In light of the Dyslexia Show being held in Birmingham’s NEC on the 20th March, this week’s blog shall be dedicated to those with dyslexia, and showing how the use of mind maps can simplify and improve your organizational skills, whether you are dyslexic or not.
As many of you reading this will know, Mind mapping can be a fantastic tool for those looking to plan and organize areas of your life. However, those who have dyslexia particularly find this difficult. Thankfully, mind-maps no longer consist of solely pen and paper, which can make planning very difficult and messy. Mind-mapping software has removed the difficulties of writing and helped focus and those thoughts, developing them for planning and working more efficiently and effectively.
Background
Dyslexia is believed to derive from functional and structural differences in the brain, although there is now thought to be a link between reading difficulties and visual function. Individual experiences of dyslexia can vary hugely in the symptoms experienced and the severity of those symptoms. However, most dyslexic people would say they are visual thinkers, seeing pictures rather than words and numbers.
Many dyslexics can experience low self-esteem as a result of the many obstacles they face on a daily basis. Despite this, a person with dyslexia may have considerable talents in other areas, for example art, drama, music or engineering. However, one area they often excel in is with computers. Therefore, having such a helpful tool available can allow their creative talents to come to the fore and their thought processes to flow. This is where Mind-mapping software comes into play. Mind-maps allows you to bring your information to life, as well as being able to plan everything and anything you want with ease.
How does Mind-mapping help those with Dyslexia?
- Less need to focus on spelling, grammar or sentence structure through the use of keywords, images, associations and connections.
- It boosts confidence and brings fun back into learning by bypassing the challenges associated with dyslexia.
- Mind-mapping helps keep your information clean and organized, avoiding “idea spaghetti” that mind-mapping with pen and paper can bring.
- Allows you to get information down in a way that is selective but without assuming it is in any particular order. It allows you to make links between information and see the big picture a glance.
MindGenius for Mind-mapping
Dyslexia affects up-to 1 in 10 people in the UK (source: NHS). However, whether you are dyslexic or not, you should still consider using MindGenius. Our software allows you to stick to planning your ideas in a clear and organized way so that you don’t have that “what did I mean” moment while looking over your previous work.
MindGenius disentangles the ‘spaghetti’ and ensures focus, enables better work to be produced more thoroughly, correctly and quickly, every time. A welcome toolbox, it lays out topics in bite sized chunks the mind can cope with, making a subject so much clearer and easier to remember. MindGenius is available in a large variety of schools and colleges throughout the UK. To find out more about MindGenius’ work in Education, click here.