Before entering the world of PR, I worked as a Lead Kindergarten Prep preschool teacher. To promote what is known as emergent writing, I created a curriculum introducing letters in age-appropriate ways. One of my main areas of focus was making letters more inviting for children. Creating a welcoming reading environment can make or break a child’s interest in reading.
Reading has measurable benefits, including greater life satisfaction. But the amount of time adults read for personal interest is dropping, this could be partly due to reading challenges, so encouraging reading is paramount. What if there was a tool that could help stop the downward trend? The creator of Bionic Reading believes that his writing system will help people who struggle with reading. While the project was first conceptualized in 2016, Bionic Reading went viral in May 2022 on Twitter.
it’s incredible how reading this feels like finally unlocking 100% of your brain
— juan (@juanbuis) May 18, 2022
(via @christophepas) pic.twitter.com/nU6CblVZWT
Bionic Reading’s philosophy is simple. It posits that bolding the first few letters of each word helps the reader move more quickly through the text. The bolded letters help our brains fill in the rest of the word rather than having to read it in its entirety. According to Casutt’s website, “Bionic Reading revises texts so that the most concise parts of words are highlighted. This guides the eye over the text, and the brain remembers previously learned words more quickly.”
Many Twitter commenters praised Bionic Reading, saying that the new typeface might benefit neurodivergent readers and others who struggle with reading. The positive feedback also came with a high demand for tools to implement Bionic Reading, such as web browser extensions or eReader converters. It’s so popular that Casutt is not the only one to develop a tool for Bionic Reading. Jiffy Reader and Bionify recently debuted their own versions.
However, not everyone shares the excitement. Lauren M. Singer Trakhman, assistant clinical professor of human development at the University of Maryland, writes that Casutt’s claims have not been thoroughly tested. It’s possible that even if Bionic Reading makes reading faster for some, it’s unclear whether the method’s reading comprehension is strong enough to make it viable.
Until more research is conducted, we won’t know if Bionic Reading actually works. For now, do what feels suitable to you as a reader, and to be on the lookout for new ways to enjoy what you read. You may discover the next viral way of reading.
Try Bionic Reading here.