Dyslexia anyone?

[madame_zora]

I was moved to start a thread on dyslexia rather than hijack the thread on which we began this discussion. Anyone who has it, or is interested in it, I would love to hear your experiences.

I'm starting this thread with a quote from the wikipedia page, as that is sometimes a good launching place. I'm hoping that through this discussion, more will post links to information and studies about it.

Dyslexia is most commonly characterized by difficulties with decoding written text or with achieving accuracy and fluency in reading, and by poor spelling. Dyslexic individuals may also reverse or transpose letters when writing or confuse letters such as b, d, p, q, especially in childhood. However, dyslexia is not a visual problem that involves reading letters or words backwards or upside down, nor are such reversals a defining characteristic of dyslexia.

Many individuals with dyslexic symptoms involving reading, writing, and spelling, also have common shared symptoms such as poor short-term memory skills, poor personal organizational skills, problems processing spoken language, left-right confusion, difficulties with numeracy or arithmetic, and issues with balance and co-ordination.[2] These symptoms may coexist with or overlap with characteristics of Auditory Processing Disorder, Visual Processing disorders, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and/or dysgraphia, as well as with intellectual giftedness, artistic talent, and/or a visual-spatial learning style. The particular pattern of symptoms and traits varies with each individual; accordingly, accurate diagnosis may be difficult and subject to conflicting viewpoints.[3]

Evidence that dyslexia is a neurologicalsyndrome is substantial. Research also suggests an association with biochemical and genetic markers.[4][5][6] However, experts disagree over the precise definition ad criteria for diagnosis, and some advocate that the term dyslexia be dropped altogether and replaced with the term Reading Disorder or Reading Disability (RD). Because difficulty in "breaking the code" of sound-letter association (reading acquisition) can be seen as being on a continuum, some believe the term dyslexia should be reserved for the two to five percent most severely affected with RD.


Dyslexia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia






I am of the opinion that dropping the term "dyslexia" in preference of Reading Disorder would be tragic indeed. The problem seems to be in the wide variety of symptoms displayed, but it appears clearly enough to be some sort of neurological disorder.

It is also apparent that dyslexics have a far higher than average incidence of alcoholism, substance abuse, and ADD. I'll post more sources later on, but personally I feel safe in asserting that a low seretonin level is in some part responsible.

 

[Love-it]

Dexlysia is a real problem.

In the late 50's or early 60's I heard my mother say, or rather spell, the first and only cuss word I ever heard her say when she was frustrated with my brothers inabilty to spell, she said/spelled "Damn it! Why aren't you trying harder?

We, she, had never heard about dyslexia, it wasn't recognized in the school system. He still has problems and can only focus on things he is really interested in. He has never been diagnosed. He is 56 years old now.

My wife couldn't read until she was about 12 and still has a hard time, she needs to read things sevearal times before she can really grasp what is written. She has improved over the years but has never been diagnosed. She is 59 years old.

 

[PowayWolfman]

YO! Im Dyslexic,,, was kicked out of private Catholic school in first grade ( Head nun told my mom that if she wanted to save face for the family, she would do well to put me in a home and forget I was born)

Scholastically, Its always been a uphill battle. Been hard keeping jobs too, I have Dyslexia on a MAJOR level and need to always keep on my toes to not embarrass myself.

The biggest bummer, is nobody expects anything of you once they find outyour dyslexic.

 

[rob_just_rob]

Thanks for the dyslexia link. It was rather informative - I don't think I'm dyslexic, but I followed links to some other conditions that seem awfully familiar.

 

[roosevelt]

yes, I'm lysdexic

kinda sucked growing up, but I function okay now, I just can't hand write things very well.

 

[playainda336]

What about asperger's syndrome...anything on that? >_>

I have a friend that's dyslexic...didn't find out until after he graduated from High School too. It's sad to be diagnosed late.

 

[D_N Flay Table]

Im dylexic.

