L
Ladysphinx
Guest
The truth behind dyslexia by a dyslexic
First of I will give you a history about what life is like if you have not been diagnosed with this condition at an early age. I say condition because to me it is not really a disability to me. Since grade 1 things started shaky. I had a hard time concentrating on how to form letters and holding a pencil seemed to be awkward to every body. I was a slow at learning to read and by the 3 grade while others started to excel at reading I still had trouble interpreting simple sentences not to even mention my ability to spell. Even until to day my spelling sucks, but no one really knows thanks to spell checkers and dictionaries. By grade 7 I was teased by the kids and even called names by certain teacher, like being dull, thick, lazy and sometimes even stupid. My Self-esteem could not go lower even if I dug a hole and threw it in there. Why they could not recognize that there was a problem is beyond me. Even my parents did not think about the possibility, they punished me even more relentless for being “lazy”.
I still never gave up, the idea of giving up meant that I would accept that I am dumb and that I could not do. I just tried even harder. I feel like crying now that I think of it.
In high school, things did not go any better. When we started algebra, it was the worst ever it’s like trying to read Greek without knowing any Greek. I got only 4% one trimester in math’s because no matter how hard my teacher or I tried I could not get it. Even to day, algebra is still gibberish to me. I also got speech therapy be cause I struggled to talk. I spoke very slowly and even sound “slow” though I wasn’t’ really Once in the 8th grade a teacher told my that she did not know what I was doing in school and that the only thing I’m worth for is to leave school and have babies. I retaliated by throwing my desk over and shouting at her, I can not quite remember what I shouted to her and that what I remember I would prefer not to repeat , that got me expelled, well I actually got a choice leave school by your self or get expelled, so I left and went to a another high school.
This was the best thing that ever happened to me, as this school expects you to do a IQ test when entering their school, I got 103 but on some things but they noticed something was wrong. After two weeks in school a teacher asked me if I have ever been tested for a learning disability, they never did. She took me to the headmaster and they decided that I must be tested as soon as possible, they wrote a letter to my parents letting them know, my mother refused and said that it will only fuel my laziness. My father put his foot down and said that he also feels this is important so he gave his permission. In that week I got tested and the results showed that I had dyslexia. I had to do another IQ test that was adapted to a person with dyslexia this time my test showed a IQ of 127
I was very angry at the adults in my life when I found this out. How could they not have done something at an early age to help me I was 17 and only had a year and a half to go before I finished school? Well at least I got the help I needed. Things drastically changed. Even the spelling counts in exams and this had quite an effect on my grades during my school career. I was granted the right to right exams with a dictionary and even then spelling was overlook, I also got more time when writing a test as I use to never be able to complete a test due to the time issue” I a slow reader”. My grades went up from about 40% to around 70%-80%. Moreover, in the end I was able to finish high school, which I tough I will never be able to do. The teacher that wanted me to be tested will always be a heroin in my book.
To illustrate what it looks like when some one with dyslexia writes I will write a paragraph without correcting a single thing.
Im writing this paragraph without the help of any spel checker, remeber that I have study spelling rules extencively in oder to reduss the spelling mistakes I make but even then I still struggel in doing it properly. Not many poeple ever get the opertunity to see what my uncheck writting realy looks like, its not somthing Im not very proud of it and prfer when poeple do not see my work before it is corrected. I will also not duoble check what I have writen here. If this was hihg shcool they would have fialed me on this little piece of writting done here. My hand writting alos does not say much becuase of this simple probelem. I then have many scrtached out words to fix what I heva writen. I also have a tendancy of turning letters around such as braed in staed of bread, gohst-ghost, slat-salt, trhee-three, aerth-earth, even when writing in normal hand. To make things worse Engelish is not my mohter languege.
