Study shows stronger links between entrepreneurs and dyslexia

 

Dyslexia: Different Minds, Different Thinking, Unique Solutions: #dyslexia a difference that reflects #diversity 

Study shows stronger links between entrepreneurs and dyslexia

Dyslexia Pathways CIC Enabling Dyslexics to Fly

The Dyslexic Mind is a Fabtastic Mind

It has long been known that dyslexics are drawn to running their own businesses, where they can get around their weaknesses in reading and writing and play to their strengths. But a new study of entrepreneurs in the United States suggests that dyslexia is much more common among small-business owners than even the experts had thought.

The report, compiled by Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, found that more than a third of the entrepreneurs she surveyed - 35 percent - identified themselves as dyslexic. The study also concluded that dyslexics were more likely than nondyslexics to delegate authority and to excel in oral communication and problem solving and were twice as likely to own two or more businesses.

"We found that dyslexics who succeed had overcome an awful lot in their lives by developing compensatory skills," Logan said during an interview. "If you tell your friends and acquaintances that you plan to start a business, you'll hear over and over, 'It won't work. It can't be done.' But dyslexics are extraordinarily creative about manoeuvring their way around problems."

The study was based on a survey of 139 business owners in a wide range of fields across the United States. Logan called the number who said they were dyslexic "staggering" and said it was significantly higher than the 20 percent of British entrepreneurs who said they were dyslexic in a poll she conducted in 2001.

She attributed the greater share in the United States to earlier and more effective intervention by American schools to help dyslexic students deal with their learning problems. Approximately 10 percent of Americans are believed to have dyslexia, experts say.

One reason that dyslexics are drawn to entrepreneurship, Logan said, is that strategies they have used since childhood to offset their weaknesses in written communication and organizational ability - identifying trustworthy people and handing over major responsibilities to them - can be applied to businesses.

"The willingness to delegate authority gives them a significant advantage over non-dyslexic entrepreneurs, who tend to view their business as their baby and like to be in total control," Logan said.

William Dennis Jr., senior research fellow at the Research Foundation of the National Federation of Independent Business, a 400,000-member trade group in Washington, said the study's results "fit into the pattern of what we know about small-business owners."

"Entrepreneurs are hands-on people who push a minimum of paper, do lots of stuff orally instead of reading and writing, and delegate authority, all of which suggests a high verbal facility," Dennis said. "Compare that with corporate managers who read, read, read."

According to Logan, only 1 percent of corporate managers in the United States have dyslexia.

Much has been written about the link between dyslexia and entrepreneurial success. Fortune Magazine, for example, ran a cover story five years ago about dyslexic business leaders, including Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways; Charles Schwab, founder of the discount brokerage that bears his name; John Chambers, chief executive of Cisco; Craig McCaw, the cellular phone pioneer; and Paul Orfalea, founder of the Kinko's copy chain.

Similarly, Rosalie Fink, a professor at Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, wrote a paper in 1998 on 60 highly accomplished people with dyslexia, from a Nobel laureate to a Harvard oncologist.

But Logan said hers was the first study that she knew of that attempted to measure the percentage of entrepreneurs who had dyslexia. Carl Schramm, president of the Kauffman Foundation, which financed the research, agreed. He said the findings were surprising but, he noted that there was no previous baseline to measure it against.

Emerson Dickman, president of the International Dyslexia Association in Baltimore and a lawyer in Maywood, New Jersey, said the findings made sense. "Individuals who have difficulty reading and writing tend to deploy other strengths," said Dickman, who has dyslexia. "They rely on mentors, and as a result, become very good at reading other people and delegating duties to them. They become adept at using visual strengths to solve problems."

Orfalea, 60, who left Kinko's - now FedEx Kinko's - seven years ago, and who dabbles in a hodgepodge of business undertakings, is almost boastful about having both dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

"I get bored easily, and that is a great motivator," he said. "I think everybody should have dyslexia and ADD."

He attributes his success to his difficulty with reading and writing because it forced him to master verbal communication.

"I didn't have a lot of self confidence as a kid," he said. "And that is for the good. If you have a healthy dose of rejection in your life, you are going to have to figure out how to do it your way."

