Dyslexia and Creativity - Cambridge Scholars Publishing (PDF)

Dyslexia and Creativity   Dyslexia and Creativity: Diverse Minds By Ken Gobbo  Dyslexia and Creativity: Diverse Minds By Ken Gobbo This book first published 2020 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2020 by Ken Gobbo All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-4216-5 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-4216-7  CONTENTS Preface ....................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ................................................................................... xi Chapter One ................................................................................................. 1 History Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 17 Dyslexia and Creativity: The Possibility of Connections Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 29 Thinking and Living Outside the Box: The Education and Work of Robert Rauschenberg Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 41 Writing with Dyslexia: The Education and Early Work of Wendy Wasserstein Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 63 Dyslexia, Discipline, and Persistence: The Education and Art of Charles Ray Chapter Six ................................................................................................ 73 Facing Dyslexia: The Education of Chuck Close Chapter Seven ............................................................................................ 89 Wrestling with Writing: The Education of John Irving Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 101 Themes, Questions, and the Future Index ........................................................................................................ 107   PREFACE The idea that dyslexia and creativity could be connected occurred to me after several years of teaching college students with language processing difficulties. I observed that these students were frequently forced to find creative solutions to problems that resulted from their struggles with language. This produced an opportunity for me to observe the conception, growth, and implementation of many of new ideas. I first put my thoughts related to this in writing for a 1999 article titled "The Positive Side of Learning Differences." The article focused on how students with learning disabilities came to understand some of the concepts I was teaching in my classes. Some used visual organizers while others used their own experience as alternative routes to comprehension. Students might diagram a concept before writing about it, or they might think about applications of theoretical concepts in their own lives or the lives of their friends and families to gain understanding. Both approaches worked well for many (Gobbo 1999). Over the next twenty years I saw unique student approaches described in the article repeatedly in my classrooms. Working with students who had a variety of learning differences allowed me to witness the creative adaptations that enabled them to understand concepts that they might not have been able to grasp by the means regularly used by typical college students. While I noticed that many of them had a strong interest in the arts, at first I thought this group is much like any other group of people in that it included some who had creative insights and a modicum of talent. Over time, however, I realized that they frequently experienced the spark of creativity and their determination and persistence contributed to fueling the fires of their success. In my reading about the lives of people who I found interesting I noticed the difficulties that some of them experienced in school. To satisfy my own curiosity I went to search engines on the internet and entered the terms 'learning disability' and 'creativity.' Within moments, a list of famous people who supposedly had a variety of learning disabilities emerged. The same names came up again and again; Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, Leonardo DaVinci. It is very likely that these men  Preface viii struggled with learning disabilities like dyslexia long before the diagnostic category was routinely applied to those with reading, spelling and writing difficulties. In spite of recognized and recorded problems with the usual educational expectations of their times, they made major contributions to the worlds of science, politics, and the arts. While a diagnosis of dyslexia is speculative for the historical figures mentioned, all five subjects of this book struggled with the learning disability. They are twentieth and twenty-first century creative individuals whose work I have admired. They all have had a major influence on the direction their disciplines have taken, and they all have spoken publicly about the effect their dyslexia has had on their formal educations and creative processes. I was amazed at the extent of the public record related to their experiences in elementary school, high school, and college. Artists Robert Rauschenberg, Chuck Close, and Charles Ray, playwright Wendy Wasserstein, and novelist John Irving each had a very difficult time in school and grappled with the difficulties caused by dyslexia. Yet they persisted to become major forces for change in their respective fields. The relationship between the language processing disorder and the creative processes employed by these individuals appears to be one of the positive features of a dynamic that frequently serves to be the cause of pain, aggravation, and frustration experienced by students and the families who