The Dyslexic Advantage (Revised and Updated)

Description

An updated edition of Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide’s popular dyslexia book with a wealth of new material and improved dyslexic-friendly font.

What if we viewed dyslexia as a learning and processing style rather than as a learning disorder?
 
Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide use their impressive backgrounds in neurology and education to debunk the standard deficit-based approach to dyslexia. People typically define “dyslexia” as a reading and spelling disorder. But through published research studies, clinical observations, and interviews with dyslexic individuals, the Eides prove that these challenges are not dyslexia’s main features but are instead trade-offs resulting from an entirely different pattern of brain organization and information processing that has powerful advantages. For example, dyslexic adults routinely outperform their non-dyslexic peers in studies on three-dimensional spatial reasoning and divergent creativity—one of the reasons why so many dyslexics are successful engineers. Approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population has dyslexia, and The Dyslexic Advantage shows how each one is predisposed to powerful skills called MIND strengths (Material, Interconnected, Narrative, and Dynamic Reasoning), leading them to possess incredible pattern detection, divergent thinking, episodic memory, problem solving, and prediction abilities.
 
The revised and updated edition of The Dyslexic Advantage includes eighteen rich new profiles of remarkable individuals with dyslexia—such as several world-renowned scientists, a Pulitzer Prize–winning poet, a world-record-setting memory specialist, three MacArthur “Genius” Award winners, the technical advisor for the Jurassic Park movies, and many more. Meanwhile, the enormous advances in dyslexia research over the last ten years provide valuable new insights for educators, employers, parents, dyslexic adults, and anyone interested in neurodiversity and human cognition. Blending personal stories with hard science, The Dyslexic Advantage (Revised and Updated) provides empowering advice on how to identify, understand, nurture, and enjoy the strengths of the dyslexic mind.“In this updated edition, the authors, leading dyslexia experts, analyze new research with modern techniques to emphasize a strength-based approach to dyslexia, instead of the typical deficit-based strategy… this book is a comprehensive must-have title for educators, parents, and those who process things through a dyslexic lens.” —Library Journal

“This brave book helped lay the groundwork for the global neurodiversity revolution—for seeing conditions like dyslexia, autism, and ADHD as alternate styles of learning and being that convey benefits as well as challenges. This updated edition is even more informative, provocative, and wise.” —Steve Silberman, author of the New York Times bestseller NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity

“Simply put, the Eide’s new edition is an improvement upon perfection. Think of it as a software update for the dyslexic operating system.”
—Dean Bragonier, Founder and Executive Dyslexic, NoticeAbility

“This book has made me realize that my fuel in life was coming from the advantage of being dyslexic.  I am now raising my dyslexic children with this book as a guiding light and I know they will become confident world changers.  Thank you Brock and Fernette.”
—Yoky Matsuoka, Founder and CEO of Yohana, Google X co-founder, and recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant

“The Dyslexic Advantage is a true celebration of diversity of thought. In it, the Eides use science and real-world examples to demonstrate that—when it comes to human information processing— different does not necessarily mean better or worse. In fact, any understanding of the shadow of difficulties associated with dyslexia is incomplete without an exploration of the light that creates those shadows. And as it turns out, the brain designs associated with dyslexia can be quite advantageous when tasked with the right problems. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in how different people learn and problem solve, regardless of where you might personally fall on these dimensions of thinking!”
—Chantel Prat, Ph.D, author of The Neuroscience of You

“The Dyslexic Advantage had a profound and positive impact on my life since it explained “me” to me for the first time, letting me know that I was not alone in life and that I had a special gift—a gift that has made it possible for me to “outperform” non-dyslexics in my field of exploration.”
—Dr. Robert Ballard, Explorer-at-Large for the National Geographic Society and author of Into the Deep: A Memoir From the Man Who Found Titanic

“Has any other book ever meant more to its readers? I doubt it.”
—Philip Schultz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Failure, My Dyslexia, and Comforts of the Abyss, and Founder and Director of The Writers Studio

“A compelling call to action.”—Scientific American Mind

“The Dyslexic Advantage shows you how to celebrate rather than suffer from your dyslexia.”—The Times

“Groundbreaking theory for the positive potential of dyslexia… Good advice and encouraging analysis.”—Kirkus
 
“Here’s a practical analysis of a difficult, frustrating disorder that unveils what goes remarkably right as well as what goes wrong.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“Gripping, powerful, and insightful—and for dyslexics, immensely validating.”
—Nancy Ratey, Ed.M., author of The Disorganized Mind
 
“A paradigm-shifting book that captures the remarkable advantages that come with this different style of thinking. This book should be the first people reach for when they want to learn about what it really means to be dyslexic.”
—Vince Flynn, New York Times bestselling novelist
 
“A fantastic read for anyone who wants to learn about dyslexia. Brock and Fernette Eide have a knack for explaining complex ideas and scientific work in a simple manner and offering great insights. This is probably the most helpful material ever published on dyslexia… A classic.”
—Manuel Casanova, M.D., Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of South Carolina
 
“Any book that focuses on the benefits of having a dyslexic brain should be celebrated… This book has some of the best writing on the subject of dyslexia that I have come across.”
—Jeanne Betancourt, author of My Name Is Brain Brian
 
“This provocative book explores the misunderstood side of dyslexia that is characterized by skill and talent… This is a must-read.”
—Gordon F. Sherman, Ph.D., former president of the International Dyslexia AssociationDrs. Brock and Fernette Eide are leading experts in the fields of dyslexia and cofounders of the nonprofit Dyslexic Advantage and the social-purpose corporation Neurolearning.com. They have served as consultants to the President’s Council on Bioethics and as visiting lecturers at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. The first edition of their book, The Dyslexic Advantage, was an international bestseller.US

Additional information