Educational Psychologist Martin Turner is quoted as
having said: “Dyslexics go into the visual arts like sheep head for a gap in
the hedge. They aren't more creative, they are more stressed.”
But according to the Yale Centre for Dyslexia and
Creativity: “Dyslexia is often spoken of as a hidden disability. What is not at
all appreciated is that dyslexia can also be a hidden source of great abilities
and frequently unrecognized powers.”
The question at the heart of the debate is this: is
dyslexia a disability or a difference?
Having taught creative writing for many years I have
worked with several students who believed they were not creative. And yet all
of these self-identified ‘non-creatives’ came out with many creative story
ideas (much to the amusement of the rest of the class). Whenever their
creativity was pointed out to them, they said: “That’s not creative! I didn’t
make it up. I just put together a couple of different things that really
happened.”
To me, such juxtaposition is the essence of
creativity. But to them – because they could understand where the ideas were coming
from – they regarded the process as not creative.
Every new thought must have an origin. But some of
us are less able to track back in our minds and understand the process of
formation. Some processes happen under the spotlight of our conscious awareness.
Others happen on the shadowy edge. And some happen beyond that in the deep dark
of the unconscious mind.
Trains of ideas are sometimes divided into the sequential
and the lateral. The sequential thought process goes in a straight line from A
to B to C. Lateral thoughts seem to be sideways jumps with no obvious direct
origin – though in reality there must be a connection of which we are unaware.
The degree to which we a person has lateral thoughts
is sometimes used as a measure of their creativity. Lateral thoughts are the
hallmark of the creative mind.
In the diagram below, the conscious thought
connections are shown as arrows. The unconscious connections are shown as
dotted lines.
 |
| Sequential and Lateral Thinking |
The creative person seems to be having new ideas,
apparently unconnected to the previous thought. This leads to a series of
lateral jumps.
But in my opinion, people who claim to be uncreative
also have these lateral jumps. The difference is, they are quickly aware that
they have strayed from the direct line. Thus they make a conscious effort to
pull themselves back. And they are able to do so because they hold the original
line clearly in their working memory.
The people who we regard as creative may simply be the
ones who are content to abandon the original train. Alternately, if they have
poor working memory, they may try to jump back but discover that the original
line of thought has already faded. Thus they may have no choice but to stick to
the new line.
 |
| Working Memory Problems Interrupting Sequential Thought Trains |
Seen in this way dyslexia and creativity might
indeed be related.
Having said all the above, these thoughts have no stronger basis than my own observations of myself and my students. I would be very interested to hear other people's ideas on this question.