Recent treatment on a rife machine has detected that I have an abnormality in my 6th chromosome, that led me to study the connection between dyslexia and chromosomes. And these studies have led to finding that there is believed to be a link between dyslexia and abnormalities in chromosome 3, 6 or 18. This is condition as been found to run in families(my sister is also dyslexic so is my son and my daughter). Left-handed people are also more likely to be dyslexic then those that are right-handed( I’m left handed so is my sister and my daughter). Dyslexia can range from mild to moderate, to severe to profound. There is also a link to various other problem such as AD/HD, diabetes, depression, unexplained headaches, unexplained stomachaches, unexplained nausea, excessive fatigue, hormone imbalances, PCOS, speech disorders, concentration and memory difficulty, poor hand eye co-ordination, Parkinson’s disease, tourette's syndrome (I also have this but not very severe, my husband calls it the rabbit sniffles. He calls it my stress-o-meter the more stress the worse it gets). Abnormal deep or light sleeper(a bomb can explode right next to me and I would not know it.) These are not syptoms they are only linked to people that have dysexia and can be present without having dyslexia but many will be present with dyslexia, most people with dyslexia suffers from one or more of these problem as they are also linked to abnormalities in chromosome 6 and 18.
Categories(types) of Dyslexia
One or more of any combination can e present with a person diagnosed with dyslexia
Dysgraphia – Difficulty holding and controlling a pencil so that the correct marking can be made on paper.
Dysphonetic – difficulty in connecting sounds to symbols. Might have problems in sounding out word that are read and spelling mistakes reveal a poor grasp of phonics. It is also called auditory dyslexia.
Dyseidetic – Difficulty in how the person sees and mentally processes the symbols, letter and word concepts in to correct written formats. It is also known as visual or surface dyslexia
Dyscalculia – Difficulty in interpreting numbers and math symbols, Algebra is virtually impossible to comprehend. Also called Math dyslexia. Many people only have dyscalculia without any other form of dyslexia but many with other forms of dyslexia also have dyscalculia. (I’m one of those that have dyscalculia with other forms of dyslexia)
Symptoms of dyslexia
I can write a whole book on this part, but I will try to give only the most common symptoms, as plain as possible. Not all symptoms are present, but many will be.
Writing and motor skills
Trouble with writing and coping, pencil grip is unusual: handwriting varies or is illegible. Mixture of upper and lower case letters or print/ cursive letters. Unfinished letters. Struggle to use writing as communicative tool. Bizarre reading and spelling. Clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball and team sports, difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills and tasks: prone to motion-sickness. Can be ambidextrous or let handed, and often confuse left/right, under/over.
Reading skills
Reads slowly and hesitantly. Loses orientation on line or page while reading, missing lines or reading previously read lines again. Tries to sound the letters of the word but is unable to say the correct word. Mispronounces word, or puts stress on wrong syllables. Reads only in the present tense although the text is in the past. Foreshortens words, for example portion for proportion. Read with poor comprehension.
Remembers little of what is read. Spells word as they sound for example rite for right. Often ignores punctuation. May omit full stops or commas and fail to see the need for capital letters.
Math and time management
Has difficulty in telling time, managing time, learning sequenced information or tasks, or being on time. Computing math shows dependence on finger and other tricks; Knows answers, but cant do it on paper. Can count but has difficulty counting objects and dealing with money. Can do arithmetic, but fails word problems; cannot grasp algebra of higher math.
Memory and Cognition
Excellent long-term memory for experiences ,locations and faces.
Poor memory for sequences, fact and information that has not been experienced.
Thinks primarily with images and feeling, not sounds or words. Dyslexics may also have trouble remembering the order of the alphabet, strings of numbers, for example telephone numbers the months of the year, days of the week.
Behavior, health, development, and personality
Extremely disorderly or compulsively order. Can be class clown, trouble-maker or too quiet. Had unusual early or late developmental stages(talking, crawling, walking, tying shoes). Prone to ear infections; sensitive to certain foods, additives and chemical products. Can be a extra deep or light sleeper; bedwetting beyond appropriate age
Unusually high or low tolerance for pain. Strong sense of justice; emotionally sensitive; strives for perfection. Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure, emotional stress or poor health. Struggles to put ideas or emotions to paper. Often can not find the right words to describe a situation. (It’s like I see this whole thing in my head but I don’t have the ability to put what I see on paper and when I do it’s like nothing what I was trying to say, it come out all wrong).
