Dyslexia- Disability and Advantage in Science

By Molly Cavanaugh

When I was first diagnosed the tester said it would take me a minimum of 5 years to graduate college, if I could graduate at all. The diagnosis was moderate to severe dyslexia with extra phonetic processing issues. As I was in 7th grade and a snarky child, I told the doctor “I’ll do it in 3”. It took me 4… so we were both a little right. That said- I am currently a PhD candidate, so I still win.

Every person that I work with, I will inevitably have to explain that I have dyslexia. Sure, most lab work doesn’t require very much reading but how do you explain spelling your name wrong? The honest truth is that if I don’t explain my disability ahead of time, people will judge and assume I am stupid. I have found the trick to being treated with respect and care was admitting my weaknesses ahead of time. This allows me to control the situation and to show off my strengths instead of my weaknesses.

Of course dyslexia can be seen as a weakness. It comes with real disadvantages, that’s why it is a disability. Scientific papers are almost always impossible to read because of the similar words, the abbreviations, and the letters being close together (all things that make reading harder for dyslexics). I will never be able to read anything out loud, even sometimes words in my own presentations. Learning the basics of the programming language R was a daily struggle. I, like everyone disability or not, have things that I am terrible at!

But it also gives me advantages!

• I am used to advocating for myself, which is an essential skill in a PhD program, and life. During my undergraduate degree, I had professors tell me to “read better” or “try harder”, even knowing that I have dyslexia. This taught me how to speak up for myself. As a graduate student, I have been able to speak up about my abilities, my struggles, and needs.
• I also have a different way of thinking. Dyslexic’s brains take the back roads, but it means they see things from a different angle. This out of the box thinking has made my prospective unique and important.
• Dyslexia, and people thinking I can’t achieve, have hardened my determination. One of my interviewers for graduate school told me that ‘her husband thinks he might have dyslexia so she knows it doesn’t impact me that much’. I struggled with what to do after that because I knew reporting the discrimination would mean I would not get into that university, but did I want to be at a school like that? In the end, I filed a disability report and I was in fact rejected. Instead, I found a supportive environment who saw me as the full person I am. 
• It has opened me up to being wrong. There is nothing like graduate school to teach you that you know nothing yet. My disability meant that I made many mistakes- ask my mom about the whole book I read about an avocado skin (turns out it was about a snake skin). Being wrong is not inherently a bad thing, it gives you a chance to learn and grow.

There are so many people who are told that science is not for them, me among them. But everyone has individual strengths and we can lean into them. There will always accommodations that cannot be made. For example, my level of reading disability would totally disqualify me from being any kind of typist or editor. But most disabilities do have reasonable accommodations that can make school or your job easier! With extra time reading, access to highlighters, and spacing out words, I have gone from a kid who couldn’t spell ‘ashma’ to a PhD candidate in microbiology, who still cannot spell ‘ashama’.

In the US, people considered minorities, including those with disabilities, are seeing opportunities fade away. DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) is not the enemy. People with disabilities aren’t being included just because we are good for appearances and grants, we have individual strengths. I think differently than anyone else in my lab, giving a new view. 50 years ago I never would have been included, my spelling mistakes alone would have disqualified me. And now, scientists come in every variety, making all of us better scientists with more potential to cure diseases and help the world.

Although I never publish any articles for this organization without a proof-reader, for the sake of disability awareness I published this without any outside eyes.