Dyslexic? What would have helped you as a child?

TequilaMockingBird

Lylah Better Picnic wrote: »

I'd recommend you have her assessed over in the Dyslexic Association in Suffolk St. Dublin.

The cost four years ago was €350 but it was money well spent.

My daughter went over an angry, fustrated and depressed children and it seemed once she could put a label on it the transformation in her was literally overnight.

Learning that she was dyslexic lifted a huge weight from her little shoulders.

Now I'd better get to bed

Great topic OP. SharpShooter well done on handling the hecklers.

Well thanks Makikimoni (I still think in old money Mairt ) but we have the diagnosis now.

I really want just everyday tips on how you dyslexics get by, day to day. What would have made life easier? It ain't the end of the world I know, but I want to make it as easy as possible for her.

And thanks Sharpshooter - PITA for you I'm sure.

arybvtcw0eolkf

OutlawPete wrote: »

This should be added to the charter for all threads.

Thats going into the charter's on both forum's I Mod on, great idea.

pikachucheeks

TequilaMockingBird wrote: »

I think I might have got her out of Irish - when I told her she jumped on me and hugged me.

If she gets an exemption, it'll make her learning a lot easier! She'll be able to focus on other subjects, rather than worry about something she's struggling with.

Out of interest, certain college courses and jobs require people to have a high standard of Irish (study Irish at Higher Level for LC etc) ... Does that essentially mean that dyslexic people cannot get in to these programmes? (If they've been given an exemption or have a poor execution of the Irish language, due to Dyslexia?)

dolliemix

pikachucheeks wrote: »

Well, from my experience in my school, I wouldn't agree with that at all.
My friend was openly humiliated by one teacher, because she was dyslexic. It wasn't even accepted as being a learning difficulty, she was just goaded for being poor at spelling.
I can remember occasions where the teacher would read out paragraphs she'd written and laugh at her mistakes and mixing up of words.

Other teachers in the school just ignored the problem. The only solution given to Dyslexic pupils was to offer them an exemption from Irish, in their Leaving Certificates, if they were a severe case.

I'm speaking about today!

It's so easy to bring up the past. I could do it myself! Genuinely teachers are bending over backwards for children with special needs. And rightly so. I'd would just love if people would give current teachers the credit for this and not bring up incidents that happened in the past when, in fairness, teachers were unaware of special needs conditions.

The title of the thread is "Dyslexic? What would have helped you as a child?"

.....and not "how were you or any of your friends let down in the past as a result of your dyslexia"?

TequilaMockingBird

OutlawPete wrote: »

This should be added to the charter for all threads.

Was told I was Dyslexic in my 20's.

I was a nightmare at school, hating taking stuff down off the blackboard.

People used to be flying along writing it down and I'd getting physical pressure in my head trying to figure out each word.

Reading books took and still take me yonks to read, I'll often read a page five times and not understand a word of it.

Another issue with me is mixing up words while I'm typing and writing that sound the same like "Won" and "One", "Know" and No", "Wood" and "Would".

Only on a reread that I'll noticed it.

I'd be lost if not for Spellcheck (when I remember to use it)

Are you in fact my daughter? Thank you so much.

The psych hopes to get her teachers to stop her having to write from the board, that she should be given work-sheets instead. And, they have this policy in the school of not writing in work-books so they can be passed on. So I have spent many an hour on boards supervising while she copies endless text, and that's just the questions... she then has to try to answer them. I end up saying I bought the flippin' book, I'll decide whether it's to be re-flippin-cycled or not. This is after 2 hours of homework and me losing the will to live.

TequilaMockingBird

dolliemix wrote: »

I'm speaking about today!

It's so easy to bring up the past. I could to it myself! Genuinely teachers are bending over backwards for children with special needs. And rightly so. I'd would just love if people would give current teachers the credit for this and not bring up incidents that happened in the past when, in fairness, teachers were unaware of special needs conditions.

The title of the thread is "Dyslexic? What would have helped you as a child?"

.....and not "how were you or any of your friends let down in the past as a result of your dyslexia"?