 

[rawbone8]

I used to be pretty close to a family where all three boys had it to varying degrees and also had been tagged with attention deficit disorder diagnoses, one with hyperactivity. They had special ed support but struggled mightily with their differences to other kids in school. They were wonderful boys, and relied on their winning personalities and good character to achieve socially, on the sporting field and coped as they best they could with weakness in scholastics. They never were at a loss for friends. The school system helped until high school when it all seemed to present too much challenge to stay engaged with the work and drop in social status.
Only one finished high school.

Their tendency for getting engrossed in drugs or alcohol (self medication?) as well as their affinity for risk taking was possibly related to either their LD condition or to their fall in status in the social scene they had to compete in. It's hard to judge what motivates the escapist and fun seeking side of behaviour. We all like it to some degree as teens. Excessive behaviour is due to... Poor self esteem? Impulsiveness? Adrenaline addiction?

I have wondered if the solvents their mom worked with in her career as a graphic artist (mineral spirits like rubber cement thinner and acetone) had a role in all three having this condition.

 

[Principessa]

For up-to-date information on many learning disabilities please check the: National Center for Learning Disabilities. It is an excellent resource!

What about asperger's syndrome...anything on that? My 6.5 year old cousin was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome last year. I know very little about it but am learning so I can help him and his mom. Unfortunately, his mom is in denial and I'm not sure she has signed him up for the all the services that he will inevitably need.

For more information on Asperger's Syndrome please check out these sites.
Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and the Autistic Spectrum
ASPERGER DISORDER HOMEPAGE
Yale Developmental Disabilities Clinic
The Source

I have a friend that's dyslexic...didn't find out until after he graduated from High School too. It's sad to be diagnosed late.

Same here! I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyscalculia when I was a freshman in college. I am also a visual-spatial learner which I didn't learn until I was in my early 30's. I do not consider being a visual-spatial learner to be a learning disability!


I also have an auditory processing disorder. For me this means that following what is going on in a staff meeting where more than one person is talking is pretty much impossible. Working in an environment with lots of background noise whether it is machines, people talking, or the hum of flourescent lights is enough to make me just a little bit batty, and make completion of the simplest tasks difficult.

 

[madame_zora]

Rawbone, from what I understand, I think it's largely genetic. Those solvents may not have helped matters but I doubt they caused it.

Thanks to everyone who's responded so far. Altered ego left a great post on the other thread, I'll ask her to repost it here. Would ya? It's interesting to read how this disorder has impacted different people, I hear parts of my own problem in everyone's story, and some parts that aren't like mine at all. I can see why this has been so hard to diagnose. Even the beginning of the wikipedia page gave a pretty grim outlook for treatment. I think it will be a long time before much is known.

Can you imagine if they could make a pill that could cure alcoholism? Dyslexia? There are so many mental illnesses of varying degrees, you'd think someone would be more interested in the chemical aspect of what's going wrong in the brain.

I can spell aloud, but when I write, I transpose so many letters it actually takes me longer to edit than to write. These posts come at a price, haha.
I read one word at a time, or I can't absorb what I'm reading. It's painfully slow, but my comprehension's high. I couldn't read maps at all until I was in my 30s, and left vs. right is a big fucking mystery.

I'm great at approximation, I can get pretty close when I estimate "about" how far, how much, etc. I have a good sense of quantity, but I lack the ability to do complicated calculations that require more than a few steps. I can't remember directions beyond a few turns, and if I get off my known course, it can be very frustrating trying to get back. I wasted a lot of windshield time when I was in outside sales.:tongue:

Like everyone else says, I learned how to fake it. If math is easy enough to do in my head, I can do it. If I have to write it out by hand, who knows what I'll get. I can do pretty much in my head, so no one really figured me out until about junior high school. I got in trouble a lot of not showing my work on my homework, even though I got the right answer. Truth is, I had no idea how I figured it out, it just "made sense".

