Most of us take reading for granted. We learned how to do it when we were very young and we can do it with ease every day. However, for people with dyslexia (as much as 17 percent of the population) reading is a constant struggle. Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence, but it makes reading (and therefore learning) difficult.
Aside from difficulty with pre-literacy learning like rhyming and letter recognition, the most common sign is when a child fails to learn to read and this failure is unexpected based on his or her other abilities. Letter and number reversals past age 7 or 8 are a common warning sign. Dyslexics may also experience hardship copying from the board or a book and they may exhibit disorganization in their writing. Children with dyslexia may also appear uncoordinated and have difficulty in an organized-game setting. Symptoms may also manifest in auditory problems—the dyslexic may not be able to remember all of what he or she hears, especially sequences or multi-faceted commands. Oftentimes, the dyslexic may speak missing parts of words or sentences or use the wrong word entirely.
There are many aids, tips and techniques that can help a dyslexic, but one man thought there was something more he could do. His epiphany? Create a font that makes it easier for the dyslexic person to identify letters.
Christian Boer, 33, is a Dutch graphic designer who created the font that makes reading easier for people, like himself, who have dyslexia … The typeface is called “Dyslexie,” and Boer first developed it as a final thesis project when he was a student at the Utrecht Art Academy in the Netherlands. The font makes reading easier for people with dyslexia by varying the letter shapes more, making it harder to confuse similarly shaped letters like “b” and “d,” for example.
Boers says traditional fonts are based completely on aesthetic value. His font is purposely made to help people read. Again, it seems a simple thing, but Boers’ creative process may open up the world of reading for many people. Watch the video below to see his font “in action.”
