1.2 Dyslexic Thinking skills

Let's dig into what dyslexic thinking skills are, how they show up in dyslexic learners, and how these can develop into valuable skills for the workplace.

There are seven dyslexic thinking archetypes in children. Most dyslexics are a combination of a few, but rarely all. I'll explain them here and then bring them to life with a quote from one of the amazing dyslexic thinkers I've interviewed in our podcast series Lessons in Dyslexic Thinking. Then we have some brilliant advice and tips from Josh Clarke, who is a real expert in teaching dyslexics.

The first dyslexic thinking skill is storytelling. Storytellers just love stories. Many enjoy creating their own stories. Others prefer to explain things and make sense of things. And some tell tall tales and can be very persuasive.

Storytellers love listening to stories and watching them on TV. And as adults, they become expert communicators. They use their dyslexic thinking skills to simplify concepts, build narratives, or sell a vision. And they make great journalists, teachers, writers, politicians, and campaigners.

71% of dyslexics are above average at communicating. Famous dyslexic storytellers include Roald Dahl, Dav Pilkey, and space scientist and communicator Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock. She says, "I'm able to take complex ideas and simplify them, storytell and bring science ideas to life in my own unique way. And this has been a huge advantage." Let's get a teacher's take from Josh on how to support storytellers.

So in our classrooms, we often find students that are amazing storytellers. We can recognise these students because they're the children that come to us and on paper might have a really hard time organising and articulating their ideas. But when we sit down with them and ask them to verbalise what they're thinking or what they're imagining, we're blown away by the richness of their vocabulary, by the complexity of their ideas. Those are our storytellers.

And in order to help them in our classrooms, we need to give them opportunities to express themselves, to share their ideas, not just in traditional writing formats but also through verbal expression, through presentations, by giving them the opportunity to share all that they're thinking and all that they're imagining in ways other than just through grammar and writing and traditional text.

The next dyslexic thinking archetype is makers. Makers just love to make things. They enjoy building with bricks and putting together puzzles. Some makers love to cook, craft, or make models. Others create fantastic art and paintings, while some prefer using technology and gadgets. They might excel at building worlds in Minecraft or coding games in Scratch. They can be especially good at visualising how parts fit together and seeing an object or concept from multiple angles in their minds.

And as adults, they become expert visualizers who use their dyslexic thinking skills to interact with space, senses, physical ideas, and new concepts. 75% of dyslexics are above average at visualising. This means they make great architects, chefs, designers, artists, or programmers.

Famous dyslexic makers include Steve Jobs, who invented the iPhone; Picasso, who created a whole new style of art; and Jamie Oliver, who's taught millions of us to cook. Jamie constantly visualises new recipes. He says, "My strength is a complete obsession with empowering people and teaching people to cook. And it's that simple." Let's hear from Josh again.

In our classrooms, we'll often find that we have students that we would call makers. They're students who have an amazing ability to visualise things spatially. They're the students that are attracted to LEGOs or that build things out of their pencils and paperclips. They're also students that may have a difficult time when it comes to showing their work in certain scenarios. They will often get to a solution or an idea quicker than they might be able to express it or show it, because in their minds, they can just see it.

Third, we have entertainers. Entertainers love to entertain. Some learn to play musical instruments and perform music. Others like to sing or dance. Some entertainers love to act. They perform or put on a show. Others are jokers who enjoy making people laugh.

And as adults, they become expert communicators and connectors who tell stories and use their intuition and empathy to understand people around them. They make great actors, musicians, comedians, salespeople, PR people, or presenters.

Famous dyslexic entertainers include John Lennon, Ariana DeBose, and Jennifer Aniston. When describing her school days, Jennifer says, "I loved to make people laugh, to play the class clown at school."

Entertainers are the students in our class that often keep everybody laughing. They're the students who have no problem standing in front of the room, putting everything out there, and making us all laugh or become intrigued by what they have to say. And often, they're doing that as a way to help compensate or maybe even distract from where they're having a difficult time. So we often, as teachers, might get frustrated with that class clown. But that's also part of their talent and also a sign to us that they may be acting this way because it's a strength that they have to maybe compensate for areas where they are struggling. And we need to find ways to support them.

And one way to support them is to recognise and remember that no student wants to fail or get in trouble. And when they do things to make us laugh or call attention to themselves, bring them to the side. And say, Johnny, I love what you just did. However, let's find a different avenue in the classroom, a more appropriate time. And what's a way that we might be able to look at that concept you were just acting out or you're making us all laugh about? What if you and I look at that together individually to see where you might be having a struggle so we can help you channel that through the class exercise.

The fourth archetype is movers. Movers are fidgets. They're always on the go. Some love to do daring things like skateboarding, climbing, or extreme sports. Some movers like to keep active with team sports or playing games. Others like to move around to music or dance or gymnastics.

And as adults, they become expert visualizers. Just like makers, they use their dyslexic thinking skills to interact with space, senses, physical ideas, and new concepts. They become great sportspeople, musicians, dancers, sports coaches, choreographers, and firefighters.

