THE REASON & DESIGN

DYSLEXIA IS MY SUPERPOWER

It’s incredibly common to see or hear “Dyslexia is my superpower” within the dyslexic community, so when we had a chance to do a shirt about it, we were super excited. Not only because it’s a fun concept, but also because our designer grew up with an enormous love for comics. This was, essentially, the perfect blend of two passions.

Regardless of whether your child’s dyslexia ends up being an advantage (“superpower”), or remains a lifelong battle, we want to help them grow in their understanding of it, as well as their ability and willingness to share and discuss it. They should never think they’re broken or dumb, feel shame or be secretive about it, or anything of the sort. There are far too many negative connotations for those with dyslexia, and having a shirt they’re excited about can help them bridge the gap, to open some doors and create conversations. Those conversations can then help educate those around them, both parents and other children as well.

If 1 in 5 really do have dyslexia, many of whom go undiagnosed for far too long and consequently suffer mentally, emotionally, and vocationally, your child may in fact be quite super, by bringing awareness and helping rescue others.

IS IT A “SUPERPOWER”?

Though we know dyslexia is not an actual superpower, the phrase stems from the hypothesis that a dyslexic’s brain may have certain advantages, often involving creative, out-of-the-box thinking, problem solving, and even being able to visualize dimensional objects better in their mind (like building a Lego toy by looking at the final product and not needing instructions). For many, these advantages don’t exactly make the numerous disadvantages having dyslexia comes with “worth it”, but it does provide hope and pride where there might otherwise be nothing but bleak frustration. The question is, is it true? Are there advantages? Do all dyslexics have this “gift”, or only some? Are we setting our kids up for disappointment and false expectations without scientific evidence? Here’s a quick link to an IDA article on this topic, and we encourage you to do some looking into yourself.

Our take on it is this, there is certainly a lot of interesting research that makes this hypothesis intriguing, and a simple online search for “famous dyslexics” will show how wide and prolific many have become, in about every industry you can imagine, lending weight to the hypothesis it can be an advantage. With the empirical evidence being a bit unclear at this time, though, we don’t think you can say 100% it’s going to be a “superpower”, or that every child with dyslexia will display some of the alleged advantages. (Or if those advantages are actually a result of the “dyslexia” or something else entirely.)

The real thing to keep in mind is that without proper remediation, support, and help, every person with dyslexia, even if they did in fact have an enormously “advantaged” mind, is going to struggle. It is essential we help every child learn to read and understand their dyslexia, so they can be as equipped as possible to navigate an often judgmental and impatient world.

SHIRT STYLE

This Bella + Canvas shirt is soft and lightweight, with the right amount of stretch. It’s comfortable and flattering for both men and women.

• 100% combed and ring-spun cotton*
• Fabric weight: 4.2 oz (142 g/m2)
• Shoulder-to-shoulder taping
• Side-seamed
• *Athletic and Black Heather are 90% combed and ring-spun cotton/10% polyester.
• *Ash color is 99% Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton and 1% poly.
• *Heather Prism Ice Blue is 52% Airlume combed cotton / 48% polyester
• *Rest of the Prism colors are 99% Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton and 1% poly.

CARE INSTRUCTIONS

• Machine wash cold, inside-out, gentle cycle with mild detergent and similar colors.
• Use non-chlorine bleach, only when necessary. No fabric softeners.
• Tumble dry low, or hang-dry for longest life.
• Cool iron inside-out if necessary. Do not iron decoration.
• Do not dry clean.

HELP

SIZING, STYLE, FABRIC HELP | DONATIONS HELP | RETURN POLICY HELP | SHIPPING HELP | OTHER HELP