Let’s face it, folks, there are a lot of kids out there who are read-i-phobic because books are full of words – those squiggly markings on the page that don’t make sense when you’re just starting out to read, and for some kids, don’t make sense even after spending quite a bit of time trying...Read More

In an earlier post, I pointed out how over the course of millions of years of human evolution, reading and literacy have occupied only the last 5000 years of human existence.  Consequently, our brains did not evolve any brain regions specifically for reading, but must make use of preexisting structures of the brain to make...Read More

When I was a kid I used to enjoy Mad Magazine, which I loved for many reasons, the irreverence, the hilarity, the satire, and more. One feature that I remember in particular involved cartoons that spelled out nonsense words as sound effects. For example:  ”Glomp!” “Flaaack!” ”Pffft!” ”Sproing!” (above – a page from Mad with...Read More

Chalk up another strength for people who have been diagnosed with dyslexia.  A spokesperson for the U.K.’s top-secret electronic eavesdropping program reported that some of their most talented code-breakers are dyslexic. I was just alerted to this fascinating news item from Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide at their terrific web site Dyslexic Advantage. The piece...Read More