Dyslexia is a hereditary neurological disability marked by difficulties reading or spelling that are surprising given a person's competence in other areas.

How Does Dyslexia Affect Abilities for Science?

Many highly accomplished scientists perform very well in science despite reading impairments that in some cases are severe. For example, the Nobel laureate Baruj Benacerraf accomplished important discoveries in science despite severe impairments for reading.

Could People with Dyslexia be Predisposed to Science?

The Laboratory for Visual Learning at CfA is investigating a hypothesis that people with dyslexia, because of differences in neurology, may be predisposed to certain forms of visual processing that are useful in science. We are currently carrying out research to test this hypothesis, specifically looking at how dyslexia affects abilities of astronomers to analyze image-processed data.

Are People with Dyslexia Good at Science?

The Laboratory for Visual Learning at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has been funded by the National Science Foundation to investigate whether differences in neuro-anatomy help people with dyslexia perform certain types of visual processing that are important in science (but less important for reading).

The goals of this research are to
• Investigate the Neurological Hypothesis in the Context of Astronomy
• Study the Impact of Dyslexia on Science Careers

Helping the Scientific Community

As part of this work our program also intends to provide support for people with dyslexia who are involved in science by providing
• An opportunity for scientists with dyslexia to build community
• Mentoring for young people with dyslexia interested in astrophysics
• "Career survival" tips developed by respondents
• Access to reliable information about dyslexia

This research is supported by the National Science  Foundation under  NSF award HRD-0726032, Research in  Disabilities Education (RDE) program.