Strange Territory: Investigating Dyslexia in the Brain and the World

This lecture explores the strange territory of dyslexia in the brain and in the world. While thoroughly grounded in the science of reading impairment, the talk takes a personal and anecdotal approach to illustrating the full meaning of dyslexia—particularly how it is manifested in everyday circumstances. What is it like to look for a book in a library for someone who still finds the alphabet a mystery in adulthood? Or, how might dyslexia effect an individual's ability to engage productively in the conventional classroom or work environment? Interactive simulations answer these questions and more, while encouraging audience members to abandon their notions about reading and rethink their relationship to written language in general. The overall goals of the lecture are very pragmatic: the hope is to disseminate both personal and scientific information so that it can directly benefit how the world perceives and interacts with learning disabilities and their manifestations.