[Music]
six months ago I started my own sperm
bank how about I can see what happened
ladies and gentlemen let’s have a chat
to you about dyslexia anyone be
interested in having a dyslexic baby
world’s first dyslexic sperm bank open
today
hello good morning what’s what you in
today just a bit intrigued actually tell
me what do you know about dyslexia I
don’t know is that jumbled up with
writing you know disability you’ll kind
of siphoned off and put in there
especially boom a lot of people think
that people with dyslexia are stupid
I’ve heard that word used a lot given
the choice yeah would you like your
child to have dyslexia no I wouldn’t
kill it okay and there’s certain things
I just
only 3% of people see dyslexia as
anything other than a disadvantage but
look at the people around this room
Steve Jobs co-founder of Apple inventor
of the iPhone who’s more of an icon for
genius than Albert Einstein we’ve got a
whole catalogue here full of people who
are or were dyslexic like Thomas Edison
Henry Ford Alexander Graham Bell
invented the telephone dyslexics have a
difference in their brains that makes
them literally see the world a bit
differently did you know that 40% of
self-made millionaires are dyslexic the
value of these individuals and their
contribution to all areas is just really
good and all of these dynamic achievers
need to be given up as positive examples
it does not mean to be a variable gene
if you were thinking about how most
people see dyslexia what what words do
you think people would use to describe
them
got a disadvantage there not quite an
ayat really wasn’t it and very funny in
places as well that social research film
was done in conjunction with some
extremely hard-hitting research by
YouGov that looked at the public
perception or misconception around
dyslexia only 3% of people see dyslexia
as an advantage or anything other than a
disadvantage yet we’ve seen from that
film so many incredible people dyslexic
people have gone on to do incredible
things that research was also done in
conjunction with the launch of my new
charity made by dyslexia the charity is
run by successful dyslexics and will
building a community from around the
world of dyslexics to come together to
actually help to change the perception
of dyslexia but also to help people to
really understand dyslexia for what it
is which is a different way of thinking
not a disability and not a disadvantage
dyslexia is caused by a different wiring
in the brain and that wiring enables
people with dyslexia to think creatively
and laterally and differently in the
real world that’s a huge advantage but
in the education system it is a
disadvantage unless those children are
picked up early given the right support
and we focus on their strengths our
mission is to try and come together as a
world and to help to value the huge
potential or and the huge value that
dyslexic people have in the world
now 10% of people are dyslexic but I
would imagine in a town like Brighton
it’ll be a lot more than that because
there’s so much creativity and
and different thinkers around but
hopefully my presentation today will
help you to realize why dyslexia is
important to all of our lives so let me
tell you a little bit about me this is
my big brother and me as kids don’t you
love the old family photographs my
brother and I both dyslexic we were
hugely hugely lucky because we were sent
to one of the first schools in the world
that actually understood dyslexia as a
different way of thinking and also
supported the difficulties that you had
during learning all of my family are
dyslexic but its genetic so that’s not
really surprising my father was a
botanist and he invented the grow bag
most of my aunts and uncles went on to
careers that really dyslexic thinking
really supports that they were
entrepreneurs and they went into caring
professions and have all achieved
amazing things I have to dyslexic sons
one is a poet and the other is a
recording artist so they’ve both
followed their passion and talents into
the creative fields and I even married a
dyslexic so obviously like attracts like
I’d like to just tell you the story of
my school because I think it’s it’s a
really interesting story and it kind of
sums a lot of things up
my school was started in the 1930s by an
absolutely inspirational and very
forward-thinking educationalists called
boss mayor boss was tutoring the Indian
princes over in India and it got to this
stage where the Indian royal family
really wanted the boys to come over to
the UK to England and benefit from the
British private education system so boss
came over with the boys and he did the
rounds of all the top schools like Eton
and Harrow and everywhere he went one of
the sons was one of the boys was being
turned down because he just couldn’t
pass the entrance exam so boss was
fascinated by this because he knew this
lad was just as clever as any of the
other boys but couldn’t understand why
he couldn’t learn so he set about
doing some research into word blindness
or dyslexia as it was just starting to
be called back in the 1930s and Ross
went over to America with a team of
teachers to Columbia University where he
met professors autumn and Gillingham who
were the first people to come up with an
intervention program for dyslexic
children he got a team of teachers
trained in this methodology and then he
came back to the UK and he set up
Millfield school boss also went around
to all the top private schools that had
turned this lad away and basically said
to them send me your duffer’s I want all
the kids you can’t educate and I’m gonna
turn them around he also went to the
parents and said right I can turn your
children around but you have to pay me
four times the going rate that you’ll
pay to eat in the Harrow because with
those with with that money he gave away
three scholarships to children who had
the same difficulties but couldn’t
