Dyslexia conspiracy
This text is part of: "Problem of Schooling" by Piotr Wozniak (2017-2025)
Inventing dyslexia
The dyslexia problem is human made. It is not a disease stemming from organic problems with the brain. It is a result of tormenting kids with early reading and school coercion.
When I try to explain the mechanism of educational dyslexia to educators, I am constantly accused of being a conspiracy theorist. That's understandable. From Wikipedia, to ChatGPT and thousands of papers in Google Scholar you will find out that dyslexia is a heritable neurodevelopmental disorder. Sadly, all those sources are wrong, and the reason is not a conspiracy theory but the conspiracy of inertia and ignorance.
Machine of ignorance
The difficulties in learning to read are common. In most cases they fall under the umbrella of educational dyslexia. The solution to the problem is too simple to be widely acceptable: just wait. For details see: Don't teach your child to read.
Here are the reasons why a seemingly simple and obvious truth cannot percolate to educational practice and parental awareness:
- Parents are obsessed with their kids' success. That's understandable and ok
- Parents and educators believe that the key to knowledge is reading. That used to be true, however, with the arrival of YouTube, kids have many excellent sources of knowledge long before they start reading
- Everyone claims that reading instruction is essential (unlike walking or speaking instruction). The reason is that scientists claim that we have no natural evolutionary adaptations to reading. This is false. Visual pattern recognition is equally useful in recognizing a path to food as it is in recognizing letters and words. All the brain needs is to form associations between words and sentences and the meanings that live in the concept network of the brain. Specialized language areas are already there for re-use. Word pattern recognition is not as nuanced as is the face recognition. As a result it is less susceptible to injury
- As a result of obsessions and reading myths, the pressure to read early is omnipresent and leads to educational dyslexia
- As more and more kids seem to struggle with reading due to the arrival of alternative sources of knowledge that affect motivational trajectories in development, the obsession with dyslexia is increasing. The diagnosis is increasing
- With an increase in diagnosis, the value of dyslexia therapy increases. A great deal of businesses capitalizes on it, and educators come up with new "novel" therapies. Different types of dyslexia require different approaches. The complexity of the esoteric doctrine makes the cost of expertise sky high. The financial incentives are enormous
- With financial aid and relief on the educational path, the diagnosis of dyslexia is beneficial to parents, and children. Schools can receive extra subsidy. Everyone seems to want a diagnosis for easier life, for financial incentives, and for an easy culprit to blame: my kid is just sick!
- A popular myth about dyslexia is that early intervention is essential, which implies the need for an early diagnosis, which adds to the urgency of diagnostic, genetic, and neurodevelopmental research. In reality, early reading instruction is particularly harmful (if coercive). There is no critical period for learning to read
- As dyslexia looms huge in education, so does the subject of dyslexia in science
- By the well-schooled world, the science is worshiped as the most reliable source of knowledge. What science says is quoted in all sources of human communications; however, the direction of science is largely maintained by the army of soldiers whose main goal is survival through speedy research and peer-reviewed publication. A private of the science army has a motto: "Publish or perish"
- Over a hundred years ago, dyslexia was suggested to be a "neurodevelopmental disorder" (Hinshelwood, 1895; Morgan, 1896). First tangible evidence emerged in the 1970s (Geschwind 1968; Galaburda 1985). Hundreds, and then thousands of science soldiers have repeated that dogma ever since with little reflection. They would design their research within the inherited framework without questioning the central tenet of dyslexia as a brain disorder
- In neuroscience, we have a dozen of ways to show how a reading brain differs from a non-reading brain. However, if a ten-year-old cannot read, his non-reading brain is labelled as dyslexic, and the differences in brain imaging are attributed to the developmental effects of dyslexia. We have hundreds of publications that confuse correlation with causation (see: Dyslexia is not a neurodevelopmental disorder)
- We have research that shows brain differences due to phonological deficits that do not come from insufficient reading. They simply come from insufficient phonological processing, and still get implicated into a potential organic cause of dyslexia
- We even have research that shows brain differences before reading begins. However, pre-reading skills also leave a detectable mark in the arcuate fasciculus (source)
- In longitudinal studies, researchers notice changes in the brain before dyslexia can be diagnosed. They take is as a clear sign that a dyslexic brain develops differently. In reality, kids in impoverished environments or on a longer developmental trajectory will simply be less ready for school. In those cases, coercion will do more damage. If the snapshots of their brains were taken 1-3 years later, they would not differ from children who never become dyslexic
- In genetics, we do massive searches through data to find associations between genes and behavioral outcomes. We find thousands of gene variant candidates for dyslexia, and yet few people ponder to stop and acknowledge that all aspects of human personality and cognition have their links to thousands of genetic variants. A genetic predisposition for farsightedness will correlate with the predisposition for dyslexia. So will a decreased stress resilience. No experts can detect a non-deleterious variant of a gene by simply examining a patient. For a detailed discussion of "missing heritability" see: Great personalities do not come from genes
- Genius minds of science are not resistant to the myth. They also propagate falsehoods. They are largely influenced by the thought that kids should read early, and that instruction is essential. Their tunnel vision is made worse by the arrival of new technological toys (see: Biologization of reading)
- In the lemming rush for remedies, simple facts keep being overlooked: democratic schools know no dyslexia, all unschoolers learn to read sooner or later, kids magically recover from dyslexia when moved to homeschooling, bilingual kids show dyslexia only in languages where their reading was subject to coercion, natural reading age might be 9-12, not 5-6, etc.
