Dyslexia 5.0: Reframing Dyslexic Thinking as a Strength for Neuro-Inclusive Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

For decades, dyslexia has been framed primarily through a deficit lens, defined by reading difficulties, spelling errors, and poor performance on standardised examinations. This framing has systematically disadvantaged approximately 1 in 5 individuals globally, leaving 80% of dyslexic learners unidentified and unsupported in educational systems that measure intelligence through the very tasks they find most challenging. However, the emergence of Industry 5.0, the Fifth Industrial Revolution, powered by human-AI collaboration, is fundamentally reshaping what intelligence means and which skills the world values most. Drawing on the landmark Intelligence 5.0 report by Made By Dyslexia (2024), which integrates research from YouGov (n=5,863), Randstad Enterprise, the World Economic Forum, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and EY, this paper argues that the six core dyslexic thinking skills—visualizing, imagining, reasoning, connecting, communicating, and exploring—are precisely the human intelligence that AI cannot replicate and the world now urgently needs. Framed within the Dyslexia 5.0 paradigm and connected to Universal Design for Learning (UDL), this paper proposes a three-pillar neuro-inclusive education framework, Identify, Empower and Celebrate, applicable within the Indian educational context under RCI guidelines and NEP 2020. The paper concludes that inclusive education in the AI era must move beyond accommodation toward active recognition of neurodiversity as a cognitive and creative asset.