afford to pay the fees so Millfield
school was built on three principles it
was built on bosses passion for dyslexia
and the fact that dyslexic children and
people had so much to offer the world
that they needed to be educated properly
he was passionate about different
intelligences and the fact that he felt
the education system was so narrow
wasn’t nurturing and supporting the
creativity in the innovation and all the
brains that we know can help to help the
world and he was also passionate about
sport he actually believed that those
three things went hand in hand now
Millfield is now 75 nearly 80 years old
and the alumni is absolutely
extraordinary I was very very lucky
because as part of the research I’ve
been doing to understand dyslexic
thinking skills and the whole talents
and abilities Millfield opened up their
alumni books and allowed me to write all
the old boys and all the old girls to
actually ask them what their experiences
were for Millfield and what they’ve gone
on to do I have to be honest I was
completely blown away by what came back
there
president children there were Prime
Minister’s children there were children
from acting dynasties who had all gone
on to achieve extraordinary things in
their own right but there were also
people who had come in on scholarship
who are completely self-made who had
gone on to do incredible things like one
of the leading lights in fusion power in
the USA or somebody who’d gone on to
create incredible medical breakthroughs
all of these people had one thing in
common
the education system had called them
duffer’s until they got to mill field
they focused on their strengths and they
got the support that they needed so you
can see why I’m really passionate about
helping the world to understand this is
something that we really need to nurture
because our teachers are still not being
trained in dyslexia and there are still
lots of dyslexic children who are going
through life and people thinking that
they’re just stupid when they’re clearly
not now this is my son Ted who’s
actually no 24c doesn’t really like me
sharing this photograph with you but I
love this picture because for me this
picture tells us everything that is
right with our children and everything
that is wrong with our education system
you see Ted here was he hadn’t quite
started school he was nearly 5 years old
and if you look into his eyes you see
what you see in any five year olds eyes
you see imagination creativity hope
inspiration different way of doing
things just this amazing excitement for
life
you see superheroes at that age Ted
thought he could do absolutely anything
but what happens then is we send them to
school and our school system is so
obsessed with conformity and measurement
that all of the creativity that these
children arrive with is just educated
out of them Ken Robinson talks in his
very famous TED talk about some research
into creative thinking and lateral
thinking and when children start
you stall or elementary-school 97% of
them are genius level lateral thinkers
by the time they start secondary jazz by
the time they leave primary school or
elementary school that’s down to just
43% so all of that creativity has been
squeezed out of these children now for
dyslexic kids dyslexic people we’re
hardwork hardwired for that so the
chances are that still going to carry on
through our education and certainly when
we get out into the real world we’re
going to tap into that to do the
extraordinary things that you’ve seen
but if you’re not dyslexic this is a
really big problem because there’s a
plasticity in the brain it’s just like a
muscle if you don’t use it it withers
away and it’s very very hard to get it
back so we’re letting this creativity
wither away and all these amazing
children so it’s an important issue that
we really need to address just bear with
me for a moment if you let’s all look
around the room and have a think about
something most of you will have a phone
in your pocket meant many of you will
have an iPhone as you just saw from the
film Steve Jobs the inventor or creator
of Apple was made by dyslexia so Johnny
who dessert does all the amazing designs
for the iPhone and some of you may well
have come by car or certainly may well
have a car at home Henry Ford who
created the first car assembly line was
made by dyslexia and the light bulbs
that are shining down on us here Thomas
Edison created the light bulb he was
made by dyslexia so and and the other
thing is that a GCHQ the British
intelligence agency who actually keep
our country safe from terrorists
actually actively employ dyslexic people
because of their different way of
thinking in their different way of being
able to solve things and create patterns
so not only as dyslexic thinking created
much of the modern world but it’s also
keeping us safe so just imagine if we
were nurturing this type of intelligence
just
imagine what that could be doing in our
future as we enter an age which is so
exciting but so in uncertain as we enter
the age of the fourth Industrial
Revolution as it’s now being called
we’re robots and artificial intelligence
is going to take over a lot of what we
do as jobs we have absolutely no idea
what the job market is going to look
like in one year five years or ten years
what we do know and what experts are
agreed on is that the type of
intelligences that we need are the type
of intelligences that dyslexics have the
innovation the creativity the thinking
out of the box so my big thought here is
that why don’t we instead of actually
taking these brilliant dyslexic minds
and squashing them into an education
system that doesn’t fit and cause them
disabled or disadvantaged why don’t we
open up the education system why don’t
we teach all children the creativity and
the innovation so they can actually
learn to think like a dyslexic and that
will help to make our future world
[Applause]
six months ago I started my own sperm