support them. There have been many case histories related to the study of creativity written over the past thirty years or so. The five presented here focus on individuals who have made recognized contributions to their fields and have publicly commented on their struggles with dyslexia. These five cases are not a large enough sample to prove a direct connection between dyslexia and creativity, but they allow for the examination of the relationship between the learning disability and creativity in five very different lives with successful creative outcomes. Looking at these cases also allows for the identification of similar themes and trends. These similarities consistently include the important roles played by those who supported each individual as they developed their creative approaches. Supportive families were essential and the emotional sustenance they provided figured prominently in the lives of each person discussed. The roles of teachers, well known and less so, are also emphasized in these biographical sketches. Whenever possible, their sometimes-innovative approaches to working with students are recorded. The friends and student peers of the emerging artists who played an integral role in the college and  Dyslexia and Creativity: Diverse Minds ix university environments were also critical to the growth of each artist's new ideas. They too are discussed and recognized in these short biographical summaries. Most importantly, the five biographies allow students who struggle with the educational process to see the possible results of persistence in the face of adversity. They also may help the families, teachers and friends of those who struggle to see the importance of the ongoing support they provide to students. Reference Gobbo, Ken. 1999. The Positive Side of Learning Differences: A Variety of Ways of Thinking and Learning. LDonLine. Accessed September 15, 2019. http://www.ldonline.org/article/The_Positive_Side_of_Learning_Diffe rences%3A__A_Variety_of_Ways_of_Thinking_and_Learning?theme =print   ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks go out to several people who provided invaluable support during the process of writing this book. I am particularly grateful to two Landmark College colleagues for their review of early drafts. Solvegi Shmulsky’s ability as an editor and writer greatly improved the presentation of ideas expressed here. Jim Baucom’s deep understanding of dyslexia and teaching was also a great help to me as I worked on this project. I am also thankful for the time my good friend David Bosse dedicated to editing this work. Thanks go to members of my immediate family who commented on sections of the book. Linda Drake Gobbo and Tessa Gobbo read early drafts of chapters, and Andre Gobbo used his talents as an editor to review a later version of the manuscript. I also would like to thank friends who helped with draft versions of articles that later became chapters in this book. They include Charles Monette, Jon Bolaski, and Bethany Knowles. Chapters of this book have been previously published in peer reviewed journals in the field of disability studies. A version of chapter 3, “Thinking and Living Outside the Box: The Education and Work of Robert Rauschenberg” originally appeared in Disabilities Studies Quarterly volume 30 number 3-4 under the title “Dyslexia and Creativity: The Education and Work of Robert Rauschenberg.” A version of chapter 4 “Writing with Dyslexia: The Education and Early Work of Wendy Wasserstein” also originally appeared in Disability Studies Quarterly volume 32 number 2. Chapter 6 “Facing dyslexia: The Education and Early Work of Chuck Close” originally appeared in Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal volume 10 number 3-4. Thanks go to the editors and reviewers of both journals.   CHAPTER ONE HISTORY: LANGUAGE AND THE BRAIN Dyslexia and creativity are complex subjects. Both constructs are influenced by biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces. Dyslexia is a difficulty with language processing that negatively affects an individual’s abilities in the areas of reading and written expression. Creativity is generally seen as the ability to produce new and valuable ideas (Myers and DeWall 2018, 339). This book will examine the intersection and relationship between dyslexia, often considered a disability in a society that places great emphasis on fluent reading and writing, and creativity which drives the engines of innovation. This discussion of the relationship between these two concepts takes place within a social environment that is changing the way people view neurologically based differences like dyslexia. The neurodiversity movement is reframing the way people view conditions like dyslexia, autism, and other differences. The term neurodiversity describes the seemingly endless naturally occurring variations in the human nervous system. Diversity is generally considered to be a desirable characteristic that provides a richness to our natural environments and to our experiences in society. Dyslexia in its different forms, and other conditions like autism and ADHD, are seen as naturally occurring variations of that system. Conditions like dyslexia that cause problems with learning and performance on language-based tasks can evoke frustration and aggravation, and result in a variety of negative experiences. They also impart advantages and strengths. For many, creativity may be one of these advantages. As the neurodiversity movement gains momentum, individuals who experience dyslexia, autism, attention difficulties and other neurologically based conditions more frequently incorporate these differences into their definitions of self. These differences become an important component of identity. In this context creativity is considered here as a significant positive element possibly afforded by dyslexia.  