How I cope with my Dyslexia
Have you heard of Dyslexia? If you’re not involved in teaching or have someone in your family who is Dyslexic then I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t even though a lot of people have it. Cher, Walt Disney, Edison, Richard Branson, Scott Addams and hell – even Steve Jobs has it.
So, you’re probably thinking, “Wow. Loads of successful people seem to have this Dyslexia thing. Must be great.” Nope.
Wikipedia says it best. “Dyslexia is most commonly characterised by difficulties with learning how to decode at the word level, to spell, and to read accurately and fluently… Many individuals with dyslexic symptoms involving reading, writing, and spelling also exhibit symptoms in other domains such as poor short-term memory skills, poor personal organizational skills and problems processing spoken language.”
I only found out that I had Dyslexia when I was in my second year of high school. My sister had just started at the same school as me and they realised that she had a little problem and took her to Learning Support. Well, she got tested and a whole load of stuff arrived through our door showing common traits for Dyslexics. Sooner or later it came into my hands and I started ticking the boxes. I had mostly ALL of the traits. Scary. I got tested that week and found out the truth. I was devastated but relieved to know that some of my problems with keeping my emotions in check and how I was doing in class were due to something.
So, what’s up with me? Well, I had problems with speaking properly when I was younger. I had a terrible stutter, and it took about a year’s worth of speech therapy to clear up. I had emotional problems as well – pretty extreme anger and I cried over absolutely anything (once I wept maddeningly because someone moved my bag as a prank when I was nine). But before leaving high school I managed to control these problems.
Most of my problems now are with reading, writing, mathematics and sometimes with spoken language although nobody who saw me would realise I have this problem as I have an acute case of Dyslexia. Well that’s not completely accurate – some may think I’m anti-social but I’m just shy since I know that it can be difficult for me to think fast during conversation (I bloody hate that).
But on the learning difficulty side, there are a few things I do that have helped me through the years:-
I write down important dates and tasks as soon as I hear of them.
Whenever I don’t, I know I’ll forget them. Most people with dyslexia have a problem with short-term memory skills – so simple stuff like that can be troublesome. Quite recently I’ve been using a HP iPaq PDA, but more often than not I’m using my iPod touch – using it’s calendar and notes features to keep ahead of things.
Audio is better than text.
Over time, I’ve realised that I find I take things in better in audio form. It’s easier to study with audio as well – you’re not tethered to a computer screen or book. Another reason it’s easier for me is my reading speed is quite slow. Capable, but slower than average. I also find that it’s easier to remember things if I talk it out loud – I’m learning it twice – once with audio, and also by reading.
Spell Check is your friend.
I’m fairly capable when I’m spelling – but I always make mistakes. Sometimes it’s even with the simplest words that I’ve typed or written a million times.
Calculate with a machine, not with your mind.
I’ve had problems with numeracy from a young age, and my dyslexia was almost found out when I was seven when I was moved into the learning support section of my primary school for a day. I’ve always had problems with long numbers, and it takes me a long time to remember a new phone number or do multiplications and additions in my head. I had to have a maths tutor to help me learn my times tables as I never seemed to get it. It took me till I was 11 to understand problem solving! (one day it just clicked)
Using a calculator solves most of my problems, and we have them everywhere. However, if I’m in the shops I’ll still challenge myself by trying to add the totals in my head and see how far I’m off when I get to the checkout.
Type not write.
When I write something and look over it a day after – I’m sure I’ll find extremely long pieces of text that I’ve written in my own handwriting that nobody can understand, not even myself, unless I write extremely slowly and carefully. That’s why I type most of what I do even though I love to write in my moleskine notebooks.
Help other people understand.
That’s one of the reasons I’m writing this post. Not many people understand what it actually means by being Dyslexic. I’m not dumb. I’d even say I’m better at learning than some of my peers. I just learn differently.
Don’t think of it as a condition. Think of it as a gift.
People with Dyslexia are commonly more creative. Hell, that’s why there’s so many famous people who have it. We might not be organised, we might have a few troubles learning – but what it gives in return could be considered a rare gift.
If you’ve got Dyslexia I hope you take some of my tips and stories in steed. I think of it this way – I don’t let it get into my head that it’s something I can’t tackle, and if someone tries to stop me or mock me because of my Dyslexia – I show them how much of an inconsideriate and stupid prick they are. You know better. Do something simple and educate them.
If you’re not Dyslexic, but have read this post to it’s entirety – I thank you and I hope that you’ve realised that we’re no different. We all have problems, so don’t judge on a learning difficulty, and realise that we only learn and use our talents differently than most.
Thank you.
Good post. It is nice to read a dyslexic writing about his dyslexia problems and what he has found has helped him and may help others with similar problems without saying ” This is what dyslexia is for everyone”.
There is no ” This is what dyslexia is for everyone” and when I read “dyslexics see in pictures” or other equally misleading ideas as a description of what dyslexia is limited to it bothers me that those type posts make up over 80% of what I see on the web as information about dyslexia.
It is also refreshing to see you basically say that you are functioning fine but that you attained that by working around your problems not by eliminating the problems. In my opinion That is a powerful concept as it leads to a fact that others often overlook. Many dyslexics need to identify exactly what the specifics are of their dyslexia problems. Then each specific problem can be dealt with individually. Your identification of personally having short time memory problems leading to the need to write information down that you know you will need later is an excellent example.
To conclude, if other dyslexics would describe their specific problems and techniques that helped them with those specific problems ,then dyslexics and nondyslexics both might arrive a better understanding of dyslexia.
Yes! I’m glad you posted this blog. It rings true for me as well as many other coping with this learning disability. The common stereotype of Dyslexics is that we see words backwards, when in actuality there are different variations of Dyslexia as well as different variations of the common symptoms (i.e. bad sense of directions, poor short term memory, auditory comprehension problems, so forth and so on)
I am working on a project about Dyslexia. If you live in the NYC area I would like to meet with you.
Thanks for this post!
John Hayes,
I couldn’t agree with you more. Too many people are unaware of what Dyslexia is or how to describe it – causing people who haven’t either heard of it or have been given bad information to be prejudice. I’ve had too many people being surprised to see that I am dyslexic due to the fact I am literate and intelligent.
I was researching other dyslexics for this post, trying to figure out some of the methods they use to help their problems. I remember when I was first diagnosed, http://www.iamdyslexic.com helped me find other people with the condition who had opinions and told how they coped. However, most only described their problems instead of telling others how they dealt with it.
As you said, it would have helped me and others a lot more if we only found out how each individual dyslexic coped with their problems. Thanks for your comment – you’ve really made me think.
Michelle,
I’m extremely happy that you found this post helpful as it means that it did it’s job. It’s sad that although Dyslexia is fairly widespread most people just don’t seem to understand what it is and how differently the condition affects each person. It sounds like you are coping well with it though.
I would have loved to meet with you, unfortunately I live in the United Kingdom and I won’t be anywhere in the US for at least a few months. Despite this, you can contact me via other means if you wish and I can only hope that your project turns out as a success.
Thank you.
i have got dyslexia am 14 and you are rite that is wot it is xactle peple mite undasund a bit mur abut it
Hi, like the Madagaskar movies, very good animation!