bank how about I can see what happened
ladies and gentlemen let’s have a chat
to you about dyslexia anyone be
interested in having a dyslexic baby
world’s first dyslexic sperm bank open
today
hello good morning what’s what you in
today just a bit intrigued actually tell
me what do you know about dyslexia I
don’t know is that jumbled up with
writing you know disability you’ll kind
of siphoned off and put in there
especially boom a lot of people think
that people with dyslexia are stupid
I’ve heard that word used a lot given
the choice yeah would you like your
child to have dyslexia no I wouldn’t
kill it okay and there’s certain things
I just
only 3% of people see dyslexia as
anything other than a disadvantage but
look at the people around this room
Steve Jobs co-founder of Apple inventor
of the iPhone who’s more of an icon for
genius than Albert Einstein we’ve got a
whole catalogue here full of people who
are or were dyslexic like Thomas Edison
Henry Ford Alexander Graham Bell
invented the telephone dyslexics have a
difference in their brains that makes
them literally see the world a bit
differently did you know that 40% of
self-made millionaires are dyslexic the
value of these individuals and their
contribution to all areas is just really
good and all of these dynamic achievers
need to be given up as positive examples
it does not mean to be a variable gene
if you were thinking about how most
people see dyslexia what what words do
you think people would use to describe
them
got a disadvantage there not quite an
ayat really wasn’t it and very funny in
places as well that social research film
was done in conjunction with some
extremely hard-hitting research by
YouGov that looked at the public
perception or misconception around
dyslexia only 3% of people see dyslexia
as an advantage or anything other than a
disadvantage yet we’ve seen from that
film so many incredible people dyslexic
people have gone on to do incredible
things that research was also done in
conjunction with the launch of my new
charity made by dyslexia the charity is
run by successful dyslexics and will
building a community from around the
world of dyslexics to come together to
actually help to change the perception
of dyslexia but also to help people to
really understand dyslexia for what it
is which is a different way of thinking
not a disability and not a disadvantage
dyslexia is caused by a different wiring
in the brain and that wiring enables
people with dyslexia to think creatively
and laterally and differently in the
real world that’s a huge advantage but
in the education system it is a
disadvantage unless those children are
picked up early given the right support
and we focus on their strengths our
mission is to try and come together as a
world and to help to value the huge
potential or and the huge value that
dyslexic people have in the world
now 10% of people are dyslexic but I
would imagine in a town like Brighton
it’ll be a lot more than that because
there’s so much creativity and
and different thinkers around but
hopefully my presentation today will
help you to realize why dyslexia is
important to all of our lives so let me
tell you a little bit about me this is
my big brother and me as kids don’t you
love the old family photographs my
brother and I both dyslexic we were
hugely hugely lucky because we were sent
to one of the first schools in the world
that actually understood dyslexia as a
different way of thinking and also
supported the difficulties that you had
during learning all of my family are
dyslexic but its genetic so that’s not
really surprising my father was a
botanist and he invented the grow bag
most of my aunts and uncles went on to
careers that really dyslexic thinking
really supports that they were
entrepreneurs and they went into caring
professions and have all achieved
amazing things I have to dyslexic sons
one is a poet and the other is a
recording artist so they’ve both
followed their passion and talents into
the creative fields and I even married a
dyslexic so obviously like attracts like
I’d like to just tell you the story of
my school because I think it’s it’s a
really interesting story and it kind of
sums a lot of things up
my school was started in the 1930s by an
absolutely inspirational and very
forward-thinking educationalists called
boss mayor boss was tutoring the Indian
princes over in India and it got to this
stage where the Indian royal family
really wanted the boys to come over to
the UK to England and benefit from the
British private education system so boss
came over with the boys and he did the
rounds of all the top schools like Eton
and Harrow and everywhere he went one of
the sons was one of the boys was being
turned down because he just couldn’t
pass the entrance exam so boss was
fascinated by this because he knew this
lad was just as clever as any of the
other boys but couldn’t understand why
he couldn’t learn so he set about
doing some research into word blindness
or dyslexia as it was just starting to
be called back in the 1930s and Ross
went over to America with a team of
teachers to Columbia University where he
met professors autumn and Gillingham who
were the first people to come up with an
intervention program for dyslexic
children he got a team of teachers
trained in this methodology and then he
came back to the UK and he set up
Millfield school boss also went around
to all the top private schools that had
turned this lad away and basically said
to them send me your duffer’s I want all
the kids you can’t educate and I’m gonna
turn them around he also went to the
parents and said right I can turn your
children around but you have to pay me
four times the going rate that you’ll
pay to eat in the Harrow because with
those with with that money he gave away
three scholarships to children who had
the same difficulties but couldn’t
afford to pay the fees so Millfield