Danny Kessler, 26, also has dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He founded Angels with Attitude, which holds self-defense seminars for women. He is a co-founder of Club E Network (www.clubenetwork.com), which sponsors "networking events," runs an online chat room for entrepreneurs and produces television shows about them.

He said he also had low self-esteem as a child, and now views that as a catapult into the entrepreneurial world. "I told myself I would never be a lawyer or a doctor," he said. "But I wanted to make a lot of money. And I knew business was the only way I was going to do it."

Hope you enjoyed this article and hope you feel more positive for reading it.

#PeaceLoveGroovyness to you all

Steve McCue

Dyslexia; we need a shared identity a cohesive community

 Hi blog readers hope you are all feeling fab

Fab to see a new dyslexia organisation talking the negative stereotypes that surround dyslexia.

‘I strongly believe that the time is right to

look at dyslexia in a more positive way –

that it is not a disability, but a strength.’

– Sally Gardner

Multi-award winning, dyslexic children’s

author Sally Gardner is launching a pioneering new website

for dyslexic thinkers that aims to radically change the

discourse surrounding dyslexia and increase understanding of

the strengths of the dyslexic mind.




NUWORD logo

What do you think defines dyslexia? Can you tell us about some of the strengths?

I would say it’s a difference that reflects human diversity. If we look at nature and humanity, nature thrives because of diversity–it would be boring if there were only one kind of tree, one kind of animal etc. 

To say that there’s only one way the brain works is preposterous. Just go back to primordial times and look at how we’ve developed–the amount of diversity and the amount of difference that makes what we are today. There is a way that the dyslexia mind works that links us as a group. 

There are a lot of strengths–we see in three dimensions (there are a lot of good dyslexic architects), we’re good oral communicators, creativity is a strength talked about a lot. We have a smorgasbord of positive things that link to dyslexia–lateral thinking, entrepreneurial ability, problem solving–35 % of entrepreneurs are dyslexic.

Can you briefly explain the social model vs. the medical model please?

The medical model is imposed upon us, with that comes terms and labeling. It sees dyslexia as an impairment and this becomes the only focus. But I make sense of the world through a dyslexic prism; it’s so much more than one thing. 

The medical model talks about remediation and takes kids out of classes. Kids get isolated – often remediated during playtime, with more work at home. They get a lot of text-based homework. It erodes self-confidence and self-esteem and can lead to long-term mental health issues.

The social model has been developed as an extension of the social model of disability. Rather than saying the child is faulty, the child is valued. Barriers are identified and solutions are developed. 

The social model says society disables us. This starts with school being a dyslexia unfriendly place, with teaching that doesn’t understand dyslexia. Lots of parents have individual battles with the school trying to get the human right of equal education for their children. 

I got bored at school. I walked away from school at 14 – because I didn’t feel that I had any academic ability at all. We need schools to welcome and nurture diversity, where the child is included. 

Training for teachers is of paramount import. Teachers must be able to provide learning opportunities for dyslexic/all children. If we don’t have inclusion in our schools how are we going to have inclusion in society? How will non-dyslexics understand what it means if we continue to segregate and isolate?

What do you think needs to change in order to better understand dyslexia today?

I feel that medical model thinking is confused thinking–there are so many messages out there that are conflicting–it’s a tsunami of negative information. Many dyslexics take on that negative interpretation because that’s what they see. 

I put together a project called ‘Unique Dyslexic’, with my Dyslexia Pathways CIC team. We took the project out to dyslexics in Fife and got them together through creative activities. All had had negative experiences at school. One of the biggest barriers is that we believe we can’t read or write or spell. I think it’s that school hasn’t given us the right tools or the right teaching to enable us to access the written word. 

Reading from a book is just a strategy; you can have audio books or text to speech. There is still so much information that focuses on the negative that’s never been challenged. The social model has a simple message about diversity and difference, it can empower the dyslexic to overcome societal barriers. 

The social model is cohesive, the medical model is divisive. So instead of individual parents tackling a school, we can have groups of parents tackling a school. When we talk about the medical model, many teachers just think that they should lower their expectations for dyslexics – because they don’t have the tools to embrace neurodiversity. 

Dyslexics become segregated and isolated through to their adult life. In the ‘Unique’ project we had people who had never talked to another dyslexic, who had taken on the medical model and struggled with self-confidence. 