I was diagnosed very early too, second grade. I had so many tests that year I felt like a lab rat. I had iq tests, motor skills tests, hearing and vision tests- all of it. My experience was kind of bizzarre because I went from being the weird-too-tall brown kid to being the curious creature who couldn't write but had a high iq. Word gets around, and you're even weirder than before. I narrowly escaped special ed, because they didn't really have a teacher even in special ed who knew much about dyslexia anyway, so they just treated me "special" in regular class. Sometimes I even got to sit at a table by myself, and I was usually allowed to come and go in and out of class at will, it was weird. I didn't like milk (eww gross) so I told my teachers it was against my religion to drink it, and they let me slide on that- I got orange drink. They didn't know about brown people's religions (hell, I didn't either) so being weird had its advantages.

I only took easy math in high school, the math in college almost killed me.
I had to go for tutoring for intermediate statistics. I could get it in the first quarter, but by the second quarter, they were into the math I couldn't do in my head or approximate, and I just couldn't remember the formulas. It crushed me. I couldn't do what I wanted to do without that class, and probably advanced statistics as well. I ended up dropping out of college in my last year, I couldn't take working that hard for a c-, knowing I'd never finish with more than a d.

We all have to learn to work within the framework of our capabilities, and I am very well aware of mine.

 

[AlteredEgo]

Cross-posted by request:

My dyslexia inhibits my ability to communicate mathmatically. Becasue I developed excellent coping mechanisms before the start of school, it was not apparent to anyone that I was anything other than brilliant-but-lazy until I was in the eighth grade. Testing was not attempted until I was in the ninth grade and was never completed.

I understand mathmatical concepts very well. I do not have much ease with putting math sentences onto paper or solving problems. I have a very, very diffficult time applying the concepts I know, and remembering the concepts I learned.

I was always told, "Most people are either good at math or verbal skills. You've got excellent verbal skills so don't worry about your math skills too much. Just keep practicing." No one worried about my difficulty because my math skills are above average. I worry that my horrendous math skills count as 'above average'. If you could see that from my perspective you'd think that was sad indeed.

I learned excellent coping mechanisms very early somehow.

I began speaking at nine months of age. This is a bit precocious. My first words were a complete sentence. That's very precocious. Okay, okay, in its correct context, my first sentence was not grammatically correct. It was lacking a verb which I assure you my tone implied. "[Do] you see?" is not a normal thing to ask after nine months of complete gibbberish. I made my first attempt to read nine months later with success even understanding the word "refrigerator" on the first try. I wonder if I could have read sooner. I just never tried. I know I could not have spoken sooner. I remember things from before I had words for my thoughts. I was preoccupied with thoughts of freeddom. I felt limited, weak, and was frequently afraid. If I could have spoken, I would have.

Anyway, becasue I got that kind of start, I learned to cope without ever learning that I had something for which to compensate. In school, my homework took all evening and I had no free time. I stopped doing it becasue I didn't need to do homeowrk to learn. I get things the first time. I do not generally require review. Everyone thought I was just lazy, but math was devouring my childhood and I was still preoccupied with freedom. When I didi my homework all the answers were correct. When I took tests, my math scores fell below expectations. I was told to be careful with my calculations; told I was making 'careless mistakes'. Given an unlimited supply of time, I could accomplish anything. In a timed environment I struggled. My reading comprehension skills are superb. You'd never know how slowly I read just talking to me. I love to read, it just takes forever. One day, if you'd like a laugh, we can hook up on a voice chat platform. You can give me simple math problems requiring mostly addition and subtraction with limited division and multiplication. I'll solve the problems out loud, and you'll ask me the same question everyone who finds out how I think through number problems asks, "Have you always done math ass backwards? How the hell did that lead you to the correct answer?"

The typos you see in my posts are not usually because of my dyslexia. They are usually the result of:

• My Mac keyboard is very sensitive and sometimes doubles the letters
• My PC keyboard is less sensitive, and sometimes skips the letters
• I seldom proof-read my posts because
• I am usually on the phone with a client

There are words that I KNOW I do not know how to spell. I usually use a different word, or look it up if it's important to use that word (or time permits).

