Entrepreneurs more likely to be dyslexic

Many successful entrepreneurs have a touch of the 'awkward squad' about them: a non-conformist outlook, a talent for innovation, a willingness to challenge the status quo. But one academic thinks that many UK schoolchildren with this kind of potential are not getting the recognition and support they need.

Julie Logan, the professor of entrepreneurship at London’s Cass Business School, has compiled some new research on dyslexia among entrepreneurs. According to her study, a remarkable one in three US entrepreneurs suffer from dyslexia – so they’re three times more likely to suffer from the condition than the average condition.

Is this just a coincidence, a statistical anomaly? Logan clearly doesn’t think so. Her research found that dyslexics are more likely to excel in oral communications and problem-solving, they’re more likely to be influenced by a mentor, and they’re better at managing staff (having developed strong delegation skills as a coping strategy). All skills that are found in many successful entrepreneurs.

However, she reckons the UK isn’t dealing with this issue quite as well. Here 20% of entrepreneurs are dyslexic, compared to 10% of the population as a whole – so the difference is less pronounced (although still significant). The problem, she thinks, is that we’re not as good at identifying dyslexia in our children, and then adapting teaching styles to suit them. So instead of being supported and encouraged, and allowed to develop their strengths, these kids become alienated instead.

There’s also a lot more scepticism about the condition in the UK. People are rarely short of a joke about dyslexia – even though it’s clearly no laughing matter for schoolkids though. Ask the professor’s namesake Kenny Logan, the former Scotland rugby union winger, who apparently recently confessed to the Daily Record: ‘At school I was told I was thick and stupid, I spent 90 per cent of my school days crying on the way home.’ (Not exactly the kind of behaviour you’d expect from a 15-stone international rugby player, but maybe he’s getting in touch with his feminine side now he’s on Strictly Come Dancing).

Of course, the counter-argument would be that this kind of challenging upbringing is exactly what makes some entrepreneurs the way they are, because it gives them a point to prove. Perhaps if they were more effectively cosseted from an early age they’d lose this drive and independence? Still, Sir Richard Branson and Bill Gates are just two dyslexics who’ve famously gone on to great entrepreneurial heights. Could we be finding more success stories like this if we start taking dyslexia a little more seriously?

Source: Media Management Today

Meet the brightest sparks in Scotland

No kidding: Samuel Shekleton wants to bungee jump off the world's tallest skyscraper - after he's built it. With his four siblings, he rarely has his nose out of a book, despite being dyslexic. Photographs: Phil Wilkinson

ONE was humming the Winnie the Pooh theme tune aged just 18 months and the other could correctly identify dinosaurs at the age of three.

Now, 10-year-old Samuel Shekleton and Sarah Thomson, aged 12, have been revealed as the youngest-ever Scottish members of the high-IQ society Mensa.

The parents of both children insist they have avoided hothousing their offspring and instead allowed them to develop at their own pace.

Both youngsters go to state schools and are from ordinary backgrounds. One suffers from a learning difficulty while the other is growing up in a single-parent home.

Samuel, Mensa's youngest Scottish member, has an IQ of 143, which at his age puts him in the top 0.2% of the population. Yesterday, his mother revealed that he achieved the remarkably high score despite suffering from dyslexia.

Although he has problems writing words, his verbal skills are well above those of other children his age and his particular talent lies in debating, strategy games, lateral thinking and reading.

He says that when he grows up he wants to be a businessman so he can "build the world's biggest skyscraper and bungee jump off it".

Samuel, a P5 pupil at Nether Currie Primary School, Edinburgh, is the only Mensa member in his family. His 43-year-old mother Lorraine is a midwife and his father Nigel, 48, is an ambulance driver. The couple have four other children.

His mother said: "Samuel was always a bright child but he is an absolute handful. You could have had a good conversation with him at the age of 18 months. He was always trying to figure out how things worked. He knew all the names of the different dinosaurs by the age of three. But we didn't realise just how clever he was."

However, Samuel's parents are now uncertain about his future education.

"The difficulty is in making the right decision about secondary school and we don't really know the best way forward," his mother added.

"You can easily lose arguments with Samuel because he has such an advanced sense of reasoning and rationale.

"If he wants to stay up late to watch TV he will argue that he wants to see if the programme will end the way he thinks it is going to end. He has problems as well because he has dyslexia so he's not good at writing things down."

She added: "But he's always reading. He takes books into the car with him. He loves playing chess and on computer games he just goes right through all the levels. When we take him to the museum he quickly runs round the exhibits but can tell you exactly what they are about."

Sarah Thomson, who lives in Armadale, West Lothian, had also shown promise from a very early age.

She was able to hum a tune at the age of 18 months, and by the time she got to Primary One she was passing tests aimed at children two years older.

She is now a pupil at West Calder High School, where she regularly scores top marks across all her subjects. And although she has a subscription to National Geographic, her 49-year-old mother Pat says she is just as likely to be found reading teenage magazines.

Sarah's IQ of 157 puts her in the top 1% of the population.

Yesterday, her mother, who is divorced and works part-time as a quality assurance officer, said: "She is a good all-rounder but she is also very level-headed.

"As far as I am concerned, I could have pushed her in any direction I wanted, but I don't believe in pushing children. What's the point in having a 13-year-old child with a Higher in English? It's not going to do her any favours and it's going to ostracise her from her peers.

"She has been called a swot at school, but she's a very level-headed girl."

There are around 24,000 Mensa members in Britain, including 9,000 children, and celebrities such as Sir Clive Sinclair and TV presenter Carol Vorderman.

People are accepted into the society via a supervised IQ test. Scoring is based on age, and those who score within the top 2% of the general population are invited to join.

Mensa's youngest UK member is three-year-old Georgia Brown from Aldershot, who has an IQ of 152, can count, knows her colours and speaks French.

The IQ test is a measure of mental agility

with an average score of 100. However, there is scepticism about the value of the test in measuring intelligence. Critics say it fails to measure creativity and practical knowledge.

A spokeswoman for Mensa described common traits in highly intelligent children. She said: "They generally ask questions all the time and do tend to be interested in speaking, reading or writing at a very early age. They can become very engrossed in a subject."

Source: Scotland on Sunday