One of the biggest things that came from the Unique project was that people were talking about their dyslexia and sharing their stories. We have a strong empathy and emotional intelligence–by getting people together we’re starting to end the segregation.

Why is building a community so important?

A community with a shared identity is so important. We don’t have that at the moment. If there was a cohesive dyslexic community we

could have a dyslexic culture (read Dr. Ross Cooper). I looked at building an online community and it worked to an extent–but what we need is a tangible community where people can meet face to face and have discussions. 

One of the issues is that the big dyslexic organisations have become businesses–they’re pulled in lots of different directions. I became a social enterprise and we do have to charge a small amount for our work, but we strive to do it as low cost as possible. 

Funders want you to be income-based rather than trying to get funding. They expect you to show them money. Before, you could get funding with no strings attached, but now there’s a fight for funding with lots of strings attached.

What advice would you give an adult or child struggling with dyslexia?

For a child, school can be a horrible place. But that experience doesn’t necessarily stop you from going on to have a career in what you want. When I left school I would have said I was least likely to become academic. 

When I was assessed at 35 and began to understand what being dyslexic means for me, I was able to go on and become academic. I talked to a lot of dyslexic entrepreneurs who didn’t go along the academic route, but did well because of their way their mind works–laterally rather than logically. I think we need dyslexic mentors from universities and business for young people. It would be a way to show that dyslexia is not a life sentence in a negative way, meaning unable to attain, unable to read, unable to write.

For adults, from the survey I did, around 65% said they were positive about being dyslexic. When asked them about how society viewed dyslexia over 80% felt society viewed dyslexia as a negative. We need real life community meetings to raise awareness, to offer support, to give ourselves a louder voice. 

Online is not enough. We want open first dyslexia hub here in Fife. It’s difficult as we’re such a small organization, with little funding. The only money coming in is what I earn. Hopefully in Fife we will put together a steering committee. We were the first dyslexia-focused social enterprise in the world. In a recent Erasmus European paper Dyslexia Pathways CIC were seen as leading the way for social inclusion.

We here at Dyslexia Pathways CIC are looking for 

people to help us in or goal of opening a dyslexia

hub. We need funding, people with experience of

setting up and running a community project, people

who share our social model of dyslexia vision

We see dyslexia as a difference that reflects diversity and not a disability.

What do you think the future looks like for dyslexic thinkers?

If we can move on and challenge the medical model and grow a dyslexic community, where we can challenge and ask our politicians to do more and we can affect change better together. 

At the moment we have to wear the dyslexic label and the disabled label, but dyslexia doesn’t disable me. We believe that social enterprise together with the social model of dyslexia offers dyslexics with a new and innovative way forward. A way forward that is positive, inclusive and values diversity and dyslexic strengths.

What are your thought on the questions asked and my responses? Please leave your comments here.

ta for reading

regards

Steve

PS many thanks to Concept Northern for their offer of support and help with our new tee shirt designs. 

Dyslexic Scenius

 

Scenius a new word for me 

Dyslexic participants from Unique Dyslexic Fused Glass workshop receiving their certificates

Hello there blog readers hope you are all well

Came across a new word from a Brian Eno  lecture, Scenius = creative intelligence of a community. We often talk about the genius of an individual but what about the genius of a community and what a community can achieve together.

It struck me that if we are ever to move forward and develop a strong #dyslexic community we need to come together and combine our creative intelligence or dyslexic Scenius to overcome the barriers that the non dyslexic community places in front of us.

For me I see the biggest barrier as the idea that dyslexia is a disability that we are in some way less of a person than non dyslexics.

This is a result of the medical discrepancy model of dyslexia that society has been imposed on by a non dyslexic society and defined us with.

We have to discard this medical discrepancy model of dyslexia and consign it to history. This is because this model has got nothing positive to say to dyslexics or about dyslexia.

That's why I talk, write, scream from the rafters etc about the social model of dyslexia. This is because it talks about dyslexia in terms of diversity that we don't have disabled minds just different ones. It is not being dyslexic that disables it is society. For so many of dyslexics this disabling begins at school. More importantly the social model of dyslexia was developed by dyslexics for dyslexics. It is our model our solution to the issues we face on a daily basis. 

