Yesterday, I wrote that our society has become overly reliant on scientific data to prove things that should be obvious through common sense observation. If that was unconvincing, here are a few words from a pair of brilliant scientists, Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide. Their new book is called The Dyslexic Advantage.
They write,
For the last two decades, [Dr. Manuel Casanova of the University of Kentucky] has studied the cell-to-cell connections that link the neurons—which are the cells most responsible for information processing—in the human brain.
In analyzing the connections that link the neurons in the brain, Dr. Casanova identified one key feature that correlates both with a predisposition to dyslexia and with the kinds of “right brain” cognitive style we’ve been discussing. This structural feature is an unusually broad spacing between the functional clusters of neurons in the brain’s cortex.
The cells in the cortex are organized into functional units called minicolumns. . . . Casanova noticed that each individual’s minicolumn spacing correlated closely with the size and length of the axons connecting the minicolumns in his or her brain: individuals with tightly spaced minicolumns sent out shorter axons that formed physically smaller or more local circuits, while persons with more widely spaced minicolumns sent out larger axons that formed physically longer-distance connections.
The bias toward either long-range or local connections turns out to be highly important because there are enormous differences in how the circuits formed by these connections function and in the tasks in which they excel. Local connections are especially good at processing fine details—that is, at carefully sorting and distinguishing closely related things, whether sounds, sights, or concepts.
In contrast, longer connections are generally weaker at fine-detail processing but excel at recognizing large features or concepts—that is, big-picture tasks.
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Translation: Kids walk into your classroom with brains that are each uniquely wired. There is no such thing as “normal.” Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses.
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The authors again: In this book, we’ll argue for a radical revision of the concept of dyslexia: a “Copernican revolution” that places abilities rather than disabilities at the center of our ideas about what it means to be an individual with dyslexia. . . .
Dyslexic brains have their own kinds of strengths and benefits, and these advantages should be recognized and enjoyed.
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Translation: When we send kids off to schools that are based on a model of standardization, we ignore the unique talents of their unique brains.
To steal a phrase from PSCS founder Andy Smallman, school should help kids become more of who they already are, instead of trying to turn them into something they’re not.
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