Flavors of Dyslexia, Strenghts of Dyslexia

 There are what I like to call "flavors" with dyslexia.
My brother with dyslexia is a 30-something year old who now reads quite well (although he would say his reading is slower than he would like).   His strong talent area is ART.  He is wonderful with sculpture and pottery.  Anything three dimensional is a strong point for him but also I have noticed that his photographs are very good too. 

He spent many years studying art so I cant say for sure if this all innate or not but there are some BIG STRENGTHS with his brain and art. He also spends a lot of time working on great computer related art.  I'll try to post some of his work soon.

Although my brother was diagnosed with dyslexia in fourth grade, I believe that my daughter actually inherited an undiagnosed dyslexia from my husband's side of the family. 

My husband's family is strong in MATH.  I would also add science to that.  From the beginning she has worked ahead with no problem.  I would estimate that she is about 2 grades ahead of most first graders at this point.

Another place my husband's family seems to excel is in MUSIC.  We are preparing to start piano lessons although she has expressed an interest in other instruments also.  My husband has an extensive music collection and even back in high school he delved deeply into different forms of music than his peers did. My husband and family have never been diagnosed but my daughter seems to be following in the strengths of that side of the family.

Howard Gardener makes the case for what he calls multiple intelligences.  Instead of the idea of an IQ test.  He has a list of areas but I'm not sure he actually goes far enough in his variety.

I like to think of all the places people can be talented.  It's amazing to think this way about our species.

Here is a short list of some places people can have talent:
Science
Gardening
Understanding Animals
Cooking
Movement: Gymnastics, Ballet, etc.
Listening
Compassion and Empathy
Art: Painting
Art: 3 dimensional
Art: Multimedia
Music: playing, listening to etc.
Understanding Computers
Language: Foreign (speaking or reading)
Language: Storytelling
Language: Public Speaking
General Creativity (I think this often comes out in places like home decorating)
Understanding Spiritual matters
Judging Human Nature (also known as being able to sum up a persons character quickly)
Street Smarts (in some cultures it takes a lot of smarts just to survive)

I listed these so that when you are looking at your own family and your child you don't discount the places where there are strengths. 

I see strengths as our road map to where we are headed next.