A list of symptoms of dyscalculia
Difficulty with the conceptualizing time and judging the passing of time. Maybe chronically late or early. Difficulty with differentiating between left and right
Difficulty navigating or mentally turning the map to face the current direction rather than the common north=top usage
Difficulty in mentally estimating the measurement of an object of distance(whether something is 10 or 20 feet away.
Often unable to grasp and remember mathematical concepts, rules, formula and sequences.
Difficulty in keeping score during games.
Difficulty with games such as poker with more flexible rules for scoring.
Difficulty in activities requiring sequential processing, from physical ( such as dancing steps or sport) to the abstract(signaling thing in the right order)
Mistaken recollection of names. Poor name/face retrieval. May substitute names with names starting with the same letter.
Checklist for adult to see if you may have dyslexia
Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each question
1. Do you find it hard to follow a detailed discussion ?
2. Do you take much longer than most people to read a page in a book ?
3. Do you find it hard to work out sums in your head ?
4. Do you find it hard to get started on any written work ?
5. Is your spelling poor ?
6. When you have to say a long word, do you frequently find it difficult to get the sounds in the right order ?
7. Do you find it more difficult to fill in forms than others do ?
8. When you use the telephone, do you often make mistakes dialing ?
9. Do you have more difficulty than others in taking and passing on phone messages ?
10. Do you frequently mix up dates and times and miss appointments ?
11. I have difficulty remembering the sequence of letters in words ?
12. Learning and using phonic sounds is/was difficult for me ?
13. I have difficulty remembering what I read ?
14. I have difficulty comprehending what I read ?
15. I prefer to read in dim, rather than bright, light ?
16. I remember having a lot of homework in school; more than my friends ?
17. Homework completion was a nightly struggle in our home.
18. Teacher indicated that I was lazy.
19. Teachers indicated that I was not working up to my potential.
20. Teacher indicated that I was not motivated.
21. I was often unable to complete my schoolwork on time.
22. I was slow and/or inaccurate when copying from the chalkboard.
23. I have messy hand writing.
24. I have difficulty remembering names and symbols.
25. I often have to reread directions to keep them in order.
26. Sometimes I have difficulty pronouncing words correctly or expressing my ideas clearly ?
27. I am often unable to put my thoughts down in writing.
28. Writing is a painful process for me so I tend to avoid it.
29. I have always felt that I am different from others in the way I process information.
30. I am slow at writing legibly.
If you have answered yes to more than 15 questions there is a large chance that you may be dyslexic.
Famous people with dyslexia
Albert Einstein
He could not talk until the age of four. He did not learn to read untill he was nine. His teachers considered him slow, unsociable and a dreamer. He failed the entrance examination to college but finally passed the after an additional year of preparation. He lost three teaching positions and then became a paten clerk.
Leonardo DaVinci
Thomas Jefferson
Richard Branson (virgin enterprises)
Winston Churchill
Danny Glover
Billy Bob thornton
Vince Vaughn
Robin Williams
Alexander Graham Bell
John R. Skoyles (Brain researcher)
Pablo Picasso
John Lennon
George Washington
John F. Kennedy
Ted Turner
F.W Woolworth
Nelson Rockefeller
George Patton
Agatha Christie
F.Scott Fitzgerald
Muhammed Ali
Orlando Bloom
Tom Cruise
Despite being a success in his chosen field. This entertainer can learn lines only by listening to a tape
Walt Disney
Thomas Edison
Whoopi Goldberg
Tommy Hilfiger
Magic Johnson
Jay Leno
Kiera Knightly
Keanu Reeves
Erin Brochovich
Cher and her daughter Chastity Bono
Patrick Dempsy
Micheal Dudikoff
Anthony Hopkins
Ingvar Kamrad, founder of IKEA
Jamie Oliver
Daniel Powter
Guy Ritchie
Suzanne Somers
Joss Stone
Lindsay Wagner
First of I will give you a history about what life is like if you have not been diagnosed with this condition at an early age. I say condition because to me it is not really a disability to me. Since grade 1 things started shaky. I had a hard time concentrating on how to form letters and holding a pencil seemed to be awkward to every body. I was a slow at learning to read and by the 3 grade while others started to excel at reading I still had trouble interpreting simple sentences not to even mention my ability to spell. Even until to day my spelling sucks, but no one really knows thanks to spell checkers and dictionaries. By grade 7 I was teased by the kids and even called names by certain teacher, like being dull, thick, lazy and sometimes even stupid. My Self-esteem could not go lower even if I dug a hole and threw it in there. Why they could not recognize that there was a problem is beyond me. Even my parents did not think about the possibility, they punished me even more relentless for being “lazy”.