- Scientists with the ability to model the reality against the popular trends are roasted as crackpots who take too little data to build their "common sense theories". If Gray or Elliot are called names, I feel privileged to join such an elite company!
- Dyslexia is a billion-dollar industry. It is not perpetuated by conspiracy. It keeps growing by the force of inertia, ignorance, and vested interest.
Conspiracy theory
I must say that I enjoy being called a conspiracy theorist. My worship of science should give me a label of a science radical. And yet, a solid attempt of engaging in scientific modelling, often leads to the accusation of insufficient "hard data" evidence, or too much counterevidence to allow of free thought. Few people understand the fact that wrong models have value. My ultimate excuse is that I was blessed with early access to incremental reading. I have been able to study science in the most scientifically sturdy way for 25 years now. My core interest is intelligence. This led me to the interest in dyslexia 25 year ago. My original writings are still soaked in the belief in the "old science of dyslexia". Rather than being ashamed of my naivety, I bring up my old text on human genius (2001) as a proof of my unbiased wish to know the truth. I was part of the lemming rush but managed to see the light in time.
By understanding the conceptualization process in the brain, by documenting the phenomenon of toxic memory, I can see that no ill hand could design a functional brain that would be destined to dyslexia. Organic problems that may stem from infection or injury make up less than 1% of cases. I am guilty of studying the problem in depth, understanding the brain, understanding the learning process and understanding a simple model of educational dyslexia. My own field of spaced repetition gave me a unique insight to inducibility of educational dyslexia (see this simple hermetic experiment.
If I am guilty of stepping ahead of the old dogma crowd, then I am proud.
Killing dyslexia
I live with a pleasant illusion that I succeeded in killing a harmful myth of polyphasic sleep. I wrote about it in 2005, the text was pretty popular, and the bad habit invented by crazy geeks seems to have died out! Hurray!
Would it not be nice to do the same to the dyslexia myth? However, this time I stand against a billion-dollar industry, thousands of scientists, millions of teachers and millions of well-schooled and well-indoctrinated anxious moms. When vested interest is powerful, it is me who is more likely to be sued or killed. It would actually be a noble way to die while fighting!
Letter to parents
Dear Parent,
Do not teach your child to read unless they express interest. Free your kids from coercion in learning. Free them from the pressure of remedial programs. Make sure all learning is pleasurable! If you are uncertain about your decisions, write to me. Above all, prioritize your child’s happiness.
The only time for concern is if your child struggles to read despite demonstrating strong intrinsic motivation (i.e., motivation not sparked by external influence) and their age suggests significant maturity (typically around 14–16 years). If you are unsure, pay close attention and focus on avoiding actions that might cause unhappiness. This approach may be sufficient.
Further reading
- Don't teach your child to read
- Educational dyslexia
- Dyslexia debate
- Gray: Mechanics of educational dyslexia
- Dyslexia is not a neurodevelopmental disorder
Educational dyslexia diagram

Figure: Toxic memory forms when learning penalties interfere with learning rewards and make it impossible to resolve conflicts in an interference zone of a pattern recognition network. The diagram shows a simple concept network illustrating the process of forming toxic memories. In the diagram, the brain attempts to associate a visual pattern of a letter "Y" with its correct pronunciation [waɪ]. In the course of learning, natural interference is a norm, and is quickly resolved by rewards of correct association signal on output. If interference makes it impossible to establish a pattern in memory, the association is rejected and awaits subsequent opportunities to be re-established in a new configuration. However, in conditions of stress, the interference from penalties on output may prevent the resolution of conflicts in the interference zone. If the situation persists, e.g. as a result of frequent drills at school, forgetting will not be able to clean up unwanted memory. The interfering pattern may persist. Instead of enhancing synaptic connections in the pattern recognition network, it may enhance negative associations leading to intrinsic penalties (stemming from dissatisfaction with learning), and extrinsic penalties (e.g. dissatisfaction of a teacher, peer ridicule, etc.). The loop of extrinsic penalties reinforcing the interfering pattern may be particularly harmful. This is how coercive instruction does harm to mental health of children. At later stages of this process, the pattern on input, instead of being resolved with the right association, generates an instant penalty signal. This occurs in educational dyslexia where all things associated with print and reading may bring up the state of anxiety or fear