Famous dyslexic movers include Muhammad Ali, former England women's football captain Alex Scott, and NFL superstar Rashan Gary. Rashan says his dyslexic thinking means he can make a split-second decision on the field, which can be the difference between winning or losing a game. "I'm able to look at a player. And I'm able to tell where the guy is going to go or where the play is going to go, which makes me a better player."

Movers are the students in our classroom who we find are often fidgeting with their hands. They're tapping their pencil. They're wiggling in their chair. And that's because they have a difficult time sitting still for so long. And what we have to do is find opportunities for them to express that movement. And it doesn't need to be dramatic. It can be something as simple as a chair that lets them wobble. We could put a band across the bottom of their desk so they can kneel their feet back and forth.

These are also the same students that on the recess field, during PE are running down the field, making hoops. And we see these students that might struggle in the classroom but absolutely shine on the sports field.

The fifth archetype is imaginers. Imaginers have brilliant imaginations, and they love to daydream. When they're young, they love making up games and creating imaginary worlds. Imaginers love to fantasise and invent things, or come up with ideas or things that don't exist.

And as adults, they use their dyslexic thinking skill of imagining to come up with new ideas and approaches that no one else has thought of. And this helps drive innovation in the workplace. 84% of dyslexics are above average at imagining. They become great scientists, inventors, artists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs.

Famous dyslexic imaginers include Steven Spielberg, Thomas Edison, and Richard Branson. Richard brings imagination to life when he says, "I started daydreaming from an early age. First, I imagine it. Then I put my ideas into reality."

As teachers, we all can picture the student right now who, in the middle of the lecture or in the middle of the lesson, seems to be stirring off against the window or sitting there doodling on their piece of paper. And while we might initially be frustrated by that, we often find when we ask that student a question or ask them what we've been discussing, we're shocked that they're following along. Those are our imaginers.

These are students to get lost in their own ideas, not because they want to be distracted or not pay attention to what we're doing. It's just that the richness, the vastness of what's happening in their minds, they need the opportunity to explore and to go down these different imaginary roads. And we need to support that by recognising that's a part of how they learn and process information.

Next, we have questioners. Questioners love questions. They constantly ask why or why not. Questioners are naturally curious and inquisitive. Some love to challenge the rules. Others have an answer for everything and love explaining things. Questioners also like to solve problems others can't and will ask questions nobody else has thought of.

And as adults, they use their dyslexic thinking skills of reasoning and exploring to continue being curious and explore ideas in a constant and energetic way. Questioners, like many dyslexics, are skilled at seeing the big picture and making connections across issues, subjects, data, which others just don't see. And they can have sudden leaps of insight that help them to solve problems in an unconventional way.

This is what makes them great spies. And their dyslexic thinking is highly valued by Britain's Intelligence Agency GCHQ. Famous dyslexic questioners include Erin Brockovich, the environmental campaigner; Bob Ballard, who discovered the Titanic; and lots of spies. Jeremy Fleming, former director of GCHQ, says, "Dyslexics are integral to GCHQ's teams because they can see through the noise and get to the facts. They are really good at simplifying and seeing patterns that others can't."

As a teacher, my favourite and most frustrating student is the questioner. It's the student that always has their hand up or just blurts out. Why? I don't understand. Tell me more. That student that isn't satisfied with the status quo. And that's the same student who is going to grow up to challenge how we do things, to innovate, to change our world for the better. So we need to find a way to balance in the classroom that inquiry base, that determination, not to just know but to understand.

Lastly, there's people people. People people really understand people. They love helping and looking after others. Some enjoy organising everyone. Some are peacemakers. And others are leaders. People people understand how others are feeling. Some are introverts. And some are extroverts.

And as adults, they use their dyslexic thinking skill of connecting to excel in empathising, negotiating, and expressing themselves orally. They're also highly self-aware. These skills help make them great leaders who can build, support, and empower teams, people, and organisations. 80% of dyslexics are above average at connecting.

Famous dyslexic people people include filmmaker Spike Lee; US President JFK; and entrepreneur and shark on the US show Shark Tank, Barbara Corcoran. Barbara says, "I became the smart girl in business because I learned how to read people. And the best card for me on Shark Tank is my empathy. I can slip into an entrepreneur's shoes straightaway."

Some students have a natural ability to connect. They're students that have a great deal of empathy, that can understand how their friends might be feeling. They also find themselves crossing different social groups. These are the people people. These are students who thrive, who take energy from connecting with individuals, from building on relationships.

This is very common with some students with dyslexia. And we need to find ways to support them in the classroom. One example would be to give them responsibilities. Give them a role. Give them a job. They want to be helpful. They want to have that connection. And if we could provide avenues for that, not only can it help our class as a whole. It certainly helps that student as well.

So to sum up, every dyslexic child will benefit from harnessing the power of their dyslexic thinking. As parents and teachers, the key is to help them to understand and value their dyslexic thinking skills because when you do, they will be unstoppable in whichever field they're in.

Four in five successful dyslexics attribute their success to their dyslexic thinking, including space scientist and communicator Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock. She says, "I wish teachers were aware of the yin and yang with dyslexia because there are some challenges. The written word, spelling, things like that are more difficult for dyslexics. But the imagination, the storytelling, the communication, and the empathy, all these positives are sometimes neglected. And they are what make us successful."