My child is in 4th class, I have been trying to get help since she was in Senior Infants/1st Class. She has been let down. I paid one of her teachers for two years to tutor her here at home. I still got "well if she read with mammy.." . I was trying to tell them "well she can't read so what would you suggest?".

There are flaws in the system. I could give you a list of them, but that's not what this thread is about.

dolliemix

TequilaMockingBird wrote: »

@ dolliemix, I can't afford your rose tinted specs I'm afraid. With all due respect.

I think I might have got her out of Irish - when I told her she jumped on me and hugged me.

There's no rose-tinted specs here I work with dyslexic children everyday.


I can't deal with what happened in the past or can't change their bad experiences.

The title of this thread 'Dyslexic? What would have helped you as a child?' is something that could help me.

i'm genuinely interested. But I need to know on a practical level and from a learning point of view.

pikachucheeks

dolliemix wrote: »

I'd would just love if people would give current teachers the credit for this and not bring up incidents that happened in the past when, in fairness, teachers were unaware of special needs conditions.

This was three years ago.

I'm not dyslexic myself, but I felt like contributing to the thread because I know first-hand how people can be affected by it.

I'm not trying to criticise Irish teachers, my point was that, in recent times, *probably* due to a lack of education on the nature of Dyslexia, some teachers were dismissing it, mishandling or misreading the situation of particular students or unaware that the condition existed.

I'm glad to see that times are changing, because Dyslexia is becoming more and more prevalent in Irish society and it's comforting to know that teachers are willing to be supportive to children and students, to give them the help they need, to deal with their difficulties.

TequilaMockingBird

dolliemix wrote: »

There's no rose-tinted specs here I work with dyslexic children everyday.


I can't deal with what happened in the past or can't change their bad experiences.

The title of this thread 'Dyslexic? What would have helped you as a child?' is something that could help me.

i'm genuinely interested. But I need to know on a practical level and from a learning point of view.

I'm not asking you to deal with the past.

I'm asking if people who have dyslexia would be kind enough to share with me things that would have made life easier for them when they were children.

dolliemix

TequilaMockingBird wrote: »

My child is in 4th class, I have been trying to get help since she was in Senior Infants/1st Class. She has been let down. I paid one of her teachers for two years to tutor her here at home. I still got "well if she read with mammy.." . I was trying to tell them "well she can't read so what would you suggest?".

There are flaws in the system. I could give you a list of them, but that's not what this thread is about.

Fair enough!

I'm not involved in the process of diagnosis.

And it's not what this thread is about.....which is where I was coming from.....

I hope your daughter's journey from here on in is easier.....

That's where I'm involved and which is why I have posted on this thread - trying to stay away from the negatives - and learn, possibly, from the positives.

I would imagine from here on in that teachers will be on your side!:)

Thomas828

Some people think it's funny to be dylesixc. Seriously, I think all it takes is time and patience to get a dyslexic child to a good level of literacy. It wasn't so long ago that dyslexia was unknown and dyslexic children were dismissed as dunces and backward and lazy.

extrinzic

I am Dyslexic myself, and I found the initial shock of being labelled Dyslexic the hardest. It was uncommon to be diagnosed as Dyslexic in Ireland at the time, and I was very self-conscious about it. I found that the school system was totally inadequate at assisting me, bar one notable English teacher who I am gratefully indebted too. My mother was enormously helpful, driving me to specialised extra tuition at the weekends, reading about the subject and just being patient with me. My Leaving cert was a minimum pass, and I had to endure years of bad jobs, with little self confidence. I did travel however, and went to http://www.dyslexia-at-bay.com/ for assistance. I recited exercises, and used a technique utilising Mind Maps. Eventually I applied for university, and completed my education to Masters level. Incidentally, Dyslexia is a really vague term, and we all suck at more things than we are good at.

TequilaMockingBird

cruiser178 wrote: »

then open the link.

I tried, and my browser crashed :eek:. I knew it.. (I'll try it again later and thanks for the contribution.)

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

You can't 'get over it' until you know you have it.

