David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

conceptual side. That’s the wrong half of
the brain for a precise and rigorous task
like reading. Sometimes when a dyslexic
reads, every step will be delayed, as if
the different parts of the brain
responsible for reading were
communicating via a weak connection.
One of the ways to test for the presence
of dyslexia in a small child is to have
him engage in “rapid automatized
naming.” Show him one color after
another—a red dot, then a green dot,
then a blue dot, then a yellow dot—and
check his response. See the color.
Recognize the color. Attach a name to
the color. Say the name. That’s
automatic in most of us. It’s not in