Gallery: This Beautiful Textbook Is Designed to Make You Feel Dyslexic
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Dyslexic designer Sam Barclay has created a new textbook called *[I Wonder What It's Like to be Dyslexic](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1150582455/i-wonder-what-its-like-to-be-dyslexic)* that's purposefully designed to make unimpaired readers struggle.
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His goal is to simulate what it's like for someone with a learning disability while explaining the underlying psychology, and hopefully teaching a bit of empathy in the process. *Photo: Sam Barclay**Photo: Sam Barclay*
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Contrary to popular belief, most people with dyslexia don't read words or letters backwards. In reality, the condition presents a host of symptoms that impact visual, auditory, and verbal learning. *Photo: Sam Barclay*
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"The aim was always to provide those around me with an experience of what it feels like to struggle with reading," says Barclay. *Photo: Sam Barclay*
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Barclay makes no claim to the scientific veracity of his layouts. "Rather than being scientific, the book actually started as my interpretation of what if feels like to struggle with reading," he says. *Photo: Sam Barclay*
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"I spent so much time being taught to read and not enough time being encouraged to find what I was really good at so it took me some time to find the self confidence to go after something new," says Barclay. *Photo: Sam Barclay*
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Barclay likes to quote a charity called Dyslexia Action when asked about his project "If you can't learn to read, you can't read to learn." *Photo: Sam Barclay*
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Barclay partially credits his ability to design as a result of being forced to look at the world in an atypical way. *Photo: Sam Barclay*
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Like famous dyslexics Alexander Graham Bell, Richard Branson, and Steve Jobs, Barclay turned his diagnosis into an entrepreneurial passion and *[I Wonder What It's Like to be Dyslexic](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1150582455/i-wonder-what-its-like-to-be-dyslexic)* has raised over $75,000 on Kickstarter with a week remaining. *Photo: Sam Barclay*