school was built on three principles it
was built on bosses passion for dyslexia
and the fact that dyslexic children and
people had so much to offer the world
that they needed to be educated properly
he was passionate about different
intelligences and the fact that he felt
the education system was so narrow
wasn’t nurturing and supporting the
creativity in the innovation and all the
brains that we know can help to help the
world and he was also passionate about
sport he actually believed that those
three things went hand in hand now
Millfield is now 75 nearly 80 years old
and the alumni is absolutely
extraordinary I was very very lucky
because as part of the research I’ve
been doing to understand dyslexic
thinking skills and the whole talents
and abilities Millfield opened up their
alumni books and allowed me to write all
the old boys and all the old girls to
actually ask them what their experiences
were for Millfield and what they’ve gone
on to do I have to be honest I was
completely blown away by what came back
there
president children there were Prime
Minister’s children there were children
from acting dynasties who had all gone
on to achieve extraordinary things in
their own right but there were also
people who had come in on scholarship
who are completely self-made who had
gone on to do incredible things like one
of the leading lights in fusion power in
the USA or somebody who’d gone on to
create incredible medical breakthroughs
all of these people had one thing in
common
the education system had called them
duffer’s until they got to mill field
they focused on their strengths and they
got the support that they needed so you
can see why I’m really passionate about
helping the world to understand this is
something that we really need to nurture
because our teachers are still not being
trained in dyslexia and there are still
lots of dyslexic children who are going
through life and people thinking that
they’re just stupid when they’re clearly
not now this is my son Ted who’s
actually no 24c doesn’t really like me
sharing this photograph with you but I
love this picture because for me this
picture tells us everything that is
right with our children and everything
that is wrong with our education system
you see Ted here was he hadn’t quite
started school he was nearly 5 years old
and if you look into his eyes you see
what you see in any five year olds eyes
you see imagination creativity hope
inspiration different way of doing
things just this amazing excitement for
life
you see superheroes at that age Ted
thought he could do absolutely anything
but what happens then is we send them to
school and our school system is so
obsessed with conformity and measurement
that all of the creativity that these
children arrive with is just educated
out of them Ken Robinson talks in his
very famous TED talk about some research
into creative thinking and lateral
thinking and when children start
you stall or elementary-school 97% of
them are genius level lateral thinkers
by the time they start secondary jazz by
the time they leave primary school or
elementary school that’s down to just
43% so all of that creativity has been
squeezed out of these children now for
dyslexic kids dyslexic people we’re
hardwork hardwired for that so the
chances are that still going to carry on
through our education and certainly when
we get out into the real world we’re
going to tap into that to do the
extraordinary things that you’ve seen
but if you’re not dyslexic this is a
really big problem because there’s a
plasticity in the brain it’s just like a
muscle if you don’t use it it withers
away and it’s very very hard to get it
back so we’re letting this creativity
wither away and all these amazing
children so it’s an important issue that
we really need to address just bear with
me for a moment if you let’s all look
around the room and have a think about
something most of you will have a phone
in your pocket meant many of you will
have an iPhone as you just saw from the
film Steve Jobs the inventor or creator
of Apple was made by dyslexia so Johnny
who dessert does all the amazing designs
for the iPhone and some of you may well
have come by car or certainly may well
have a car at home Henry Ford who
created the first car assembly line was
made by dyslexia and the light bulbs
that are shining down on us here Thomas
Edison created the light bulb he was
made by dyslexia so and and the other
thing is that a GCHQ the British
intelligence agency who actually keep
our country safe from terrorists
actually actively employ dyslexic people
because of their different way of
thinking in their different way of being
able to solve things and create patterns
so not only as dyslexic thinking created
much of the modern world but it’s also
keeping us safe so just imagine if we
were nurturing this type of intelligence
just
imagine what that could be doing in our
future as we enter an age which is so
exciting but so in uncertain as we enter
the age of the fourth Industrial
Revolution as it’s now being called
we’re robots and artificial intelligence
is going to take over a lot of what we
do as jobs we have absolutely no idea
what the job market is going to look
like in one year five years or ten years
what we do know and what experts are
agreed on is that the type of
intelligences that we need are the type
of intelligences that dyslexics have the
innovation the creativity the thinking
out of the box so my big thought here is
that why don’t we instead of actually
taking these brilliant dyslexic minds
and squashing them into an education
system that doesn’t fit and cause them
disabled or disadvantaged why don’t we
open up the education system why don’t
we teach all children the creativity and
the innovation so they can actually
learn to think like a dyslexic and that
will help to make our future world
[Applause]
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