Tiffany Sunday

Author | Poet | TEDx Presenter

dyslexia

Visual Thinkers, Dyslexia and Neurodiversity

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With the rapid acceleration of digital visual technology, video content surrounds us everywhere we go. As a result, individuals who possess visual thinking and spatial awareness skills have an advantage.

For individuals with dyslexia, visual thinking and spatial reasoning is both a skill and talent. All our thoughts and ideas appear in our minds, like movies. We can imagine an idea in 3D with a 360-degree perspective.

When we think about new ideas, we can often see the whole picture and how the idea will work. Currently, I am working on a fiction manuscript and see the book as a movie more than words on a page. My visual thinking skills enable me to see the book first, making it easier to write.

Once we have a lock on what we are creating, we back into the idea to transform thought into a tangible product. As a visual thinker, I rarely, if ever, read instructions for putting things together. Instead, I look at the IKEA box and then build it. 

The downside of being a visual thinker is conveying what we see in our mind’s eye to others. We know the forest, the trees, and everything in the forest from top to bottom. Most of the time, we can envision all the details and have a gut on how our vision will work. Transferring our mental blueprint to others is always the most challenging part of the process, which is rarely a straight line. Instead, the process consists of squiggly movement as we test and build the idea. However, often, what we envision is created. 

We Must See First

Being neurodiverse, I rely heavily on visual cues. However, when I receive too much visual information, I become overwhelmed, which is why I avoid clutter. Last month, I spoke with a group of college students, and we talked about how we had to “see it” to create it. Whatever it was, we had to see it. The group discussed dealing with research and term papers.

One of the students talked about their frustration as the professor did not provide a template or sample paper. As a result, the student had no roadmap to follow, which added to her frustration. For the past month, I have thought about our discussion and realized just how much time I spend seeking visual templates for my brain each day. If my dyslexic brain cannot see, it does not exist. Period. 

Value of Spatial Reasoning and Thinking

With all the frustrations of finding templates, I would not trade the visual thinking and spatial reasoning skills my dyslexic brain possess. From my book research for, How Dyslexics Will Rule the Future, I concluded that visual thinking might be another form of human intelligence as information can quickly be conveyed through graphical images derived from our imagination. I also spoke about visual thinking during a podcast interview with Sean Douglas following the 2018 British Dyslexia Conference.

I believe this is why Einstein felt that imagination was more powerful than knowledge because he understood the importance of visual thinking. 

Tiffany Sunday, Key Presenter at Region One Dyslexia Conference, April 22, 2022

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Tiffany Sunday is a key presenter at this year’s Region One Dyslexia Conference on Friday, April 22, 2022.

She will be sharing information with the students about how dyslexia is the DNA for entrepreneurship and innovation. Tiffany is the author of Dyslexia’s Competitive Edge, a book that discusses how dyslexia is a competitive edge for entrepreneurship and business ownership.

The Dyslexia presentation is based on Tiffany’s 2015 TEDx Talk – Dyslexia 2:0: The Gift of Innovation and the Entrepreneurial Mind.

Region One Presentation Topic: Dyslexia DNA of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

During her presentation, she will include examples to help the students understand how the challenges they encounter at school build tenacity and resiliency which are invaluable traits.

Tiffany will encourage students to focus on their creative talents, problem-solving skills, and unique abilities. She will share stories about when she was in school, and how she worked to overcome challenges including failing classes.

Key Points for Teachers and Parents Unable to Attend the Conference

Dyslexics are creative, entrepreneurial, and innovative.

Dyslexia enables individuals to solve complex problems.

Dyslexics develop tenacity from dealing with adversity and bouncing back from setbacks.

Finding downtime for the dyslexic brain to explore, dream, and think is important.

Dyslexics are strong leaders, who understand the big picture.

Many of our decisions are made from a “gut feeling.”

Thank you

Tiffany would like to express her gratitude to everyone at Region One for this opportunity. She believes it is important to share positive information about dyslexia with students.

Tiffany Sunday Speaking at 2018 British Dyslexia Association Conference in Telford, U.K. on April 14

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Tiffany SundayTiffany Sunday is presenting at the 2018 British Dyslexia Association International Conference in Telford, U.K. on Saturday, April 14, 2018.

The title of her presentation is How Dyslexics Will Rule the Future.

Tiffany will discuss the five strengths of dyslexia, how advanced technologies are creating new employment opportunities and career strategies for dyslexic students,  professionals, and corporate human resource managers.

Her talk is based on Tiffany’s upcoming new book How Dyslexics Will Rule the Future due out in Summer of 2018.

Tiffany frequently speaks at national conferences and conducts corporate workshops.

Why October Dyslexia Awareness Month is Important

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Dyslexia is invisible. 

We cannot see how the unique wiring impacts each individual nor can we see the brilliance that lies beneath the surface of misspelled words, word retrieval misfires, and slow reading times.

The invisibility creates a false sense of reality. On the surface, a student’s learning abilities may appear to be sufficient, when in fact the student is struggling in every class.  The student becomes increasing disengaged as they do not understand the material given to them nor can they complete their class assignments.

Being behind your peers, unable to read, write or spell, I believe is one of the most stressful feelings you can have as a student.  We receive questions and inquires on why our work is not completed.  We don’t know why; therefore, we are unable to provide an answer which only creates more frustration.

I remember, as if it was yesterday, being in second grade overwhelmed and frustrated.  I was two grade levels behind my peers and could barely spell the simplest of words. My handwriting was all over the page which compounded the problem.  Even to this day, I can recall the emotions I felt and how I knew at a gut level, something was wrong.

In third grade, my teacher was a graduate student obtaining her dyslexia/reading specialist certificate.  She recommended that I be tested for dyslexia. Finally, a name was given to my frustrations.  I was relieved to know it was not my fault.

Teachers and educators can profoundly change their students’ lives in many ways.  Every time, I write and speak on the topic of dyslexia, I mention to two teachers who forever changed my life – Mrs. King and Dr. Wakefield.  They understood the importance of testing students for dyslexia.

They Understood that Awareness is Everything for a Dyslexic Student. 

For millions of students and adults who are still undiagnosed, awareness is the difference between receiving help or not.  The difference between gaining the essential intervention that can help them achieve their full potential or a lifetime of frustration without ever knowing why.

Only when we have awareness can we solve a problem or assist a student who needs intervention and accommodations.  Without awareness and testing, students will continue to encounter learning challenges.

Dyslexia is unique in that it is invisible, brilliant, and frustrating all at the same time.  Digital tools designed for individuals with dyslexia help reduce many of the language processing frustrations we encounter every day.  I think about how much spell check has changed my life and provided an independence from constantly asking peers how to spell words.

Today, we have handheld devices that can read to us, check the dictionary meaning and scan notes.  We have access to multiple software programs that perform a range of tasks from checking for dyslexia mistakes to the audio dictation of reports, emails, and digital messages.  Each day new software and technologies are launched designed to help us.

We must have awareness first, testing second for progress to occur.

Only then, can these amazing technologies be used to their full potential and reduce the learning challenges encountered by dyslexics.  October is Dyslexia Awareness Month in the United States. Each and every day I work to increase the awareness, ensure all students are tested and receive the accommodations they need to reach their full potential.

This blog post also appeared on Scanning Pens.com website.