Once I was diagnosed (22) I was able to adapt my learning methods accordingly and things are much better now. Life was very confusing before that to be honest. I underperformed at school and college and was constanly told how lazy and 'careless' I was with my writing.

Your Dad was fortunate to have been diagnosed. Not many people of our parents generation were ever assessed. Do you know when he was assessed?

Thank you. Now spill the answers please.

cruiser178 wrote: »

Im quoting myself here because i feel i did'nt say enough.
In the 80's when i went to school. kids with dyslexia,adhd,and kids from a depived areas did not get the attention they craved/badly needed, thank god now a days things are different.
I grew up with one thing in mind,,(from my school and experince of teachers back then),if you want your kids to get on in life make sure they come from good areas because from my experiance, teachers only cared more for kids they didnt have give too much attention too

I know what you're saying. Hope you're doing well now.

Burnt wrote: »

Finding subjects I was interested in and then reading; properly with help, everything I could about them. Sitting down with my parents and going through issues of the National Geographic from cover to cover, was one of the best things I ever did. This taught me to look for the shape & sound of a word not the exact letter spelling.

This is what I need to know. I'm going to have to learn all this stuff. I've done the favorite books/magazines/websites etc, but they end up getting chucked for some pens and drawing.

We went back to baby books tonight, and she got such a boost from being able to read them to me, instead of trying to read the school recommended reading book. It was lovely, she cuddled up and enjoyed it :eek:. Home schooling is looking tempting if I didn't think we'd kill each other...

Formal shorts wrote: »

Just a note regarding the system - I see several extremely positives comments about the current set up. What you guys might not be aware of is that allocation of special needs assistants changed very recently. Severe dyslexia used to be reason enough for an SNA. Under new rules, if the child is not a danger, they get no SNA. Similarly, where SNAs used to be assigned to a child, they are now to be assigned to the class. 1 per class max.

You could have 6 kids in your class out of 30 with dyslexia - if they are not a danger there will be no allocation of an SNA.

It's going backwards.

The SNA (allocated to another child) in her class has been wonderful. What a stupid, short-sighted cut back that is. Storing up a whole load of costs for the future imo.

doctor evil

I was lucky as it was spotted and diagnosed early. Parents had to fight to get me into the school in Monkstown.

TequilaMockingBird

extrinzic wrote: »

I am Dyslexic myself, and I found the initial shock of being labelled Dyslexic the hardest. It was uncommon to be diagnosed as Dyslexic in Ireland at the time, and I was very self-conscious about it. I found that the school system was totally inadequate at assisting me, bar one notable English teacher who I am gratefully indebted too. My mother was enormously helpful, driving me to specialised extra tuition at the weekends, reading about the subject and just being patient with me. My Leaving cert was a minimum pass, and I had to endure years of bad jobs, with little self confidence. I did travel however, and went to http://www.dyslexia-at-bay.com/ for assistance. I recited exercises, and used a technique utilising Mind Maps. Eventually I applied for university, and completed my education to Masters level. Incidentally, Dyslexia is a really vague term, and we all suck at more things than we are good at.

Lol @ your edit

I skimmed your post through the crappy jobs bit, but FOCUSED once I saw "Masters". Well done you. And thanks. I hope my girl thinks in the future that I was helpful. (Psych told me today daughter was very lucky to have me, I started saying "Oh God, no, I'm sure I could be better etc etc" WTF is that about.. ).

I better go to bed or I will be a truly crap mother in the morning.

Many thanks for the advice and discussion all.

And thank you Sharpshooter.

TequilaMockingBird

doctor evil wrote: »

I was lucky as it was spotted and diagnosed early. Parents had to fight to get me into the school in Monkstown.

How old were you? And what is the school? (please)

extrinzic

I'm sure your Daughter is very lucky. As I said, Dyslexia is a vague term, and is different things to different people. It's trial and error, and can be discouraging, but there is a technique behind every task, and we can all improve our technique.

Senna

As many others here, i didn't realise i was dyslexic till my 20's, at stage i'd finished my education and got my BA.

