Innehållsförteckning för September 2024 från Dystinct Magazine

"Success causes motivation more than motivation causes success." This idea, shared by Barry Garelick and quoted by David Kinnane in this issue, got me thinking about how we approach motivation. We often wait for ourselves or our children to feel motivated before working towards set goals or tackling new challenges. However, as David points out, confidence usually comes after we start doing something—whether it's writing, reading, or any other task. Sometimes, all it takes is that first small step toward success to ignite the motivation we need. Whether it's a child realizing they can read a few sentences in that new book you've been coaxing them to read, or an adult learning to navigate a new skill, these moments of success drive us to keep pushing forward. For both us…

Background Can you share your journey from your early years to being appointed head of Every Cherry? I was born in Leicester, England, and moved to Manchester for university. Then I lived in Maryland for a year of university, after which I travelled around the US (San Francisco, then California and essentially the entirety of Route 66). I then moved back to Leicester, I was going to move to London but met my husband and decided to lay my foundations in my hometown; two children and one husband later, I'm firmly rooted in Leicester with the support I need and a small family. After my A-Levels, I went to Uni of Manc and did an American History degree, then a year abroad at Uni of Maryland, after which I did…

Ava N. Simmons faced her share of struggles in school - acting out, getting sent to the principal's office, and feeling out of place when it came to reading. But Ava wasn't just being difficult; there was more going on beneath the surface. In 2020, at just eight years old, Ava struggled with growing frustration as she fell behind her peers in reading. Ava's behaviour and her difficulties with reading puzzled her teachers and principal, leading them to suspect "ADHD or behavioural issues." Despite Ava mentioning that she had "trouble reading and that the words moved slightly," the school dismissed these signs. Rather than accepting labels or limitations, Ava's mum, Tita (Tia) Simmons, saw a chance to turn Ava's interests into something that could help her learn. Tia knew that…

As technology and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to advance at an unprecedented pace, they hold immense potential to transform the lives of individuals with dyslexia, both in educational settings and the workplace. This article explores how emerging technologies and AI-driven solutions are reshaping the landscape for dyslexic learners and adult employees, offering new opportunities for success and inclusion. ADAPTIVE LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES One of the most promising developments for dyslexic learners is the rise of adaptive learning technologies. These AI-powered systems can analyze a student's learning patterns, strengths, and challenges in real time, tailoring educational content to their specific needs (Alsobhi et al.,2015). For dyslexic individuals, this means personalized learning experiences that adjust text size, font, color contrast, and pacing to optimize comprehension and retention. TEXT-TO-SPEECH AND SPEECH-TO-TEXT ADVANCEMENTS Improvements in text-to-speech (TTS)…

Lerato Motau is an internationally renowned artist from Soweto, South Africa, whose experience with dyslexia has significantly shaped her life and work. Reading and writing were constant struggles growing up, but her love for art became a lifeline, helping her navigate those difficulties and ultimately leading to a successful career as an artist. Lerato felt like she grew up in a world that didn't fully understand or accommodate dyslexia. The earliest memory that stands out to her is when a teacher told her grandfather, "You must teach your granddaughter to read". Lerato recalls how she thought, "I'm not going to be able to do this". Those words planted a seed of doubt in her mind that would follow her through much of her early education. She failed Grade 4 and…

The term "twice exceptional", also known as "2e", refers to people who are identified as gifted with learning differences. Perhaps a more accurate or descriptive term is gifted and distractible. When learning about the gifted and distractible profile, most people are curious about the word "distractible." In fact, it's "gifted" that is highly misunderstood. This misunderstanding and the disbelief that giftedness and learning differences can co-exist in the same person often lead to inaccurate assumptions about behaviors and expectations that are toxic to the gifted and distractible person. 'Distractible' refers to learning differences. It can represent anything from ADHD to dyslexia, processing issues (speed, visual, auditory), Autism, anxiety, social-emotional challenges, executive functioning challenges, and so much more. Truthfully, most twice exceptional people are really multi exceptional. Cultural differences, gender fluidity,…

Historical Context The recognition of dyscalculia as a distinct learning disability has evolved over the past century. In 1919, Swedish neurologist Dr. Salomon Henschen observed that individuals with otherwise normal mental abilities could experience significant difficulties with numbers. Dr. Josef Gerstmann's work in 1940 identified a syndrome characterized by difficulties in writing (dysgraphia), arithmetic (later termed dyscalculia), finger agnosia (not knowing which finger is touched when not visible), and left-right coordination. Dr. Ladislav Kosc, in the 1950s, first described developmental dyscalculia as a disorder affecting math-related brain functions, potentially hereditary or congenital in nature. Development of Number Sense Research has shown that numerical awareness begins in infancy, with babies demonstrating the ability to distinguish small quantities. As children develop, they progress through several key stages. As toddlers, they realize that…