Anyway, that's my experience with dyslexia. It's much more than a simple reading problem for me, which is why I wasn't properly tested until well after school, by a friend of mine who went into education and who was curious.

 

[rawbone8]

I knew a bright girl in college who was dyslexic and was told she had a pretty poor scholastic record as a youth in posh private schools, never achieving close to the results of her older siblings. That lasted until an enterprising education specialist got her hooked up support with the CNIB (Canadian Institute for the Blind) audio tapes for a good part of her grade twelve curriculum and she raised her grades to honours levels.

In professional life she was constantly working out ways of coping and concealing. It's amazing how her charm was really a necessary part of her repertoire of job skills for getting help from colleagues to keep her disadvantage off the radar.

 

[B_HappyHammer1977]

The term 'Reading Disorder' is somewhat vaigue and could mean any one of many reading difficulties people have. Call a spade a spade.

 

[Lex]

As a lifelong special educator, I can attest to the validity of these "disorders and disabilities." Challenges in reading are very prevalent and challenges in math often go overlooked, especially if someone has strong verbal skills--Altered's profile is the same as Mrs. Lex and my daughter's.

I have taught many bright students who were incapable of performing simple math even though they read above grade level. I had one student who had an encoding disorder (reading is decoding, writing is encoding).

He was of above average intelligence and read above grade level. The only 5 words he could spell were his first name, last name, the, and & but. So severe was his encoding disability that his writing did not even follow any phonetic rules. He could verbally dictate the most intelligent responses, but when he went to write them it looked like this: kdjas ad9d awmai aidfnao.


Here are some helpful links:

Learning Disabilities Association of America

:: LDW -- LEARNING DISABILITIES WORLDWIDE -- ::

LD OnLine :: Reading & Dyslexia


I can dig up more. If anyone wants any of the Information I have, just send me an email or PM.

 

[Full_Phil]

Although I can't speak about the issue with any real understanding of its implications, I am of the general opinion that we all have varying degrees of some perceptual problem. It's like eye-sight in that those people who have a small difficulty seeing with absolute clarity are never diagnosed (if at all) until much later in life at a time when they have been able to learn how to compensate and function well enough. The ability to read and understand is probably as different in every human being as their visual personna. Those who have been actually labeled with having a perceptual disease are just a little bit worse off than those whose problem is just not as great. That Madame Zora has to read one word at at time is more than made up for by her other discernment skills. These skills may indeed be enhanced by the fact that she can not skim over words and perhaps miss some meaning. If one has something that holds one back when compared to the general norms of others, there are more than likely areas where that person excels as a result.

 

[Bulldog78]

I'm a "directionally challenged" dyslexic - I have a great deal of difficulty telling right from left and am very poor in following directions. Considering that I am a salesman and often driving from place to place, it takes a great deal of effort to find my way around.

I am used to it by now and I go back and forth from familiar and oft visited places easily but heaven help me if there is a detour or a blocked road, it is hard to sense where I am.

I was diagonosed many years ago when the condition was called "mixed hemispheres" - the different sides of the brain fighting for control of motor functions. Now it is believed that one side of the brain is bigger than the other in dyslexics.

Suzanne Somers has stated that she has my kind of dyselxia and was forced to put the letters "R" and "L" on her tap shows when she was working in Vegas so she could remember which way to go on dance routines.

The only comfort I have is one doctor who told me that dyslexia is usually a sign of genius......or schizophrenia. I am going for genius.

 

[DC_DEEP]

Lysdexics, UNTIE!!!

 

[whatireallywant]

I don't have dyslexia but I was "tested like a lab rat" in elementary school too... They were surprised that I scored as low on the IQ test that they gave then, but I didn't know that at the time, later took an IQ test as an adult and qualified for Mensa (I was a member for a while). I think I may have undiagnosed ADD as well - reading the records from elementary school, they did mention my difficulties that would point to that. But I might've just been bored, too!

