Matthew Schneps is no stranger to challenge. Schneps is both an astrophysicist, holding a Ph.D. in physics, and dyslexic. He has always struggled with reading, but he did find one helpful tool in his struggle—his smart phone. This device helped him bridge the distance between his mind and the written word.
Schneps conducted a study where he monitored the smart phone use of 100 dyslexic students to see if reading on the devices improved their comprehension of science, technology, engineering, and math lessons. Although some students were aided, not all were impacted.
Schneps decided to use an eye tracker to see if students read faster on a smart phone or on a tablet. Overall, the students read faster on a smart phone. Schneps believed that the reason for this is that having only two or three words in a line eliminates the distraction of having too many words on the page, which often impairs dyslexics while reading.
Schneps is hoping to take his research further in order to ensure that reading is never something that is an impediment to success. Read more about his work over at PBS.