Laughton King takes us Inside the Dyslexic Mind

In his new book, Inside The Dyslexic Mind, Laughton King shares his understanding of the dyslexic mind from his own lived experience as a dyslexic child, an angry adolescent, a therapist and eventually an author.

When describing what it is like to be dyslexic, he includes himself:

‘We think in pictures, we chase words around the pages of books, and we have trouble finding any sensible connection between squiggles on paper and real things they are meant to refer to. And this all happens in perpetual reverse gear. You guessed it, for us, school is not cool, and for most of us this makes life tough.’

At the heart of this book is a ground-breaking concept — the diesel/petrol analogy. As Laughton describes it, a dyslexic person is like a diesel vehicle. They run perfectly if you give them the right fuel, but if you put petrol in the tank (i.e., expect them to learn like every ’normal’ child in our current education system) they break down. This book helps dyslexic (diesel) thinkers make sense of their lives and provides valuable guidance for parents and teachers.

Laughton spoke to Kathryn Ryan at RNZ recently, about his experiences, his new book, Inside the Dyslexic Mind, and the ways our education systems need to adapt to help children with dyslexia thrive.

“When it comes to reading and writing, the poor little dyslexic kid is like a diesel engine somebody’s filling full of petrol. We are trying to get this kid to work in a manner that is not natural, and he’s having to effectively work backwards.

“Backwards through writing each word, backwards through writing each sentence, backwards through reading each word and each sentence. Do we wonder that these kids get tired [and] start yawning as soon as they see print? I still have that same physical reaction. I yawn as soon as I see something to read.”

“It is not my job, in terms of the way I see things, to answer all the questions and teach teachers how to teach dyslexic kids. My job is to be the go-between between the dyslexic and the non-dyslexic world, to clarify the style that dyslexic people use.”

King says most of the research into dyslexia is based on successful children, rather than those who are struggling. He says the focus should be on helping parents and the teachers to understand how they might be helping – or sabotaging – their child.

You can listen to Laughton’s full interview with Kathryn Ryan here.