I still never gave up, the idea of giving up meant that I would accept that I am dumb and that I could not do. I just tried even harder. I feel like crying now that I think of it.
In high school, things did not go any better. When we started algebra, it was the worst ever it’s like trying to read Greek without knowing any Greek. I got only 4% one trimester in math’s because no matter how hard my teacher or I tried I could not get it. Even to day, algebra is still gibberish to me. I also got speech therapy be cause I struggled to talk. I spoke very slowly and even sound “slow” though I wasn’t’ really Once in the 8th grade a teacher told my that she did not know what I was doing in school and that the only thing I’m worth for is to leave school and have babies. I retaliated by throwing my desk over and shouting at her, I can not quite remember what I shouted to her and that what I remember I would prefer not to repeat , that got me expelled, well I actually got a choice leave school by your self or get expelled, so I left and went to a another high school.
This was the best thing that ever happened to me, as this school expects you to do a IQ test when entering their school, I got 103 but on some things but they noticed something was wrong. After two weeks in school a teacher asked me if I have ever been tested for a learning disability, they never did. She took me to the headmaster and they decided that I must be tested as soon as possible, they wrote a letter to my parents letting them know, my mother refused and said that it will only fuel my laziness. My father put his foot down and said that he also feels this is important so he gave his permission. In that week I got tested and the results showed that I had dyslexia. I had to do another IQ test that was adapted to a person with dyslexia this time my test showed a IQ of 127
I was very angry at the adults in my life when I found this out. How could they not have done something at an early age to help me I was 17 and only had a year and a half to go before I finished school? Well at least I got the help I needed. Things drastically changed. Even the spelling counts in exams and this had quite an effect on my grades during my school career. I was granted the right to right exams with a dictionary and even then spelling was overlook, I also got more time when writing a test as I use to never be able to complete a test due to the time issue” I a slow reader”. My grades went up from about 40% to around 70%-80%. Moreover, in the end I was able to finish high school, which I tough I will never be able to do. The teacher that wanted me to be tested will always be a heroin in my book.
To illustrate what it looks like when some one with dyslexia writes I will write a paragraph without correcting a single thing.
Im writing this paragraph without the help of any spel checker, remeber that I have study spelling rules extencively in oder to reduss the spelling mistakes I make but even then I still struggel in doing it properly. Not many poeple ever get the opertunity to see what my uncheck writting realy looks like, its not somthing Im not very proud of it and prfer when poeple do not see my work before it is corrected. I will also not duoble check what I have writen here. If this was hihg shcool they would have fialed me on this little piece of writting done here. My hand writting alos does not say much becuase of this simple probelem. I then have many scrtached out words to fix what I heva writen. I also have a tendancy of turning letters around such as braed in staed of bread, gohst-ghost, slat-salt, trhee-three, aerth-earth, even when writing in normal hand. To make things worse Engelish is not my mohter languege.
