In 2016, I drafted a manuscript titled Are You Ready? which discussed how advanced technologies would disrupt and transform our economy, businesses, and employment. Later that year, I tabled the manuscript and continued to dig deeper into my research in search of hidden patterns and trends.
The results are discussed in my next book How Dyslexics Will Rule the Future. The book is more than a discussion about how technology is changing everything. It is also about the future, the more I edit the more I think about how we have to be the visionaries of the future.
How we have to think about the jobs that will be created based on the increasing use of visual technologies. So many prior dyslexics and neurodiverse individuals thought differently to envision and create a roadmap to follow.
These are the emerging trends I have discovered from my research and hundreds of conversations and interviews in the past two years.
- Advanced technology increases competition while at the same time it can also reduce the ability of companies to differentiate their service offerings in the marketplace. To innovate, companies are beginning to hire individuals who think differently with an entrepreneurial mindset.
- Second, is the transition from solely using our print-technology based intelligence to needing more individuals who are visual intellects. With the rapid integration of virtual reality and augmented reality in education and work environments, the demand for visual intellects who understand and create can highly intelligent graphical images will increase.
- Hidden within the disruptive mix is evidence that advanced technologies will redefine literacy and language which will further transform work and employment.
- Lastly, the most crucial trend for the future is the quest to envision and develop jobs and work environments that have yet to be created.
- To create the future, we must first envision the future. Neurodiverse and individuals with dyslexia are known for their visionary talents. Steve Job, Einstein, Richard Branson, Skip Howard to name a few.
- For companies to remain sustainable and develop durable models, the ability to envision the future, the thought process must be based on future images, not based on what we know today.
The theme of the book has shifted with the tone to reflect more about how dyslexics will be instrumental in envisioning the future. We are creatives, inventors, the individuals who think differently.
As artificial intelligence (part of machine learning) creates complex predictive algorithms, original creative ideas will be derived from the human brain. Which is why I believe dyslexics and our ability to think differently is critically important for the future. This statement can also include all neurodiverse individuals as well.
A word of thanks to my readers and supporters on social media in the U.S. and U.K. I have worked and reworked this book – to challenge status quo and to change the perception of dyslexia and neurodiversity. To move foward, we must focuse on our areas of strength.
Tiffany Sunday is presenting at the 2018 
On Thursday, August 10, I was a guest on Elisheva Schwartz’s Podcast – The Dyslexia Quest. Her show is ranked in the top 30 iTunes podcast shows. We talked about a range of topics from my experiences as a student in school to how technology is creating more career opportunities for dyslexics.
Once again it is voting season for SXSWedu Panel Picker proposals.