Turkish university student develops easy reader for dyslexia patients

Caner Yakupoğlu was awarded third place for his “Dyslexia Easy Reader” project in a competition held by Ege University for vocational faculties. 

Yakupoğlu said his application could now be used on Windows compatible cell phones and he was working on developing it for iOS and Android compatible devices. 

People are often confused about dyslexia, taking it as a mental illness when it is basically a learning and reading disorder, despite normal intelligence, he said. 

“Children start learning reading and writing as soon as they start primary school and the disorder can thus be spotted in the initial years of their education. However due to confusion that it is an intelligence problem, incorrect treatments after that [diagnosis] drag a child’s life to a very different point,” he said. 

A list of famous people with dyslexia includes Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci, Stephen Hawking, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Agatha Christie, Rodin, Dustin Hoffman and Magic Johnson.