I remember a couple of us in 2nd or 3rd class in primary school were taken out to do tests as we were all weak at english. I must have passed the test and rejoined the class, a couple of others failed and were given extra help. Even though i was only 7 or 8 years old, i remember thinking why the Fúck didn't i fail that, i'd be so much better off. Spelling test were the worst, i'd try and learn each word, but if there was one i didn't know off by heart, then there wasn't a hope in hell of me spelling it right, the word could have been "Lakeside" but i might have guessed "LEBRSYTE", i either knew it or hadn't a clue.
I FÚCKING HATED SPELLING TESTS, i was actually laughed at by the teacher for getting a word completely wrong once, i dont think i even got the first letter right.

A few responses in this thread have made me say "thats it, thats exactly what it likes". Thanks for starting it op.

doctor evil

TequilaMockingBird wrote: »

How old were you? And what is the school? (please)

PM'ed you

TequilaMockingBird

Senna wrote: »

As many others here, i didn't realise i was dyslexic till my 20's, at stage i'd finished my education and got my BA.

I remember a couple of us in 2nd or 3rd class in primary school were taken out to do tests as we were all weak at english. I must have passed the test and rejoined the class, a couple of others failed and were given extra help. Even though i was only 7 or 8 years old, i remember thinking why the Fúck didn't i fail that, i'd be so much better off. Spelling test were the worst, i'd try and learn each word, but if there was one i didn't know off by heart, then there wasn't a hope in hell of me spelling it right, the word could have been "Lakeside" but i might have guessed "LEBRSYTE", i either knew it or hadn't a clue.
I FÚCKING HATED SPELLING TESTS, i was actually laughed at by the teacher for getting a word completely wrong once, i dont think i even got the first letter right.

A few responses in this thread have made me say "thats it, thats exactly what it likes". Thanks for starting it op.

I'm doing the same with your post Senna, that's how I imagine my daughter is feeling.

Although she, heroically, failed the test and got the resource hours. That's my girl!

May I ask, did something click with spelling? Was there something that helped, or is it spellchecker all the way? (And thanks)



4am :eek: I am a crap mother indeed.

Doc

Just knowing I had it early would have been good.

I got little to no help after I did find out but just knowing why I had difficulty spelling helped a lot.

My dad was a teacher and would get pissed off at me getting 1 out of 10 in spelling while I would get 10 out of 10 in math. He would spend hours with me trying to teach me how to spell but I just couldn't get it and he would be incredibly frustrated with me thinking that I just wasn't making an effort.

Of course this is years ago before people knew much about it.

Nevyn

dolliemix wrote: »

I would disagree with this. The Irish education system is most definitely up to date and sympathetic with the needs of dyslexic children.

The thing is getting the child into the system to avail of services is difficult.

School was hellish, the constant remarks of "is bright but must make more effort/try harder" "Spelling and handwriting appalling", the fact I can read very well but not spell meant I didn't have a learning issue and was just lazy.

Was finally assessed in college and it made a world of difference, I wasn't thick, stupid or lazy, I had teachers kick me out of class in secondary as they thought I was taking the piss with what I was handing up, they would also mark it with two grades one which was the real grade with deduction for spellings and the other with out, and there was a stark difference and robbed me of so much confidence and isolate me from others in the class.

The work around now that I learned in college would have made a huge difference to me in school, I am in the process atm of getting my daughter assessed.

TequilaMockingBird

Lylah Better Picnic wrote: »

Legally she's except Irish, and any other language.

However because the schools simply don't have the teacher hours to excuse her completely from class she might be asked to sit in, but she won't be tested.

I've been saying it for years, she can't read bleedin' English, why do we have to bang our heads against the wall try to teach her a language we don't speak?

She wants to be a marine biologist. She looked like this today > :eek: and asked "what if I meet an Irish shark?"

TequilaMockingBird

Doc wrote: »

Just knowing I had it early would have been good.

I got little to no help after I did find out but just knowing why I had difficulty spelling helped a lot.

