Pathways to Reading Success

Recent comments from Donald Trump referring to Gavin Newsom as “dumb” in connection with his dyslexia highlight a persistent and harmful misconception.

Dyslexia is a common learning difference that affects reading, writing, and language processing. It is estimated to impact roughly 1 in 5 people. Importantly, dyslexia has no correlation with intelligence. People with dyslexia span the full range of intellectual ability and are often recognized for strengths in problem-solving, creativity, and big-picture thinking. I have worked with students with dyslexia with a range of IQs from low average to superior.

Equating a learning difference with a lack of intelligence is not only inaccurate, it reinforces stigma that can prevent individuals, especially students, from getting the support they need and recognizing their own potential.

Accurate information matters. Respect matters. And how we talk about learning differences matters.

One of the most technologically advanced countries in the world is hitting pause on screens in the classroom.

Sweden — long known for innovation and digital leadership — is actively reducing the use of screens in schools and reinvesting in physical textbooks and paper-based learning.

Why?

After years of prioritizing laptops and tablets in education, the country began seeing troubling trends:
• Declines in reading comprehension
• Decreases in focus and sustained attention
• Reduced deep learning and critical thinking
• Falling math scores on international assessments

Between 2018 and 2022 alone, scores dropped significantly — about 10 points in reading and nearly 15 in math. This is not just a Sweden problem. This is a problem all over the world where educators and students are relying more on screens.

Educators and researchers increasingly found that screens, while powerful tools, often encouraged distraction, multitasking, and shallow engagement with information. Printed books, by contrast, support deeper concentration, better comprehension, and more sustained thinking. Research shows that handwriting the brain better than typing. Students who take notes by hand have better long-term retention.

So Sweden is shifting course:
‣Investing millions to put physical textbooks back into students’ hands
‣Restricting phones in schools
‣Emphasizing reading, writing, and arithmetic — the foundational skills of learning

This isn’t about rejecting technology.
It’s about recognizing that not everything that is digital improves learning.

Sometimes progress means having the wisdom to say:
Maybe the old tools — books, paper, pencils, and focused attention — still matter most.