A future of reversals: Dyslexic talents in a world of computer visualization

With the recent revival of visual approaches at the forefront of several scientific, mathematical, and technological developments, this paper proposes that visually oriented dyslexics may be in an increasingly favorable position in future years. The same set of traits which has caused them so much difficulty in traditional verbally-oriented educational systems, may confer special advantages in emerging new fields which rely heavily on visual methods of analysis-fields which employ powerful graphic workstations and supercomputers to visualize complex scientific data. Recent trends have also led some technical professionals to become aware that their own special talents seem to be closely associated with certain dyslexic traits. It is argued that similarly mixed talents have been major factors in the accomplishments of a number of important historical figures.