My dad was a teacher and would get pissed off at me getting 1 out of 10 in spelling while I would get 10 out of 10 in math. He would spend hours with me trying to teach me how to spell but I just couldn't get it and he would be incredibly frustrated with me thinking that I just wasn't making an effort.

Of course this is years ago before people knew much about it.

I shudder to think of the pressure you were under.

Thaedydal wrote: »

The thing is getting the child into the system to avail of services is difficult.

Exactly.


(Who'd a thought eh.. )

paperclip2

I'm not dyslexic but my mother is a retired teacher and has worked as a dyslexia tutor for many years. One thing she said in the past is that the old 'rote learning' system suited children with many different forms of dyslexia as constant repetition can help new knowledge to become fixed. Vocabulary building is really useful. It concentrates on expanding the pool of words that the child can use, spell and understand comfortably and generally relies on the constant repetition method and the use of flash cards.

Sorry if I'm repeating stuff already mentioned and a lot of this you probably know anyway.
Multisensory learning can be useful for some children, ie tracing the shapes of letters with a finger while saying the word aloud. It involves the sense of touch and lessens the reliance on visual and auditory which can be specific types of dyslexia afaik.

For some types of dyslexia changing the background colour of reading material can make a difference and stop words from jumping around the page. You can use colored transparent plastic folders and put these over the page shes reading. Pale greens and blues often work well but it varies from person to person. For writing using a pen or pencil with a thicker grip can also make a difference especially if she has dyspraxia as well. Also some people find it easier to write on a cream or off white background rather than a white one. Getting her typing skills and computer literacy is massively useful especially for second and third level and would be a big recommendation. Some dyslexia groups have IT as part of their programme.

One on one work with children is the main thing that makes a massive difference and the earlier it starts the better. You end up needing less support as you get older because the foundations of learning are stronger.

Giving them opportunities to talk about their frustrations and how the dyslexia experience makes them feel is really important. Despite improvements in the education system you will still get the odd teacher who doesn't understand or want to understand the effects and prefers to rely on labeling the child as 'stupid' or 'slow'.

Oh and reminding them that dyslexia is a part of who they are and not all of who they are cos some days it can feel like that I've been told.

For parents the main thing seems to be to develop the hide of a rhino and a neck of pure brass to keep looking for all the supports your daughter could need.


I've rabbited on long enough.

Best of luck to you and your daughter TMB.

ScumLord

Not having the **** beat out of me by the teachers and principle for being stupid would have been a help.

TequilaMockingBird

Paperclip2 thank you so much for that post. I think I may be going back to it when I've got my head round all this. I/we have it all ahead of us.

the_syco

pikachucheeks wrote: »

I think the Irish education system is way behind, in terms of dealing with people suffering from

Dyslexia.

And not just Dyslexia. Anything other than the norm, and you're f**ked Only found out from the NRA 2 months into Secondary that German would have suited me better than French (seems some study was done, and found those with a hearing loss did better with German), but by then it was too late to change to another class

Anyone with a hearing problem: do German. No idea what the in's and out's of it is, but I think it's something to do with the way the words are pronounced.

=-=

There was a dude called "Dan" who would come out to myself and other kids with a loss of hearing, and ensure that we could hear the teacher, etc. At the time, it was a "wtf", but looking back, many kids may not have had the confidence to ask the teacher to speak up, etc, so I'd say he helped them quite a bit.

It seems if you get help from the start, you'll be fine. If you get help somewhere half way though, odds are you'll be thrown into foundation level with a load of messers, and left to your own devices.

Thaedydal wrote: »

The work around now that I learned in college would have made a huge difference to me in school, I am in the process atm of getting my daughter assessed.

Something you should let your daughter know is how it passes through your genes. In my family, the hearing loss was on my mothers side, and seemed to skip a generation: my grandad had a hearing loss, and I also had a hearing loss. None of my cousins, though, have a hearing loss.

paperclip2 wrote: »

For some types of dyslexia changing the background colour of reading material can make a difference and stop words from jumping around the page. You can use colored transparent plastic folders and put these over the page shes reading. Pale greens and blues often work well but it varies from person to person.

