Dyslexia and Visual Spatial Talents: Are they Connected?

Abstract

Although it has been claimed that with dyslexia comes visual-spatial gifts, the evidence relevant to this claim is mixed. Whereas individuals with visual-spatial gifts have a disproportionate incidence of reading deficits, including dyslexia, individuals with dyslexia do not consistently show superior visual-spatial abilities. Depending on the task and the study, individuals with reading disorders have been shown to perform at below average, average, and superior levels. The inconsistency in findings is likely due to the use of very different measures of visual-spatial ability. Recent studies from our lab suggest that when global (holistic) visual-spatial tasks are used, individuals with dyslexia excel. Future research is called for to test the hypothesis that dyslexia is associated with talent in global visual-spatial ability.