One great benefit of the design of our practice is that we get a chance to spend plenty of time with kids and listen to their stories. Some of the most remarkable young storytellers we see are difficult at this age to capture with conventional tests because their stories are so spontaneous, impassioned, and whimsical, and they'd promptly disappear if we ever asked them to write out their ideas by hand.
It's nice to see that when some of these gifted dyslexic storytellers grow up, they capture world-wide recognition (like the fabulous "unteachable" dyslexic writer of I Coriander, Sally Gardner, or the prolific Emmy Award-winning screenplay writer and author Stephen Cannell). Until they're grown, most young dyslexic storytellers will only share their stories orally with their closest friends and families.
The other day, I tried to put my finger on what it was that seem so distinctive about these fantastic storytellers, and it occurred to me how poorly any sort of formal test would be to capture it. Often the most moving or riveting stories conjure up for me clear images of events and places and times, so that I was no longer a just a passive listener, but I felt there and in the story. For some students, gifts appeared in how they could exactly capture the "voice" of characters (the music of different people's conversation) or their empathy for the feelings, thoughts, and perspectives of other people.
We often hear the strengths of dyslexics referred to as visual thinking gifts, but in some cases, cinematic thinking may be a better term. When I'm listening to a cinematic storyteller, I feel like I'm moving with the camera's eye, watching scenes unfold, and experiencing multisensory detail as a participant in a story much more than passive observer.
Small wonder there are many gifted actors, actresses, and filmmakers found on lists of "Famous Dyslexics." With the average young gifted dyslexic storyteller, though, we really have a long way to go to really appreciate their talents and abilities or even make them feel welcome in the day-to-day world of K-12 school. We have to do better. Adulthood is just too long a time to wait to be discovered.
Stephen Cannell
"Unteachable" Successful Dyslexic Novelist Sally Gardner
Eide Neurolearning Blog: Gifted Dyslexics
Famous People with the Gift of Dyslexia
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5 comments:
It's not too hard to take down the dictation of a young storyteller. We have some priceless stories I wrote down 15 years ago, dictated by a kid with an offbeat imagination.
I'm a gifted/dyslexic professional novelist. Not profoundly dyslexic, but enough to still interfere with daily life. I started trying to write ate the age of eight. *g* The dyslexia definitely affected my writing, but it in no way kept me from continuing to work on my writing!
WOW, I never read such an interesting way to describe how my child relates to the world. I just told him not to worry too much about the WASL b/c it would never capture his true gifts anyway. W/o knowing any other of his gifts and challenges, can you recommend a learning environment for this kind of "cinematic thinker" at the middle school level?
With in the new economy creativity is the coin of the realm. Yet are schools and our educational systems seem to be trapped with in a model that says that drudgery rules the day.
Dyslexics are merely those people who are least tolerant of the bull--- that so many other people just few as a manner of course. Dyslexia may be the result of a brain design, genetic injury or glorious adaptation. We do know that dyslexic people grow up a bit more distrusting of the world in general. How can you trust a world that switches it's left and it's rights all the time?
Peace
Eric Wolfhttp://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/
I'm absolutely stunned. My daughter is 5 and draws constantly while narrating her stories--she lives in them and she is always whispering them. I disagree with the first post--it is only some stories that she chooses to share--many are her personal daydreams and coping mechanisms that she does not want anyone to hear--I write down many, but she often changes them when she retells them. Her new year's wish was to read and I have been desparately trying to find out why it is so difficult for her. This was a terrific article--thank you!!
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