Off topic, but holy f**king crap, that sh|t is both weird and cool at the same time. It also goes to show that what one person may have found out by accident can help thousands of others.

As the saying goes: knowledge is power.

spinandscribble

I posted earlier in this thread but I want to give a more detailed post.

When I was young I was compared to another sibling, not by my parents but teachers. It was deemed nothing major could be wrong with me since she could read/write so well at the same age. I tried so hard but was called lazy even though I tried so hard. I tried to focus on my good subjects and do my best at everything else but by the leaving cert I spent all my time just trying to pass, pass french/irish. I remember one english teacher in the leaving cert announcing the mock must be useless grading because miss spinandscribble got the highest mark in the class, cue laughs.

I was doing an arts degree when an understanding lecturer was quick to notice something might be not quite right. I always got on great in that dept but he admitted everyone read my exam papers roughly 4 times to make sense of it. I was at first greeted with less then welcoming arms by the Disability office since my grades didn't seem to merit investigation but after some convincing i was initially tested with a simple computer program just to see if there was any chance. That showed a major problem in phonetics so they arranged for a proper test. The psychologist basically told me she thought I was chancing my arm but again the tests proved I had a problem. After that the note went with the papers and suddenly the other arts dept grades shot right up. It was a relief to finally get the grades I earned.

The most annoying part of my experience is the amount of times this could have been picked up on. I was given time with the special needs teacher throughout primary. It was USELESS. all i did was read a few lines of a passage in a group for 40 mins a week while the teacher just read with us and then marched back to class, where some thought we were the "dumb ones". I was told and my mother told I just needed to read more. BS, how much is enough to prove you have a problem?

I'm really angry about the whole thing tbh. Its impacted my confidence and if I had had some understanding things like the leaving cert would have been easier

I still to this day hate reading aloud, It embarrasses me and people making fun of the way I pronounce words can really affect me. I try to laugh but sometimes it makes me feel so small. Some people have spotted this in the past and used it against me. I think if it had been picked up on all those years before I could have grown up KNOWING I wasn't stupid, knowing my best was good enough and know it wasn't my fault. It would mean I mightn't have this issue to the same degree.

So basically someone picking out my problem at a younger age would have meant I got the help I needed. I would have liked an emphasis put on my strengths, not my problem with languages. Oh, and when I finally had it sorted, I would have liked to have been treated as someone who might have a problem, not someone out to get an extra 30 mins in her 3 hr exams.

Sorry I just needed to vent and the experiences I've read on this thread stirred up a lot of thoughts for me.

E.T.

pikachucheeks wrote: »

That's great! - and a sign things are definitely improving.

Out of interest, are all teachers given training to deal with children that have learning difficulties and / or special needs, or is that reserved just for people that specifically train to be special-needs teachers?

I teach a mixed infants class and any special needs training I've done has been in my own time - it was barely touched on in college. Even if you're a learning support teacher the training is done yourself, there's more courses available for these teachers though.

Dyslexia can be extremely hard to spot in the class, especially with younger children as a lot of the indicators (reversals, difficulty with pattern etc) aren't out of the ordinary for younger children. At this stage most psychologists won't say that a child is dyslexic until they are 8 or 9, even if they fit most of the criteria.

What is unbelievable is that children with dyslexia don't receive resource hours (these are hours with the learning support/resource teacher that the child HAS to be taken for), we're supposed to "fit" these kids in under the learning support model, ie if a school only has one ls/resource teacher, and all of their hours are taken up with resource, then the dyslexic child mightn't receive any extra help.

E.T.

Just had a thought - any courses I've done on dyslexia have only been ok, the problem is that there's such a variety of symptoms and degrees of difficulties. Can anyone here who has dyslexia/dyslexic tendencies remember any specifics that I could use to help kids in my class who are in a similar situation? One of the big problems with infants with dyslexic tendencies is that they're too young to explain what exactly they're finding difficult, I know the ls/resource teacher has said that as these kids get older they're able to tell her a lot more about their individual difficulties. Any memories of infant class would be great if people can remember that far back!

byhookorbycrook

I work in special ed too. When I started each child with dyslexia got 30 mins per day one-to-one. Now unless they score below the 10th percentile in literacy the DES says they don't even qualify for learning support in a group of maybe 4 or more.:mad::mad::mad:
I find the book "Toe-by-Toe", though somewhat tedious works for a lot of children, also the Lexia cd ,as it works on visual and aural learning.