Recent treatment on a rife machine has detected that I have an abnormality in my 6th chromosome, that led me to study the connection between dyslexia and chromosomes. And these studies have led to finding that there is believed to be a link between dyslexia and abnormalities in chromosome 3, 6 or 18. This is condition as been found to run in families(my sister is also dyslexic so is my son and my daughter). Left-handed people are also more likely to be dyslexic then those that are right-handed( I’m left handed so is my sister and my daughter). Dyslexia can range from mild to moderate, to severe to profound. There is also a link to various other problem such as AD/HD, diabetes, depression, unexplained headaches, unexplained stomachaches, unexplained nausea, excessive fatigue, hormone imbalances, PCOS, speech disorders, concentration and memory difficulty, poor hand eye co-ordination, Parkinson’s disease, tourette's syndrome (I also have this but not very severe, my husband calls it the rabbit sniffles. He calls it my stress-o-meter the more stress the worse it gets). Abnormal deep or light sleeper(a bomb can explode right next to me and I would not know it.) These are not syptoms they are only linked to people that have dysexia and can be present without having dyslexia but many will be present with dyslexia, most people with dyslexia suffers from one or more of these problem as they are also linked to abnormalities in chromosome 6 and 18.
Categories(types) of Dyslexia
One or more of any combination can e present with a person diagnosed with dyslexia
Dysgraphia – Difficulty holding and controlling a pencil so that the correct marking can be made on paper.
Dysphonetic – difficulty in connecting sounds to symbols. Might have problems in sounding out word that are read and spelling mistakes reveal a poor grasp of phonics. It is also called auditory dyslexia.
Dyseidetic – Difficulty in how the person sees and mentally processes the symbols, letter and word concepts in to correct written formats. It is also known as visual or surface dyslexia
Dyscalculia – Difficulty in interpreting numbers and math symbols, Algebra is virtually impossible to comprehend. Also called Math dyslexia. Many people only have dyscalculia without any other form of dyslexia but many with other forms of dyslexia also have dyscalculia. (I’m one of those that have dyscalculia with other forms of dyslexia)
Symptoms of dyslexia
I can write a whole book on this part, but I will try to give only the most common symptoms, as plain as possible. Not all symptoms are present, but many will be.
Writing and motor skills
Trouble with writing and coping, pencil grip is unusual: handwriting varies or is illegible. Mixture of upper and lower case letters or print/ cursive letters. Unfinished letters. Struggle to use writing as communicative tool. Bizarre reading and spelling. Clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball and team sports, difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills and tasks: prone to motion-sickness. Can be ambidextrous or let handed, and often confuse left/right, under/over.
Reading skills
Reads slowly and hesitantly. Loses orientation on line or page while reading, missing lines or reading previously read lines again. Tries to sound the letters of the word but is unable to say the correct word. Mispronounces word, or puts stress on wrong syllables. Reads only in the present tense although the text is in the past. Foreshortens words, for example portion for proportion. Read with poor comprehension.
Remembers little of what is read. Spells word as they sound for example rite for right. Often ignores punctuation. May omit full stops or commas and fail to see the need for capital letters.
Math and time management
Has difficulty in telling time, managing time, learning sequenced information or tasks, or being on time. Computing math shows dependence on finger and other tricks; Knows answers, but cant do it on paper. Can count but has difficulty counting objects and dealing with money. Can do arithmetic, but fails word problems; cannot grasp algebra of higher math.
Memory and Cognition
Excellent long-term memory for experiences ,locations and faces.
Poor memory for sequences, fact and information that has not been experienced.
Thinks primarily with images and feeling, not sounds or words. Dyslexics may also have trouble remembering the order of the alphabet, strings of numbers, for example telephone numbers the months of the year, days of the week.
Behavior, health, development, and personality
Extremely disorderly or compulsively order. Can be class clown, trouble-maker or too quiet. Had unusual early or late developmental stages(talking, crawling, walking, tying shoes). Prone to ear infections; sensitive to certain foods, additives and chemical products. Can be a extra deep or light sleeper; bedwetting beyond appropriate age
Unusually high or low tolerance for pain. Strong sense of justice; emotionally sensitive; strives for perfection. Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure, emotional stress or poor health. Struggles to put ideas or emotions to paper. Often can not find the right words to describe a situation. (It’s like I see this whole thing in my head but I don’t have the ability to put what I see on paper and when I do it’s like nothing what I was trying to say, it come out all wrong).
