Earlier this week, I met with a remarkable man named Bill Brown. Bill is the director of the Eli Whitney Museum, an equally remarkable institution near my home in New Haven, Conn. "Museum" doesn't quite capture all that the Eli Whitney is and does. A kid's dream of a magical workshop—that comes a bit closer. Visit, and you'll see dozens of young people intently focused on projects they're making with their hands: sundials and robots and model ships, toys and games and useful objects of every description (click here for the museum's archived project designs).

What is most striking, aside from the sheer ingeniousness of the things they're making, is these kids' total absorption and engagement, and their quiet confidence in their own abilities (even as they operate scary-looking drills and other high-powered machines). That engagement and that confidence are crucial, because many of these young people don't get to experience those feelings very often outside of Eli Whitney's magical workshop. Many of the young people drawn to the museum have learning disabilities like dyslexia; school is a place where they feel stupid and incompetent. Bill Brown has created a place where they feel supremely able and accomplished, and justifiably so.

In honor of Bill, I want to share with you three pieces I've written about dyslexia. The first is about the special difficulties of English, and why there are many more dyslexic people in English-speaking countries than in countries in which the written language maps more closely onto the spoken one. The second article is about how people with dyslexia often have perceptual capacities that are superior to those of typical readers. And the third piece is about how new advances in typography and in technology can make it easier for people with dyslexia to read.

Could Dyslexia Be "Culturally Induced"?

The Surprising Upside of Dyslexia

Typography and Technology That Make Reading Easier

I hope you enjoy these perspectives on a condition that has affected so many of us: because we have dyslexia, or because we love people who do. As always, I welcome your feedback on my blog.