Many thanks for reading and your feedback is important so please respond if you have something to say.

 

grasping the dyslexia nettle to fight for positive change 

being dyslexic can be isolating but remember you are not alone

We, as dyslexics, need to grasp the nettle and make positive change for ourselves and all other dyslexics every where 

Way way back in 2005 I did a little research on dyslexia in a college where I was managing the dyslexia department. Basically, I ran a number of dyslexia surgeries for teachers, staff and students. I discovered that none teachers i spoke to had told anyone about their own dyslexia. Many didn't  because of concerns that being dyslexic would adversly affect career and job prospects. Many, if not all, believed dyslexia to be a disability that had no real positives attached to it. The project was so successful we had to extend the project for a further month.

As a result of this research I put together a funding bid for a new project, "Breaking the Barriers of Dyslexia". The basic premise of the project was to provide dyslexia screening, assessment, and training in dyslexia friendly work strategies for members of staff working at a college I was employed with at the time. I was lucky enough to secure £50,000 from the Learning and Skills Council for the 12 week project.  

I went to the college management with my proposal for the project. the response was to go away and get on with it myself. I don't actually believe they thought I would secure the funding for the project. My feelings on the matter never underestimate a determined dyslexic lol. Funny to see how many of the management team wanted to get involved once I have secured the funding for the project.

With the funding I found a fantastic dyslexia specialist to co ordinate the project Elizabeth Gentlecore. My apologies if I have not spelled her name correctly. She was totally brilliant and the projects success owes a lot to her work. We managed to provide 300 or so screenings, provided 23 members of staff with a full dyslexia assessment. We also provided training to all with dyslexia friendly work strategies and supported those who wanted it. support with Access to Work applications.

Around 2010 I was talking with a degree student who I have been providing dyslexia support over the last semester. A very bright student as well but struggling with his studies and his self confidence etc. He was expressing an interest in becoming a teacher but felt that it was not possible for him to become a teacher because of his dyslexia. He was expressing his concerns about telling any prospective employers about his dyslexia. That if he did it would adversely affect his job and career prospects. Have to say the last time I spoke with him he was doing his PHD. But it dismayed me to think he thought of dyslexia in such negative terms.

In November / December 2014 a did a little research of dyslexia again to get an idea on dyslexics thoughts on dyslexia and how they saw and felt about dyslexia. One think that came out of this research was a seed change in the way dyslexics themselves saw dyslexia. The vast majority said they felt being dyslexic was very positive. This was a great thing for me to see things, are a changing for the positive. 

On the other hand most respondents felt that society still has very negative perceptions and ideas about dyslexia . So we still have a few battles to win before we make positive change for all dyslexics today and in the future.

There is far to much focus on dyslexia as a negative condition that adversely impacts on our abilities to succeed academically and in the work place. Lets face it what employer wants to take on a dyslexic who can't spell, has poor memory, a brain that does not work properly, who can't read well etc. This is what the average person in the street believes dyslexia to be. Very few mention any of the positives of dyslexia at all. So it is not surprising many dyslexics keep it a secret, including dyslexics who are teachers.

This has to change and the only people who can effect this change is dyslexics them selves. We also have to challenge the negative stereotypical medical model of dyslexia that has very little positive to say to dyslexics and dyslexia. We have to focus of dyslexia as a difference that represents the diversity inherent within humanity. To do this we have to move away from the old medical model of dyslexia to a much more positive social model.

For every positive single article on dyslexia out there there and 20 or more negative ones.If we are ever to change people's attitudes and perceptions about dyslexia we need dyslexic teachers in classroom who are positive about being dyslexic and can act as role models and mentors to dyslexic children. We need to free dyslexic teachers from the shackles of the old medical model of dyslexia and enable them to mentor dyslexic kids in school which will enable dyslexic kids to succeed.

If you have anything you want to say about dyslexia or the content of this, or any other blog, please have your say here or on my social media:

https://twitter.com/SteveMcCue1

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-mccue-ab393634/

https://www.facebook.com/stephen.mccue.5

https://www.facebook.com/groups/unique.dyslexic/


anyways ta for reading my blog

#PeaceLoveGroovyness to you all

Steve McCue Founder and CEO of Dyslexia Pathways CIC and Unique Dyslexic Eye