Artistic? Dyslexic? Fantastic!

[By Niky Young] I am sure everyone would agree that people like Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Walt Disney are geniuses in their respective fields. Apart from their genius, however, they also have something else in common; all of them are Dyslexic! It would therefore be wrong to think of dyslexic people as handicapped or lazy. As a matter of fact, it may very well be the case that dyslexia can turn out to be a gift if it is given the proper attention. In his book entitled ‘The gift of Dyslexia’, Dyslexic author Ron Davis marks out eight ‘gifts’ which dyslexic people share: 1) They can utilize the brain’s ability to alter and create perceptions 2) They are highly aware of their environment 3) They are more curious than average. 4) They think mainly in pictures instead of words. 5) They are highly intuitive and insightful. 6) They think and perceive multi-dimensionally (using all the senses). 7) They can experience thought as reality 8) They have vivid imaginations. Whereas it is easy for the dyslexic readers to relate to these points, the rest of us are only left to imagine what it would be like to create art with these superior abilities. Of course, I do not want to give the impression that dyslexia is not hard to deal with at first, or that it is a total gift, however if the individual learns to deal with it and develop the positive aspects of it, it may very well turn out to be a gift (if not total genius). Unfortunately however, some people do not bother to read about Dyslexia, and yet are very quick to pass judgement upon people with this potential gift. But for the rest of us who are not closed minded enough to limit ourselves to misconceptions, the solution would be to read about dyslexia and spread the word… and who knows… one of us might be the next one to give a dyslexic child the possibility to develop his/her true spontaneous and powerful nature!