Dyslexia and Creativity

Dyslexia and creativity is a contentious juxtaposition. Large numbers of dyslexics work in the creative industries. That isn’t disputed. But there is a stark difference of opinion about why. Do they work in creative roles because they are ‘disabled’ by the condition and thus can’t find any other jobs? Or does dyslexia cause them to be more creative?

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

This could offer another explanation for the abundance of dyslexics in the creative industries. If poor working memory pushes people towards a more lateral style of thinking, then dyslexics, who typically have working memory problems, would appear to be naturally creative.

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.

The Dyslexia Debate

The Dyslexia Debate is a new book by Professor Elliott of Durham University. The mass of publicity surrounding its launch has suggested variously that dyslexia is a 'myth' that it is a construct by middle class parents whose children are not learning fast enough and that giving dyslexics extra help is an injustice to other students.

This has caused distress among a group of people who are already suffering. So I thought I would lay out one of the many reasons that I believe the concept of dyslexia to be useful.

Some process has selected a group of people and given them the label 'dyslexic'. I'm one of them. Whenever I get together with other adults labelled in the same way, we discover many levels of similarity that other people can't even understand.

  "Do you get that thing where...?"
  "You too?" 
  "I thought I was the only one in the world who did that!"

We can all read and write. We are all well practiced at hiding the difference - though it is stressful and we don't always manage it. But when we get together it is as if we have found a family we never knew we had. All those little quirks and stresses that make us feel out of step with the world - in that company they are gone.

I didn't choose the word dyslexia. I didn't choose what family background I came from. But something deep down on the level of cognitive processing is different from the mainstream. It made learning to read and write agonizingly difficult. I did learn, but reading still takes a lot of concentration for me and my spelling is all over the place - even though I am now a novelist.

They can argue about the name. And they can argue about the best method of helping. And they can argue about disability legislation and funding for special needs education. But my experience tells me that there is a real phenomena here and that the process of identification is selecting a group of people with very similar issues.

Perhaps it would be more comfortable for some people to believe that because the problems are invisible from the outside they can be ignored. Just get the kids to read and write and the difference has 'gone away'?

I'm sorry. It is still here after we have learned to pass ourselves off as non-dyslexic. Something about the dyslexia labelling is working. For the time being it is the only thing we have to enable us to find people with the same differences.

Please don't try to destroy the label unless you have something better to replace it with.

Durham University and Dyslexia - Response

Durham University and the Dyslexia Debate was the subject of a post on this blog yesterday. The front page of the university website was giving such prominence to claims by one of their researchers that the word dyslexia "should be abandoned" that it seemed likely to put off dyslexic students from applying there. Indeed, I have been contacted by several dyslexics since yesterday who have said that they would not have considered applying there had they seen such a website front page.

I wrote to ask Durham university if they had a policy on dyslexia and if they had considered the possible unintended messages their website might be sending to prospective students.

This morning the front page of their website was changed to a far more positive article on International Women's Day, though it still only takes one click to reach dyslexia debate articles. The before and after screenshots are posted below:

Durham University website front page - before

Durham University website front page - after

Durham University and Dyslexia

Prospective students visiting the website of Durham University are at present faced by a series of articles about the research of Professor Julian Elliot, calling for an end to the use of the word 'dyslexia'.

I have written to the university asking if they have considered the potential for this front page to have an unintentional effect discouraging dyslexic students from applying to study there.

 



If they respond, I will report back.