# The Dyslexia Myth **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 8, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dyslexia-myth/520483 "2009-12-08T19:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dyslexia-myth/520483/61 "2009-12-14T22:05:02Z")
> [@Chief Pedant](#): > > Yet for some reason we have become more comfortable with a “clinical” label such as dyslexia over a non-clinical label such as “stupid.” > > The relative palatability of a clinical diagnosis over a non-clinical one definitely promotes a tendency toward diagnosis and away from simple pejoratives. “I have a glandular disorder; I am not just fat. I have a learning disability; I am not just stupid.” But in practice there is no distinction at all, and no difference in worth as human beings or worthiness of accomplishment. The value of a clinical diagnosis lies solely in an approach to amelioration for that particular type of disability. Emphasis added to point out the contradictory nature of the emphasized statements. Your second statement clearly shows why there **is** a significant distinction in practice between being identified as “dyslexic” and being identified as “just stupid”. If we know that somebody is dyslexic, we know something about the specific problems they have with language, particularly written language. Moreover, we know that these problems with language don’t imply corresponding “stupidity” in other cognitive areas. This is important information which gets lost if we pretend that there’s no practical difference between being called dyslexic and being called stupid. > [@Chief Pedant](#): > > Furthermore, the root causes of stupidity and the root causes of dyslexia are the same: genes and circumstance. Sure, and so are the root causes of shortness and baldness. But that doesn’t mean that being short is the same thing as being bald, nor is being dyslexic the same thing as being stupid. I agree that individuals should not be identified as dyslexic if they don’t actually present the symptoms of dyslexia just because people think that “dyslexic” sounds less pejorative than “stupid”. But let’s not overcompensate by erring in the other direction and pretending that there isn’t any useful distinction between dyslexia and stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dyslexia-myth/520483/62 "2009-12-14T22:46:35Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Aside from the practical problem of just quantifying intelligence across completely different skillsets (language, math, creative problem solving…), we have not come anywhere near figuring out how the brain works. Yet for some reason we have become more comfortable with a “clinical” label such as dyslexia over a non-clinical label such as “stupid.” So do you appreciate the difference in labeling someone “clumsy” and diagnosing someone with cerebral palsy or some other neurological disorder? “Stupid” implies a person who is clinically normal who falls well below average intelligence. Not everyone is going to be a genius, therefore it should come to no surprise that every population will have some stupid people in it. Stupid, of course, is purely relative. Afterall, the stupidest human is probably the 1000 times smarter than the average sheep. Dyslexic is not a relative term. It refers to a specific condition that can be diagnosed with some degree with reliability and most importantly, worked around. If you want to go around calling dyslexic people stupid, it’s a free country. But the concepts aren’t interchangable. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dyslexia-myth/520483/63 "2009-12-14T22:55:48Z")
The idea that “dyslexic” and “stupid” are interchangeable terms is really dyslexic. ---
**Author:** ![independentminded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed8c4c/32.png) [@independentminded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/independentminded)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dyslexia-myth/520483/64 "2009-12-15T16:19:35Z")
> [@Paleface](#): > > I’m sure that Dyslexia is a real impediment that afflicts some people. But, it just seems that I hear, “I am dyslexic” or “my child has dyslexia” a little too often to reflect the actual pervasiveness of the affliction. > > I suspect that it is oftentimes used to mask stupidity. Dyslexia is a common learning disability, but to say that anybody with dyslexia is automatically saying that as an excuse for being stupid is preposterous. Dyslexia is a biologically-based, innate problem that people are just plain born with, and nobody knows how or why some people come into the world like that. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dyslexia-myth/520483/65 "2009-12-15T21:56:54Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > **bordelond** : The fact that Cambridge did such a study is an urban legend. Cambridge did no such study. This little paragraph gets trotted out every now and then, and the first response is often some asshole who, instead of discussing the “scrambled words phenomenon,” will just take issue with the assertion that the study was done at Cambridge, thus dismissing the entire topic. Not to put words in her mouth, but **N,S** seems to have taken issue with this out-of-hand dismissal. Thanks. I see that my first post was all jumbled and confusing. I don’t blame borderlond for being confused. Thanks for taking the time to clarify my post. Thanks to begbert2 for trying, too. I really am gonna have to step up my communication game. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dyslexia-myth/520483/66 "2009-12-15T21:59:59Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Thanks. I see that my first post was all jumbled and confusing. I don’t blame borderlond for being confused. Thanks for taking the time to clarify my post. > > Thanks to begbert2 for trying, too. I really am gonna have to step up my communication game. No worries - if there was ever a thread for garbled communication, this is it. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dyslexia-myth/520483/67 "2009-12-15T23:11:07Z")
Ok, I’ve not read this whole thread yet, but I’ve been said to be Dyslexic after testing when I was around 10 years old. It’s not that I think dyslexia’s BS, I just think that there’s a wider spectrum of learning styles than we have names for. It’s like autism, which is something I was told I also might have a mild case of. I just think that a lot of the time it depends on the individual who has individual ways of thinking. I’m not sure if I’m dyslexic, I’m sure it exists, but I think there’s a lot of people who are said to have it that either don’t, or maybe have something else. So many people I know claim they’re dyslexic, it’s ridiculous. I was told I have it, and I’m skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dyslexia-myth/520483/68 "2009-12-15T23:24:52Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Changing the subject to an unrelated topic like Sarah Palin, instead of providing actual evidence to support your position in this thread that you voluntarily started, kind of suggests that you’re trying to divert attention from the fact that you don’t really know what you’re talking about. What do you know? The OP _is_ just like Sarah Palin! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dyslexia-myth/520483.md?page=3)