A list of symptoms of dyscalculia
Difficulty with the conceptualizing time and judging the passing of time. Maybe chronically late or early. Difficulty with differentiating between left and right
Difficulty navigating or mentally turning the map to face the current direction rather than the common north=top usage
Difficulty in mentally estimating the measurement of an object of distance(whether something is 10 or 20 feet away.
Often unable to grasp and remember mathematical concepts, rules, formula and sequences.
Difficulty in keeping score during games.
Difficulty with games such as poker with more flexible rules for scoring.
Difficulty in activities requiring sequential processing, from physical ( such as dancing steps or sport) to the abstract(signaling thing in the right order)
Mistaken recollection of names. Poor name/face retrieval. May substitute names with names starting with the same letter.
Checklist for adult to see if you may have dyslexia
Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each question
1. Do you find it hard to follow a detailed discussion ?
2. Do you take much longer than most people to read a page in a book ?
3. Do you find it hard to work out sums in your head ?
4. Do you find it hard to get started on any written work ?
5. Is your spelling poor ?
6. When you have to say a long word, do you frequently find it difficult to get the sounds in the right order ?
7. Do you find it more difficult to fill in forms than others do ?
8. When you use the telephone, do you often make mistakes dialing ?
9. Do you have more difficulty than others in taking and passing on phone messages ?
10. Do you frequently mix up dates and times and miss appointments ?
11. I have difficulty remembering the sequence of letters in words ?
12. Learning and using phonic sounds is/was difficult for me ?
13. I have difficulty remembering what I read ?
14. I have difficulty comprehending what I read ?
15. I prefer to read in dim, rather than bright, light ?
16. I remember having a lot of homework in school; more than my friends ?
17. Homework completion was a nightly struggle in our home.
18. Teacher indicated that I was lazy.
19. Teachers indicated that I was not working up to my potential.
20. Teacher indicated that I was not motivated.
21. I was often unable to complete my schoolwork on time.
22. I was slow and/or inaccurate when copying from the chalkboard.
23. I have messy hand writing.
24. I have difficulty remembering names and symbols.
25. I often have to reread directions to keep them in order.
26. Sometimes I have difficulty pronouncing words correctly or expressing my ideas clearly ?
27. I am often unable to put my thoughts down in writing.
28. Writing is a painful process for me so I tend to avoid it.
29. I have always felt that I am different from others in the way I process information.
30. I am slow at writing legibly.
If you have answered yes to more than 15 questions there is a large chance that you may be dyslexic.
Famous people with dyslexia
Albert Einstein
He could not talk until the age of four. He did not learn to read untill he was nine. His teachers considered him slow, unsociable and a dreamer. He failed the entrance examination to college but finally passed the after an additional year of preparation. He lost three teaching positions and then became a paten clerk.
Leonardo DaVinci
Thomas Jefferson
Richard Branson (virgin enterprises)
Winston Churchill
Danny Glover
Billy Bob thornton
Vince Vaughn
Robin Williams
Alexander Graham Bell
John R. Skoyles (Brain researcher)
Pablo Picasso
John Lennon
George Washington
John F. Kennedy
Ted Turner
F.W Woolworth
Nelson Rockefeller
George Patton
Agatha Christie
F.Scott Fitzgerald
Muhammed Ali
Orlando Bloom
Tom Cruise
Despite being a success in his chosen field. This entertainer can learn lines only by listening to a tape
Walt Disney
Thomas Edison
Whoopi Goldberg
Tommy Hilfiger
Magic Johnson
Jay Leno
Kiera Knightly
Keanu Reeves
Erin Brochovich
Cher and her daughter Chastity Bono
Patrick Dempsy
Micheal Dudikoff
Anthony Hopkins
Ingvar Kamrad, founder of IKEA
Jamie Oliver
Daniel Powter
Guy Ritchie
Suzanne Somers
Joss Stone
Lindsay Wagner
