Dyslexia scotland

http://www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk/the-facts

the facts

Dyslexia is not a recent discovery. Academics have been talking about it for more than 100 years.

Changing perceptions

The term ‘dyslexia’ was first coined in 1887 by Rudolf Berlin, an eye doctor from Stuttgart in Germany. 

In 1896, Dr W Pringle Morgan published the first article on dyslexia in the British Medical Journal. He talked about a 14-year-old boy called Percy whose inability to read was ‘so remarkable, so pronounced that I have no doubt that it is due to some congenital defect... The schoolmaster who has taught him for some years says that he would be the smartest lad in the school if the instruction were entirely oral.’

Thanks to research and groups like Dyslexia Scotland, many people in the 21st century have heard of dyslexia.

Perceptions have changed, and the misconception that dyslexia is ‘stupidity’ has been wiped out for the most part.

Did you know?

• The word ‘dyslexia’ comes from the Greek meaning ‘difficulty with words’.
• One in 10 of us is thought to be dyslexic in some way. That makes over half a million people in Scotland.
• Each person with dyslexia has a unique set of difficulties, and abilities – like musical talent, or good verbal skills.
• Early recognition, appropriate teaching and support at school can mean people with dyslexia don’t have to lose out.

Famously dyslexic

As well as our President Sir Jackie Stewart, OBE, many well known, successful people have spoken publicly about their dyslexia, including:

• Albert Einstein
• Walt Disney
• Sir Richard Branson
• Johnny Depp
• Jamie Oliver
• Anthea Turner
• Keira Knightley
• Orlando Bloom
• Princess Beatrice

Halgren and drfries experiments

http://www.macalester.edu/academics/psychology/whathap/ubnrp/dyslexia/genes.html

link to website mentioning halgren and defries experiments

Dyslexia - Biological aspects

Grigorenko

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1469-7610.00704/abstract
Developmental Dyslexia: An Update on Genes, Brains, and Environments

1. Elena L. Grigorenko

Article first published online: 7 OCT 2003

The science of reading and developmental dyslexia has experienced spectacular advances during the last few years. Five aspects of this research are discussed in the article. (1) The holistic phenomenon of reading is complex. Many lower-level psychological processes (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonological decoding, ability to process stimuli rapidly and automatize this process, memory, ability to recognize words) contribute to a single act of reading. Conceptualizing the complex process of reading through its partly overlapping but partly independent components—which contribute to, but do not fully explain, the holistic process of reading—provides an excellent model for understanding complex hierarchies of higher mental functions. Those who master reading skills successfully and those who have difficulties doing so differ in a wide range of reading-related processes. The central deficit experienced by poor readers appears to be related to phonological processing (a complex hierarchy of functions related to processing phonemes), whereas characteristics of automatization processes seem to moderate the reading outcome for people whose phonological skills are weak. (2) There are new data addressing models of dyslexia in languages other than English. The most fascinating finding is that the model implicating phonological deficit as central to dyslexia, and the lack of ability to automatize as leading to troubled reading, appears to be universal, regardless of the specific language. However, there is an interaction effect between the characteristics of a particular language and the developmental model of dyslexia. In phonologically more difficult languages (e.g., English), the most pronounced weakness appears to occur in phonological processing, whereas in phonologically easier languages (e.g., German), the crucial role in the manifestation of dyslexia is played by the lack of the skills needed to achieve automatization. (3) There is abundant evidence that reading (i.e., any single act of reading as well as reading as a holistic process) is “cooked” by the brain. Although no unified brain map of reading has been developed, some specific areas of the brain have been implicated in different reading-related cognitive processes by different laboratories and on different samples. (4) Indisputable evidence has been accumulated suggesting the involvement of the genome in developmental dyslexia. As of now, specific regions of the genome have been identified as being intimately involved with a number of different reading-related processes. Today the field of developmental dyslexia is the only area of genetic studies of human abilities and disabilities in which linkages to the genome have been robustly replicated in independent laboratories. (5) Finally, evidence suggests that developmental dyslexia might be only one of the manifestations of a deep, underlying, anatomical syndrome. The comorbidity of developmental dyslexia with both internalizing and externalizing behavioral disturbances, as well as with other learning disabilities, underscores the need for wide-ranging cognitive and behavioral approaches in the remediation programs offered to dyslexic children.

meaning of dyslexia

http://www.spot-your-potential.com/what-is-dyslexia.htm

Spot your potential.com - what is dyslexia?

What is Dyslexia?

The word Dyslexic is based on two Greek words, 'Dys' meaning 'difficulty' and 'lexic' meaning 'with words'. Dyslexia is not a disease it is a condition that you are born with, a difference in the way the brain works. A difference that will be present throughout your life. Dyslexia mainly affects reading and language skills and the effects can range from mild to very severe. The sooner dyslexia is spotted, the sooner suitable learning and coping strategies can be employed to minimise the effects of the condition, take the Dyslexia test now!

People with dyslexia are not stupid or dumb their brain just works differently. In fact did you know that recent research shows that Dyslexics Make Great Entrepreneurs.
The study found that 35% of entrepreneurs in America and 20% in Britain have dyslexia! People with dyslexia often develop special skills, for example, persistence, creativity and the ability to 'think outside of the box'.

