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Chase Robertson
Prof. Laura Knudson
UWRT 1103
October 9, 2015
Cultural Literacy Essay
Many people believe that if someone has dyslexia that automatically means that they
cant read, but that isnt true. There are many levels of dyslexia. Which can range from Einstein
to Muhamad Ali. I myself have dyslexia, and I can read, but it may take me a little longer. Now
some people with dyslexia are much worse then me. My father is also quite dyslexic, dyslexia is
believed to be genetic. One of my favorite events to do as a child was to listen to my father read,
because he reads like I read.
Many people believe that dyslexics are stupid and deserve to put in separate classes from
regular students. This is the biggest cultural myth of them all. On average dyslexics have higher
IQs, but the problem is that a timed test is too short for a slow reader like a dyslexic. My dad was
tested earlier on in his education for his IQ. He had a genius level IQ, but his grades in school
didnt reflect that, so teachers just assumed that he was really lazy, therefore he was put to the
side. After a couple years passed and the same pattern showed that he had an extraordinary IQ,
but still had poor grades in school my dad was brought to a councilor, and they finally figured
out that he had dyslexia. Luckily for my dad my great grandmother was able to pay for my father
to go to a boarding school geared toward teaching children who have dyslexia. While my dad

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was blessed to be able to go to this school many other children with dyslexia who are not as
finically abled are not able to go to these specialized schools and have to try to power through
regular public school. I was lucky, because my dad was able to use the same techniques that he
learned in his boarding school to help and teach me effectively.
Another major way that the cultural myth, dyslexics are stupid and lazy, is disproven is to
just look back in history at documented cases of dyslexia. The most famous dyslexic of all is the
Albert Einstein. Einstein had one of the worst cases of dyslexia ever recorded. He would get lost
walking home from work because he couldnt read the street signs on his way home. The other
historic figure with dyslexia that I want to point out is Muhammad Ali, the famous boxer,
because dyslexic children have above average IQ they are believe to just be flat out lazy with
their work. They have the capability to do the work, but because they read slow they are just
believed to be lazy. Muhammad Ali is one of the greatest boxers in history, do you thing that just
happened by accident. People dont get that to level by slacking off, Ali worked for every win he
got.
There are many similarities between dyslexia and autism in the developing years of a
toddler. These similarities have caused a cultural myth to arise stating that dyslexia is a weaker or
different form of autism. Both disorders cause slow speech development and learning
disabilities. For this reason dyslexia was been sometime compared to autism, but those are the
only similarities between the two disorders. The causes of these two disorders are very different
proving that they are not related.
Dyslexia is caused by the left hemisphere of the brain being bigger, or more dominant,
than the right side of the brain. In more severe cases of dyslexia like my fathers and Albert
Einsteins cases their right brain is smaller than the average brain, but the left is bigger than

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average. In less severe cases like Muhammad Ali and myself have an average size right
hemisphere, but our left brain is still bigger, This results in not quite as high of an IQ, but the
negative reading and learning disabilities are less severe.
Autism on the other hand is based off of brain hemisphere size, but autism affects the
whole body not just the brain. Autism is caused by several abnormalities in the brain from
structure and size, or both depending on some cases. The exact cause of autism isnt hundred
percent known yet. There are many types of autism, thats why the cultural myth that dyslexia is
a form of autism, but dyslexia only affects learning and speech abilities, and majority of the time
they can function perfectly fine in everyday life, but a person with autism is affected all over the
body, and more than likely will not have the chance to live a normal life.
Back to the exact reason how dyslexia affects the brain. The brain is divided into two
hemispheres that each control half the body. These hemisphere actually control the opposite half
of the body, for example: the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and the left
hemisphere controls the right half of the body. Each hemisphere is also in charge of certain
components. The left hemisphere is more math, science, and logical thinking. The Left side
determines a lot of a persons IQ, because it is the logical side of the brain. In fact studies show
that when you try to remember information your eyes look to the top left corner of your eye
socket for the memory, while the eyes look at the top right corner of the eye socket to lie,
because the right hemisphere is responsible for creativity, or creating a lie to say. Like I
mentioned the right half of the brain primarily effects speech, reading, writing, and creativity.
People are usually more left or right hemisphere orientated. Meaning they rely on that
hemisphere either a little more or a lot more than the other hemisphere. Many people dont even

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realize that they rely on one half of their brain then the other half until a third party comes in and
points the evidence out to them.
So in the case of a dyslexic they rely on their left hemisphere much more than the right
hemisphere, because it is bigger and a lot more powerful than the right side. I didnt even
realized just how much I rely on the left side of my brain until my Sophomore English class in
high school. One of the first assignments in the class was to take several learning types
assessments. One of the test was a right brained versus left brained quiz. At the end of the quiz
the quiz would give you a percentage of which hemisphere you used the most. Most of my
classmates were only five to ten percent away from fifty percent for each half of their brain, but
my test results show that I used my left hemisphere seventy four percent of the time, in
comparison to only twenty six percent right brained. Because dyslexics have a larger left brain
which contributes to IQ level is the believed reason why dyslexics have an above average IQ
than the average person.
A cultural myth about dyslexics that isnt quite as potent now as in the path is that
dyslexics have horrible social skills. This myth can be true early on in life, but most improve
social skills as they grow up. Dyslexics develop much like regular people, but they just do it at a
slower rate. Sometimes the right hemisphere doesnt develop as much as the average person, but
the left makes up for by over developing leading to a higher IQ. I had poor social skills when I
was younger, but starting at the beginning of high school my social skills developed. They are
actually still developing, but Ive been told that I can get along with anyone, so I guess I cant
have that bad of social skills.
The main reason for poor social skills at a young age for dyslexic children is because
there right hemisphere wasnt developed as much as a regular child. The dyslexic child doesnt

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understand words as well as their peers, but most dyslexics develop an acceptable level of social
skills to be able to get through an average day with no issues. Dont get me wrong I still struggle
when it comes to pronouncing words well, but it is a thing that the more effort a dyslexic puts
toward that skill the more it will develop.
The last cultural myth about dyslexia is also the biggest one that I want to disprove, is the
belief that the only thing that dyslexia does to someone is make the letters move around on a
paper. Just like autism there are several types of dyslexia all with different levels of impact on
abilities. The best way that anyone has ever explained dyslexia to me is this simple comparison
using regular playing cards: a normal persons brain organizes information, or the cards in the
example, in stacks of either suits or number, but the important idea is that the cards are
organized in a partial order, but a dyslexic doesnt really have an organization system the
information is just a big messy pile of cards. So when a dyslexic is reading out loud they poorly
pronounce words, because they are trying to read fast and when their brain is looking for the
correct word they find a similar word and use it instead. The best personal example of this comes
from my fourth grade class. It was my turn to read the book out load and what I was suppose to
read was, Spaghetti and meatballs, but instead I said, spinach and meatballs. That was the
first major time I realized I had dyslexia like my father. Dyslexia only slightly moves the letters
around, but after a second of focus the letters fall in the right place, this causes dyslexics to read
slower, but we can still readI promise. Many people are surprised when I read sometimes,
because the letters dont always move maybe half the time, but it still only takes a little focus.
Some cultural myth that are false about dyslexics is that they are stupid, lazy, and cant
read. The myth about poor social skills is only partially true, and is more relevant during the

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younger developing years of the brain. The myth about letters moving around is extremely
exaggerated.