M any people may think of dyslexia as a reading difficulty, or the occasional embarrassing mix-up of letters. For years, I thought that too. But as a dyslexic academic who has spent much of my life wrangling with academic norms, I’ve realised that dyslexia isn’t just a barrier.
It’s also a unique and undervalued cognitive strength . Yes, you read that right. Dyslexia, the so-called “learning difficulty”, can actually make people better researchers.
And I’m not just saying this to make myself feel better after the hundredth typo in an email. There’s growing evidence that dyslexic minds bring something crucial to academic spaces. They offer a different way of thinking that sometimes gives them a competitive advantage .
Dyslexic thinkers are notably strong in creativity, visual-spatial reasoning (skills such as visualising objects and understanding spatial relationships) and holistic processing (recognising a whole, such as a face or word, better than individual aspects). Dyslexic people frequently come up with innovative ideas, forging connections between seemingly unrelated concepts, and tackling problems from unconventional angles. This creative cognitive style has the potential to not only facilitate breakthroughs in research but also enrich our understanding of complex issues, offering fresh perspectives that can drive meaningful change.
My research explores how dyslexic thinking can enrich qualitative research. This is the kind of research that doesn’t rely.
