannot read we are not taught in ways that enable us to read more effectively.

Negative dyslexia....WHY?

Both as a dyslexic individual and a dyslexia specialist I have become increasingly angry about misinformation and negative dross written about dyslexia and dyslexics. I cannot believe that many many dyslexic children STILL do not get taught in schools in ways they can access learning. That many young dyslexics in training for work do not get any support for their dyslexia. That so many dyslexic males end up within our prisons. Not only is it a waste of their lives it is a waste of a potential positive resource to the scottish economy. Its a situation that needs to change and change NOW!