Tangents

Tangents tunnel and weave through my thinking,

their pointed ends stick out at odd angles,

puncturing, perforating, the edges of smooth

rounded thoughts. These spikes poke and jab at

ideas during conversations, demand to be noticed,

to be taken into consideration. They take me

off in strange directions, but usually, in time,

they arc back, boomerang back to where we had started out from, bringing with them a

shimmering trail of new ideas,

unsuspected and unasked for.

—Rebecca Loncraine

Tap Dancing on Cream

Waltzing on a pin head,

or skip lightly and free,

on feet made of lead.

Tap dancing on cream,

whilst you slumber and dream.

Writing incomprehensible,

letters inconsequential,

intellectual dyslexics,

a contradiction it seems.

Delusions of intelligence,

ambitions a bloody nuisance,

still this dyslexic dreamed.

Three degrees later;

the impossible becomes possible.

Alpha? Gamma? Beta?

Words cast in lead,

soar in my head,

like birds in the air,

letters inconsequential

come together like angry bears.

Second class citizen no longer,

scholar now I tap dance on cream,

with feet made of lead

and waltz on a pin head,

whilst you slumber and dream.

—Craig Collinson

i’m not linear, i don’t make sense

role of your tongue

i am out of context

there is nothing essential about me

i only make meaning in context

it is just about the way that you use me

situate me, without a user i am usless

i am just a word sister

don’t be fooled.

—Naomi Folb

Words

i never knew what words were

til i met one

all bottled up and confused and i coexed it

made it open up to me

i remember how at first she was afraid,

reluctant and acquiasent

saying you have got me all wrong

i am prenounced si-clic-cal not sick-li-cal

Details

I can describe the thing in real detail, all the

smallest, most important bits of it. But I can’t

name it, can’t tell you who made it.

And you’re not allowed to describe something,

no matter how rich the detail,

unless you can name it first. That’s the door in.

I try to find the name, the title, but I can’t.

Umming and ahhing and flapping my hand

like an idiot. It’s no good. I can’t find it,

so I don’t say anything at all.

And I look like a fool with no memory,

with no real grip on the world.

—Rebecca Loncraine

With golden rays shining through

With animals scurrying around

With leaves dancing on the ground

But soon it will start to fade

And all together disappear

We know that it is time to go

For this place of wonder, peace, and serenity

Will come again

When words fly

—Maddie Snyder

world in parallel

There’s a version of the world that exists in parallel

to this one, which appears sometimes during car

journeys. As I fly past words out there in the world,

the speed allows me to misread them. I didn’t know

there used to be such a thing as a ‘sugary’ as well as

bakeries and butchers. I imagine people in ye olden

days queuing up to buy sugar carved in ounces from

huge sugar loafs. Rough and crumbly. Bumpy,?

random shaped lumps of sweetness, and not orderly

cubes. I discover later that what I had seen was a surgery.

My momentary insight into that other place recedes,

and the world of accuracy and precision, of medicines

and cures, reasserts itself.

—Rebecca Loncraine

Letters Inconsequential

Ohio University School of Art + Design Graphic Design Graduate Thesis Stacey Riley Stewart

When red rims the vision

When words fly

When darkness and despair distend

When escape is a must

We must find

A jade covered palace

With rich earthy browns

With the sound of water

With the smell of damp earth

With a cool wind blowing

With endless ladders to the sky

Words

i never knew what words were

til i met one

all bottled up and confused and i coexed it

made it open up to me

i remember how at first she was afraid,

reluctant and acquiasent

saying you have got me all wrong

i am prenounced si-clic-cal not sick-li-cal

Empathy allows individuals to gain an

understanding of what others are experiencing

or feeling. Maxine Greene, an American

educational philosopher states, “It [empathy]

is what enables us to cross the empty spaces

between ourselves and those we…have called

‘other’ over the years.” As a MFA candidate

in the School of Art+Design at Ohio

University, I have explored whether it is

possible to create an experience that allows the

non-dyslexic to experience empathy for those

with dyslexia.

Understanding needs and challenges

associated with dyslexia is essential to helping

individuals learn to manage their language

deficits, build self-esteem and experience

success. We have scientific proof that changes

in the classroom can assist dyslexic learners.

These changes do not have negative effects on

other students; studies show they sometimes

benefit a wide range of students. The more we

know about dyslexia, the more we can support

individuals with learning differences.

What meaning does a letterform hold?

Some letters convey meaning on their own,

while others must to be combined to form

words and sentences. What if letterforms

combine yet still seem to have no meaning?

What if they combine and you are the

only one who cannot understand them?

Letters and words, devoid of meaning,

are a familiar sight for many of us. In the

United States alone, one in five people are

affected by Dyslexia.

Through manipulation of dynamic typography,

I have created environments that offer artistic

interpretations of the dyslexic experience

of reading. Immersed in distorted moving

text, viewers must grapple with the frustration

of trying to decode meaning. My video

explorations interpret poems written by

individuals who live with dyslexia. The poems

are from an anthology titled Forgotten Letters,

edited by Naomi Folb, published in 2011.

While dyslexia is a familiar term, most

people have misconceptions about it.

Dyslexia involves challenges with cognitive

processes—including the interpretation

of graphic symbols, such as letterforms.

According to the American Psychiatric

Association, an individual diagnosed with

dyslexia is considered learning disabled.

To initiate a shift in focus of our conversations

about learning potential, it is crucial to unravel

the misconceptions that surround dyslexia.

Empathy may be essential in this process.

The notion of dyslexia as difference has

considerable value in a culture that tends to

emphasize dyslexia as a disability or disorder.

Viewing dyslexia as a difference can provide

a critical foundation for understanding,

inclusion and support for individual

thinking styles — in the classroom, workplace

and other institutions of our culture.

There has been productive activity in the

research of dyslexia in both medical and social

science fields, with a focus on answering the

question, “What is wrong with the dyslexic

learner?” While this type of work is important,

it can influence prejudicial and derogatory

attitudes about individuals coping with

dyslexia. To support all types of learners in

our society, dyslexia must be truly appreciated

as a learning difference rather than just a

learning disability.