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The Creative Dyslexic

Is there a link between creativity and dyslexia? Paula Carson examines the latest theories about a condition that affects unusually high numbers in art and design.

Dyslexia has, in the past, been defined almost exclusively in terms of the difficulties it can create. Even the name accentuates its problematic nature (the word is Greek in origin, ‘dys’ meaning ‘difficulty with’ and ‘lexia’ meaning ‘words or language’). Theorists agree that dyslexia is caused by structural differences in the brain area that deals with language. Principally affecting reading and/or writing, it impacts on how people receive, hold, retrieve and structure information, as well as the speed with which they process it. The symptoms of dyslexia vary in severity from person to person. Tending to run in families, it can affect anybody, irrespective of intelligence, race or social class. In fact, according to the British Dyslexia association, around four per cent of the population is severely dyslexic, with a further six per cent experiencing mild to moderate problems.

Dyslexic children often struggle in school ñ particularly in the British education system, which places heavy emphasis on reading and writing skills. For dyslexic adults, problems of low self-esteem, inadequate skills and unrealised potential make the situation even more complex. Studies show that undiagnosed dyslexic adults are more likely to be unemployed, suffer from addiction or commit a crime. Prison figures are particularly alarming: it’s believed that as many as 40 per cent of inmates are dyslexic.

Take all those elements into account, and the prospects for dyslexic people don’t look good. At Creative Review though, we’ve lost count of the number of talented designers, illustrators, photographers and directors who claim to have pursued their chosen field because of their dyslexia. Dynamic, successful people, who have focussed on the subjects they naturally shone at ñ in this instance visual communication - and done extremely well as a result.

Many dyslexia organisations (among them, charity The Arts Dyslexia Trust) believe onus on the negative needs to be redressed. As the BDA points out: ‘Dyslexic people often have distinctive talents, as well as typical clusters of difficulties.’ Considering that the dyslexic community includes the likes of Richard Rogers; business entrepreneurs Richard Branson and Anita Roddick; and Nicholas Negroponte (dyslexic founder of the Media Lab at MIT/author of book Being Digital) you can see their point. There are many more examples of ‘creative dyslexics’, photographer David Bailey for instance, artists Picasso, Andy Warhol and Leonardo Da Vinci and scientist Albert Einstein.

‘They found out I had dyslexia when I was 11,' recalls Pentagram partner John McConnell, ‘At that time no one really knew what dyslexia was - you were just thought to be a dunce. I had a very high IQ, so the school couldn’t work out why I wasn’t getting on.'

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