As Dyslexia Awareness Month approaches, it is worth asking a question that sits at the heart of education: what do we mean when we say someone is smart?

For many of us, the answer was shaped in childhood. The “smart” students were often those who read fluently, wrote quickly, worked independently and performed well on tests. They mastered the skills that schools tend to value most and received recognition for doing so.

But what if our definition of intelligence is too narrow? What if some of the brightest minds in our classrooms are being overlooked simply because they don't demonstrate knowledge in the ways we expect?

For students with dyslexia, this question carries particular weight. Dyslexia is often misunderstood as simply a reading problem. While difficulties with reading, spelling and written language are common characteristics, dyslexia does not reflect a lack of intelligence.

Students with dyslexia may also have remarkable strengths that traditional academic measures do not readily capture, such as problem-solving, creative thinking, and the ability to see patterns and big-picture reasoning. Yet those strengths can be difficult to recognise when a child's daily experience is dominated by tasks that are inherently more challenging for them. Imagine being asked every day to demonstrate how intelligent you are through your most difficult skill. That is the reality for many students with dyslexia.

A child may have sophisticated ideas, insightful questions and exceptional creativity but struggle to put those thoughts onto paper. Another child may understand complex concepts but read too slowly to fully demonstrate their knowledge during a test. Over time, the gap between what they know and what they can easily show can begin to affect academic performance and, just as importantly, how they see themselves.

The danger isn't simply that these students struggle. The danger is that they begin to believe the struggle says something about who they are. When educational success is narrowly defined, children begin to assume that difficulty equals deficiency, particularly when they are constantly comparing themselves with peers who find reading and writing easier.

At BCCL, we see this every day. Students who may have spent years feeling defined by what they find difficult join a school where teachers guide them in discovering and developing their strengths. This journey of discovery often unfolds gradually as students build confidence, challenge long-held beliefs about themselves and begin to embrace their abilities with the support of trusted adults.

That recognition begins with understanding and awareness. As part of Dyslexia Awareness Month, BCCL will welcome literacy expert, researcher and educator Jennifer Petrich to Bermuda this October for a parent presentation, “How the Brain Learns to Read: What Every Parent Should Know About Reading, Spelling and Language”, which reflects a truth many families discover: when we understand how we learn to read and understand language, we are far less likely to mistake a learning difference for a lack of intelligence.

The same challenge exists in all of our schools. Educators are tasked with teaching increasingly diverse learners without the support they need. Traditional teacher-training programmes have limited professional training in neurodiversity, how written language develops, and why some students struggle to acquire it.

This is why BCCL is also hosting Dr Petrich's professional development workshop for educators, “Beyond Phonics: How the Reading Brain Meets Structured Word Inquiry”. Building awareness around dyslexia is important, but building knowledge among the adults who support students every day may be even more powerful.

As educators and parents, perhaps the question we should be asking is not whether children can meet a single definition of success, but whether our definition of success is broad enough to include all learners. Students with dyslexia deserve evidence-based instruction, appropriate accommodations and opportunities to build literacy skills. Supporting dyslexia is not about lowering expectations. It is about ensuring that challenges with written language do not obscure a student's intelligence, potential or contribution.

As we recognise Dyslexia Awareness Month this October, let's challenge ourselves to not just acknowledge that dyslexia exists but rather commit to looking beyond the skills that are easiest to measure and pay closer attention to the strengths that are often overlooked. Our children are more than their reading level, and when we expand our definition of intelligence, we create space for them to shine.

For more information about the Dyslexia Awareness 2026 workshops please visit bccl.bm.

• Lindsey Sirju is cofounder and head of school at Bermuda Centre for Creative Learning