Despite being a ‘classic dyslexic’, my first school didn’t spot my dyslexia. Instead, I was a “must try harder”, “quiet girl” who HATED school because I felt like a failure. It was only after I was sent to a new school that my life was transformed by dyslexia-trained teachers who finally helped me understand and value my Dyslexic Thinking skills.
The same thing happened years later with my son Ted. I was genuinely shocked that after all that time his teachers still didn’t know how to spot and support his obvious dyslexic struggles or his amazing Dyslexic Thinking skills. To this day, 80% of dyslexics still leave school unidentified, and only one in ten teachers truly understands dyslexic strengths. I’ve made it my mission to change this.
The newest report from my charity Made By Dyslexia, ‘Intelligence 5.0’, reveals that traditional tests in schools disadvantage dyslexics, measuring them against the very things they find challenging. Yet these skills are quickly being taken over by technology like AI. This places a premium on skills that AI cannot replace – creativity, complex problem-solving, lateral thinking – and these are the exact skills that come naturally to dyslexics.
Why are schools still failing dyslexic students?
Dyslexic students continue to be disadvantaged at school because of the outdated views of intelligence that our education system still holds. Let’s take a closer look at why. Views of intelligence are often based on standardised measures that emphasise certain cognitive abilities over others. For example, children are tested on skills like rote memorisation and recall, spelling, punctuation and grammar, in a set timeframe, on a given day.
Made By Dyslexia’s research conducted with YouGov reveals that nearly half (46%) of survey respondents still regard accuracy in spelling, punctuation, and grammar – a dyslexic challenge – as crucial signs of intelligence. Additionally, 43% emphasise the importance of being able to read quickly and accurately.
Yet, when asked to pinpoint the single best indicator of intelligence, only 6% of respondents chose scoring highly in exams. This supports the idea that current intelligence measures are outdated. What’s more, these traditional markers, though challenging for dyslexics, are easily mastered by AI.
In the UK, just 35% of dyslexics pass GCSEs in English and Maths — meaning 65% are labelled as failures, despite possessing the exact type of intelligence our AI-driven world needs. We must act quickly to fix this. Right now, every generation of dyslexic students faces the impact of failing exams. Instead of teaching children to rote learn to sit terminal exams, we need to move to a system that nurtures the skills the impending 5th Industrial Revolution needs.
Why the world needs Dyslexic Thinking skills to thrive with AI
As AI takes over tasks traditionally associated with intelligence, like assimilating and recalling knowledge, ‘human’ or ‘soft’ skills like creativity and innovation become vital to differentiate us from machines.
AI cannot replicate Dyslexic Thinking skills, which are split into six areas: visualising, imagining, communicating, reasoning, connecting and exploring. Because our brains process information differently, we can approach problem-solving in innovative and brilliant ways. Dyslexic Thinkers are naturally curious, highly creative, and have an ability to unconventionally connect the dots and think laterally.
These are the exact skills that businesses are looking for RIGHT NOW. Latest research from the world’s largest recruiter, Randstad Enterprise (as featured in our Intelligence 5.0 report), shows that Dyslexic Thinking skills match the top three in-demand core skills across all 9 major job sectors. Crucial core skills identified by the research include complex problem-solving, analytical thinking, communication, leadership and creativity – all of which are Dyslexic Thinking skills.
Empowering Dyslexic Thinking in every school, worldwide
Dyslexic Thinking must be acknowledged by governments, organisations, schools and society as a valuable thinking skill. This will support not just dyslexic pupils but ALL pupils to thrive, because valuing and developing human skills in EVERYONE is vital to succeed alongside AI.
We must all participate in collective action to inspire change. Here are three steps to achieve this:
LEARN
Made By Dyslexia has created a huge body of free, online, engaging courses and content to help everyone learn about Dyslexic Thinking. For parents and schools, you can check out our ‘Empowering Dyslexic Thinking at School’, which is a one hour course in partnership with Microsoft Learn.
SHARE
Once you’ve learned about Dyslexic Thinking, share the key takeaways with your community, your colleagues, family and friends. Parents can share our courses with their schools, so their kids’ teachers understand the value of Dyslexic Thinking. Teachers can share this knowledge with colleagues, parents and learners so they can support the brilliance of Dyslexic Thinking.
CHANGE
By sharing our resources, everyone can play a part in driving change to help us to achieve our mission to empower Dyslexic Thinking in every home, every workplace and every school — creating the change that our fast-evolving 5th Industrial Revolution world needs.