Chapter One 2 The International Classification of Diseases or the ICD-10 (World Health Organization 1992), a diagnostic manual developed by the World Health Organization, describes dyslexia as a miscellaneous “symbolic dysfunction.” It explains that it is a, “specific and significant reading disorder not accounted for by mental age, visual acuity problems or inadequate schooling… comprehension skills, word recognition, oral reading skill, and performance tasks requiring reading may all be affected.” It also mentions spelling difficulties. The International Dyslexia Association, a professional organization that supports individuals with dyslexia, their families, and educators describes dyslexia as a “specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and by poor spelling or encoding abilities. The difficulties result from a deficit in the neurological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of classroom instruction (Lyon et al. 2003).” This language processing difficulty is not uncommon, and it affects between 5% and 17% of the general population (Shaywitz et al. 1992; Shaywitz et al. 2008; Siegel 2006). Although the underlying cause is biological in nature, the resulting difficulties with the use of language have major influences in socio-cultural realms. Difficulties with reading and learning that result from dyslexia generally have a negative effect on participation in school and can result in long- term social and economic disadvantages. When severe reading comprehension causes a young person difficulty, it can color much of his or her life. The problems and disadvantages persist into adulthood. While dyslexia is generally described in a negative light, creativity is almost always viewed more positively. An overwhelming majority, 94% of Americans, value creativity more than they value intelligence, compassion, humor, ambition, or beauty (Haberski 2013). Creativity is also complex in nature. It involves neurological, cognitive, and sociocultural elements. Many have attempted to provide succinct definitions of this multifaceted construct. Rollo May, the American existential psychologist defines creativity simply as, “the process of bringing something new into the world” (May 1975). In his discussions of creativity, he emphasizes the roles of commitment and compassion. Carl Rogers, one of the founders of humanistic psychology describes creativity as, “the emergence of a novel relational product growing out of the uniqueness of the individual … and the materials, events, people, or circumstances of life” (Rogers 1954). In his very detailed study,  History: Language and the Brain 3 Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi identifies creativity as, “any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one. What counts is whether the novelty he or she produces is accepted for inclusion in the domain” (Csikszentmihalyi 1996). Psychologist and psychometrist Ellis Paul Torrance emphasizes, “Fluency and flexibility, originality, and sometimes elaboration” (Torrance 1965). Cognitive scientist and proponent of triarchic intelligence Robert Sternberg posits that creativity is a kind of investment. In collaboration with Todd Lubart, Sternberg proposes that creative people tend to think differently than most others and decide to go off in their own direction. Because they see problems in novel ways, creative individuals take reasonable intellectual risks and challenge conventional beliefs. They buy their ideas “low” and sell their ideas, “high,” promoting them later when they become more acceptable. This requires both persistence and tenacity (Sternberg and Lubart 1992). While all these definitions and comments on the nature of creativity are helpful Mark Runco’s definition is perhaps the most useful. He sees creativity simply as, the development of original ideas that are useful and influential (Runco 2004). The consistent theme in these definitions is that creativity involves processes both cognitive and social. It is seen as the development of new ideas or products that are valued. The two questions considered here are: Does dyslexia affect this process? And how might it do so? This work attempts to pair dyslexia, which is often perceived as a disadvantage, with the complex process of the development and expression of new ideas. It examines the life experiences of five individuals who have dyslexia, and it explores the connections between their specific learning disability and their creativity. This book does not prove that the condition causes creativity, nor does it attempt to romanticize the difficulty thousands of people face every day as they work to decipher language and use it to express their ideas and feelings. However, it does recognize that the learning difference and the resulting different way of understanding the world is part and parcel of the person. The general goal of this work is to present the lives and educational experiences of five very different people by discussing how dyslexia affected their educations, creative processes, their lives, and their work. The lives and early educational experiences of visual artists Robert Rauschenberg, Chuck Close, and Charles Ray along with playwright Wendy Wasserstein, and author John Irving are considered here. All of