Helen Taylor

Dr Helen Taylor is a researcher whose work reframes developmental dyslexia, and in some cases ADHD, as specialisations in exploratory learning, recasting what is currently classified as a disorder [link to: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.889245/full]. Her 2022 paper in Frontiers in Psychology setting out this reframing ranks in the top 1% of all Frontiers articles for views and downloads and has been reported in around 100 news outlets worldwide, including the BBC, The Daily Telegraph, and the World Economic Forum. The reframing sits within a broader theory she originated – the Evolution of Complementary Cognition [link to: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-archaeological-journal/article/evolution-of-complementary-cognition-humans-cooperatively-adapt-and-evolve-through-a-system-of-collective-cognitive-search/F198B30682343E92C7E9C986332D380A] – which proposes that humans are specialised along a continuum of learning strategies, from broad exploration to local refinement. She argues that it is this system that lies at the heart of our species’ success – and that when exploratory thinkers are culturally filtered out, through education systems, hiring practices, and diagnostic framing, the system can no longer function as it evolved to. The cost is collective: a diminished capacity to solve the complex problems that matter most to people’s lives, from medicine to food security to how we respond to the climate crisis.

She has been awarded funding from the Templeton Foundation to extend this work into human adaptation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability, and is currently researching the role of exploratory specialisation, including dyslexic cognition, in the success of entrepreneurship teams. She is co-author of The Dyslexic Edge: Unleash the Power of Thinking Differently – applying her research to real-world accounts of dyslexic thinking – shortlisted for the 2025 Business Book Awards. She has given keynotes and talks for audiences including GCHQ, the V&A, and HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and is an affiliated researcher there.