DetectivFoxtrot

Is it possible to be a dyslexic typist, but be a good (albeit slow) reader, hand written speller and hand written writer?

also, is not automatically knowing the difference between left and right a symptom of dyslexia (I mean getting it wrong unless consciously thinking and figuring it out)?

@ Outlawpete - I would be lost without spell check too, I spend more time fixing my post that writing it, e.g. knwo for know, ti for it etc... I have lots of these when I type. Never considered myself dyslexic though...

Tigger

spinandscribble wrote: »

being tested instead of being called lazy. Funny how i was only deemed lazy in english/irish, not maths/everything else.

+1 bazillion

Tigger

DetectivFoxtrot wrote: »

Is it possible to be a dyslexic typist, but be a good (albeit slow) reader, hand written speller and hand written writer?

also, is not automatically knowing the difference between left and right a symptom of dyslexia (I mean getting it wrong unless consciously thinking and figuring it out)?

@ Outlawpete - I would be lost without spell check too, I spend more time fixing my post that writing it, e.g. knwo for know, ti for it etc... I have lots of these when I type. Never considered myself dyslexic though...

dysgraphia (sp)

seems to be what i have i can read very well but i find typing and writing difficult

my writing since i finished college is a joke
boards really helps my typing (i don't use spellchecker cos thats not gonna help me) but some people who react as tho i'm drunk stoned or just stupid her really don't help

all in all the boards attiitude is good tho

DetectivFoxtrot

hmmm, just found this on wiki


Left/right confusion

Left/right confusion is the difficulty some people have in distinguishing the difference between the directions left and right. It afflicts an estimated 15% of the population.[1] Dyslexia is one of several conditions that affect a person's ability to quickly and easily consciously realize the difference.

DetectivFoxtrot

wow, just did a test here re left/right confusion.

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/java/hands1.html

I read 25 hand signals and the programme timed me. Took me 16.5 seconds to read the 25 UP/DOWN signals, and 30.5 seconds to read the 25 LEFT/RIGHT signals. interesting... about 90% longer

I read on another website that although it is a symptom of dyslexia it can be present without the person being dyslexic

confusticated

paperclip2 wrote: »

Oh and reminding them that dyslexia is a part of who they are and not all of who they are cos some days it can feel like that I've been told.

I'm not dyslexic, but a couple of people in my class at school were (I finished school a few years ago). I think what paperclip2 says there is important, because there was one girl I knew who was dyslexic and her family made a big deal of it - not suggesting that they should keep quiet about it or anything, but like every time anyone mentioned exams or an essay they found difficult, she'd mention her dyslexia, so it got harder to be understanding about it and it annoyed people.

Other people that I know were dyslexic and getting help and scribes for exams and whatnot just did what they needed to do, got the classes and support they needed. They didn't hide that they were dyslexic, but they didn't keep talking about it all the time either, and I think they got on better because of it. Everyone understood, nobody cared either way, once they (the dyslexic students) were happy with how things were going for them.

Hope that makes sense and doesn't annoy anyone...

wmpdd3

art collage and putting L and R on my dashboard before I passed my driving test first time!

extrinzic

Just happened upon a Dispatches documentary on Dyslexia, controversially entitled The Dyslexia Myth . Like is to Google video. I found it challenging, and exciting, and I think you will too. It suggests, among other things, that reading difficulty generally has nothing to do with vision. Having said that, reading was not a major issue for me, but spelling and arithmetic, though I did, and still do sometimes struggle to get through some text. I am convinced that the course I undertook with Dyslexia@bay did help me, and it was concerned with peripheral vision. Hope this helps, and good luck.