Henry Ford was dyslexic, as is Richard Branson who is an extremely successful entrepreneur. They are just two of the many successful and famous people with dyslexia. Visit our famous dyslexics page to read about others.

Franklin Gothic

About this font family

Franklin Gothic was designed by Morris Fuller Benton for the American Type Founders Company in 1903-1912. Early types without serifs were known by the misnomer “gothic” in America (“grotesque” in Britain and “grotesk” in Germany).

There were already many gothics in America in the early 1900s, but Benton was probably influenced by the popular German grotesks: Basic Commercial and Reform from D. Stempel AG. Franklin Gothic may have been named for Benjamin Franklin, though the design has no historical relationship to that famous early American printer and statesman.

Benton was a prolific designer, and he designed several other sans serif fonts, including Alternate Gothic, Lightline Gothic and News Gothic.

Recognizable aspects of Franklin Gothic include the two-story a and g, subtle stroke contrast, and the thinning of round strokes as they merge into stems. The type appears dark and monotone overall, giving it a robustly modern look.

Franklin Gothic is still one of the most widely used sans serifs; it’s a suitable choice for newspapers, advertising and posters.

The ITC Franklin Gothic™ typeface family retains the personality and character of the original ATF Franklin Gothic, with only a slight increase in x-height and character width to distinguish it from the earlier version. ITC Franklin Gothic also retains the strength and vitality that is typical of late 19th century American sans serif typefaces.

Baskerville

Designer/History

John Baskerville. Baskerville, who had made a fortune in japanning before turning to printing when in his midforties, was responsible for several advances in printing technology, improving press platens and packings, formulating darker and faster-drying inks, and inventing wove paper, which was smoother than the old laid papers with their vertical ribbing. all of this enabled him to employ a typeface with sharper definition and thinner elements than was previously possible. This marks the move from the "garalde" to the transitional faces.

Unfortunately, Baskerville could not compete economically with printers using the cheaper, established technology. His matrices were sold by his widow, and changes hands several times, disappearing into obscurity until they were rediscovered and made known by Bruce Rogers around 1920.

"Foundry" or "Fry" Baskerville is a later face based on the original Baskerville, which was cut by the Joseph Fry foundry in 1764. This cutting takes the face more in the direction of the Didots. Rogers used it for display with the original Baskerville as text font.

Baskerville, designed in 1754, is most known for its crisp edges, high contrast and generous proportions. The typeface was heavily influenced by the processes of the Birmingham-bred John Baskerville, a master type-founder and printer, who owed much of his career to his beginnings. As a servant in a clergyman’s house, it was his employer that discovered his penmanship talents and sent him to learn writing. Baskerville was illiterate but became very interested in calligraphy, and practised handwriting and inscription that was later echoed in strokes and embellishments in his printed typeface.

Baskerville is categorized as a transitional typeface in-between classical typefaces and the high contrast modern faces. At the time that John Baskerville decided to switch from owning a japanning business to a type foundry, Phillipe Grandjean’s exclusive Romain du Roi for Louis XIV had circulated and been copied in Europe. The mathematically-drawn characters felt cold, and prompted Baskerville to create a softer typeface with rounded bracketed serifs and a vertical axis.

Times New Roman

A brief history of Times New Roman

Times New Roman gets its name from the Times of Lon don, the British news pa­per. In 1929, the Times hired typog ra pher Stan ley Mori son of Mono type, a British font foundry, to cre ate a new text font. Mori son led the project and super­vised Vic tor Lar dent, an adver tis ing artist for the Times, who drew the let ter­forms.

After Mono type com pleted Times New Roman, it had to license the design to then-rival Lino type, because the Times used Linotype’s type set ting machines. (Think of Mono type and Lino type as the Depression-era Microsoft and Apple.) Since then, Mono type has sold the font as “Times New Roman” and Lino type has mar keted its ver sion as “Times Roman.”

Type set ting tech nol ogy has evolved since then, but due to its endur ing pop u lar ity, Times New Roman has always been one of the first fonts avail able in each new for mat. This, in turn, has only increased its reach.

Objec tively, there’s noth ing wrong with Times New Roman. It was designed for a news pa per, so it’s a bit nar rower than most text fonts — espe cially the bold style. (News pa pers pre fer nar row fonts because they fit more text per line.) The italic is mediocre. But those aren’t fatal flaws. Times New Roman is a work horse font that’s been suc cess ful for a rea son.

Yet it’s an open ques tion whether its longevity is attrib ut able to its qual ity or merely to its ubiq uity. Hel vetica still inspires enough affec tion to have been the sub ject of a 2007 doc u men tary fea ture. Times New Roman, mean while, has not attracted sim i lar acts of homage.

Why not? Fame has a dark side. When Times New Roman appears in a book, doc u ment, or adver tise ment, it con notes apa thy. It says, “I sub mit ted to the font of least resis tance.” Times New Roman is not a font choice so much as the absence of a font choice, like the black ness of deep space is not a color. To look at Times New Roman is to gaze into the void.

Steeped in tradition, the Times New Roman® family has been described as one of the most familiar and successful typefaces in the world – and has been used for just about every typographic application imaginable. Times New Roman is considered an exceptionally legible design that translates well to hard copy and on-screen environments.