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Why Black Female Character Design Matters

Decades of psychological research show that characters are not neutral. They shape how people see themselves—and what they believe they are capable of. In gaming and media, female characters have historically been portrayed as secondary, overly sexualized, or lacking competence. These portrayals don’t stay on the screen. Research shows they influence self-belief, confidence, persistence, and identity in the real world—especially for girls and women navigating learning spaces. More recent character design models and research demonstrate something important: when characters are portrayed as  both competent and human , audiences respond differently. Viewers are more likely to identify with them, feel capable, and persist through challenge  The same principles apply to literacy. When learners only see struggle reflected back at them, difficulty feels like failure. But when characters model growth, strategy, and persistence without being reduced to stereotypes students begin to r...
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Why This Work (Graphic Novels) Exists

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I spent years writing for systems that promise legitimacy if I waited long enough, submitted often enough, or explained myself clearly enough. Some of that mattered. Some of it didn’t. What became clear is that  representation in literacy is structural, not symbolic —especially at the intersection of race, disability, and genre. For many Black boys, reading identity is shaped by whether they see themselves reflected at all. Without that mirror, reading becomes compliance, not connection.  Dyslexia, when unnamed or misread, is often recoded as behavior or disengagement. That misreading fractures identity long before it affects test scores. And genre matters. Graphic novels are not a shortcut. They are a legitimate literacy space—one where story, cognition, and identity can meet without apology. When race provides the mirror, dyslexia provides the meaning, and the graphic novel provides access, something rare happens: A student doesn’t just decode words. They decode themselves. ...
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From Research to Reach: Why I Turned My Dissertation (autoethongraphy) Into Graphic Novels

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     In seventh grade, my teacher announced that we would be reading aloud. Each student was assigned a passage. I was fifth. As the first students read, I wasn’t listening for meaning. I was preparing to survive. My body reacted before my thoughts—heat, tension, panic. When my turn came, I swore loudly enough to be removed from the classroom. Being sent to the office felt like relief.  At the time, the incident was recorded as misconduct. Decades later, I understand it differently: the convergence of undiagnosed dyslexia, racialized expectations, and school practices that treated reading speed as intelligence and hesitation as defiance. That moment—and many others like it—became central to my doctoral research on race, disability, giftedness, and literacy. When Research Reaches the Wrong People      My dissertation passed committee review. It was published. It was cited. And yet a contradiction became impossible to ignore. The students, families, and...
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Six Pathways of Scholarship: What Graduate Students Can Learn from How Knowledge Moves

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Graduate students are taught to  publish , but rarely to make their research  move outside of the traditional academy space.  Real impact begins when knowledge travels — across audiences, systems, and forms. Over the last decade, I’ve used six distinct pathways to carry my work on dyslexia, race, and giftedness beyond academia. Each one offers a model for how research can live in the world, not just in journals. Figure 1. Moving Research Beyond Academia infographic, generated with OpenAI’s ChatGPT (DALL·E model) based on original text and design concept by S. A. Robinson (2025) 1. Peer-Reviewed Research Journal articles and edited volumes built academic credibility. Lesson:  Peer review confirms rigor — but reach is limited. It’s the foundation, not the finish line. 2. Monograph and Dissertation My autoethnography documented the experience of being a gifted Black male with dyslexia. Lesson:  Your lived experience  is  data. Use it to expand what count...
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🔓 From Paywalls to Picture Panels: Why I Stopped Chasing Peer Review

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For years, I played the game: Write the manuscript. Submit to the journal. Wait months for reviewers to decide if my ideas were “rigorous enough.” And when the paper finally got published — it disappeared.  Hidden behind a paywall that families, educators, and students could never access. That’s when it hit me:  👊 What’s the point of knowledge if the people who need it most can’t touch it? AI-generated illustration via ChatGPT, 2025. 🎓 The Academic Return: Prestige Without Reach Peer review has its place. It gives structure, credibility, and validation. But outside of the academy, the ROI is almost zero. You don’t get paid. You don’t get reach. You get another citation in a system that feeds itself. It’s a game that ends with tenure, not transformation. 🎨 The Real Return: Turning Research Into Stories So I made a different choice.  Instead of fighting for visibility in journals, I decided to  translate  my research into something  families could feel — g...
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From Mentorship to Legacy: The Full-Circle Impact of Dyslexia Innovators

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In the world of education, true impact isn’t always immediate—it often ripples through generations. The story of The Reading Center and the individuals it shaped offers a powerful example of how mentorship, innovation, and recognition form a circle that comes back around in the most meaningful way. A Legacy Begins In 1951,  The Reading Center was founded in Rochester, Minnesota by Paula Dozier Rome, who brought with her the groundbreaking insights of her uncle, Dr. Paul Dozier, and his colleague, Dr. Samuel Orton. Both were neuropsychiatrists with a deep commitment to helping individuals with reading difficulties. Together with master educator Anna Gillingham, they helped shape what is now known as the Orton-Gillingham approach—a structured, multi-sensory method that remains a cornerstone in dyslexia education. The Mentorship of Rome and Osman Paula Rome was soon joined by Jean Smith Osman in 1956. Together, they trained thousands of educators and helped over 10,000 students....
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Dictionaries as Tools of Liberation

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The stack of dictionaries on my desk—Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate, Intermediate, and Elementary editions—represents far more than just books.  They symbolize the power of language to transform lives. Each one, tailored for different stages of learning, has been a companion on my journey of growth and self-empowerment since 1996.  Dictionaries are not just for looking up words; they are tools of liberation.  They unlock access to knowledge, give us the power to articulate our thoughts, and allow us to understand the world.  Historically, literacy has been a form of resistance, a way for marginalized communities to claim their freedom and voice.  Even today, having the right words can be the difference between being silenced and being heard. For me, these books are reminders of the potential that comes with literacy.  Whether teaching pronunciation symbols to students or discovering the nuances of a word myself, I see these dictionaries as gateways to empower...
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