Another group of friends and I have been discussing ADD lately. We are on a small Yahoo group (won't give specifics here), but we all have ADD, diagnosed or undiagnosed, although that wasn't how the group started!

I have a hard time concentrating at jobs where there is a lot of background noise too - I'm unemployed right now but hoping to get back into work very soon. My job title? Well, there are lots of different titles for what I do so when I'm job hunting I have to look at a bunch of different titles... Programmer, Application Developer, Software Engineer are probably the most common three. I'm not a senior level developer though, and most of the job postings are for that. I'm lower mid-level. It's frustrating because I love what I do, but I don't have enough experience for any of the employers. I just wish they'd give me a little more time to learn. I catch on quickly, I'm just not expert level at a bunch of different technologies.

 

[earllogjam]

I never really thought that I may be dyslexic before I read this thread. Never really knew what the word meant. I always thought that I was just different with my own shortcomings.

Looking back, I never understood reading until I was about 8 or 9 and by that time I was labeled a poor student and shunted off to the remedial reading groups and I always thought of myself as the teachers did, dumb. I had the hardest time learning to reading- switching words and sentences while reciting out loud was embarrassing and my spelling was a nightmare, I was a straight D student in that. I was bad at fact retention and regurgitation and was not able read a complete book until I was in high school. I still don't enjoy it. And I still have problems distinguishing left and right - still need to carefully think about it when giving directions. It was only in my later academic life that I realized I could do the left brain thing and do it well. And to realize that being considered dumb in school was a poor barometer of one's intelligence.

I think that early school education is biased to left brain kids which favors those who can memorize and regurgitate facts, figures, vocabulary words, dates...etc. It is rarely about synthesis of knowledge or seeing the whole picture, artistic expression, or creativity - all right brain things. I am not left brained. I have a different intelligence than what is valued in schools and the established education system in this country. I have excellent retention of visual information. I think visually not verbally. I am a graphic learner. I memorize maps, globes, directions, paintings, architectural plans all quickly and without effort. I can solve 3-D problems easily in my head. I am artistically gifted and think through sketching not words. I rarely get lost anywhere I go, even in foriegn countries. I can easily memorize faces, places, and events. I can't say that about words however. I still am a terrible speller and can't make an argument for the life of me but I have learned to live with that "dyslexic" part of myself and have done OK despite it. Thank you for posting this information; it is an eye opener.

 

[rawbone8]

I never really thought that I may be dyslexic before I read this thread. Never really knew what the word meant. I always thought that I was just different with my own shortcomings.

Looking back to I never understood reading until I was about 8 or 9 and by that time I was labeled a poor student and shunted off to the remedial reading groups and I have always thought of myself as the teachers did, dumb. I had the hardest time learning to reading- switching words and sentences while reciting out loud was embarrassing and my spelling was a nightmare, I was a straight D student in that. I was bad at fact retention and regurgitation and didn't read a complete book until I was in high school. I still don't enjoy it. And I still have problems distinguishing left and right - still need to carefully think about it now when giving directions. It was only in my later academic life that I realized I could do the left brain thing and do it well. And to realize that being considered dumb in school was a poor barometer of one's intelligence.

I think that early school education is biased to left brain kids which favors those who can memorize and regurgitate facts, figures, vocabulary words, dates...etc. It is rarely about synthesis of knowledge or seeing the whole picture, artistic expression, or creativity - all right brain things. I am not left brained. I have a different intelligence than what is valued in schools and the established education system in this country. I have excellent retention of visual information. I think visually not verbally. I am a graphic learner. I memorize maps, globes, directions, paintings, architectural plans all quickly and without effort. I can solve 3-D problems easily in my head. I am artistically gifted and think through sketching not words. I rarely get lost anywhere I go, even in foriegn countries. I can easily memorize faces, places, and events. I can't say that about words however. I still am a terrible speller and can't make an argument for the life of me. But I have learned to live with that "dyslexic" part of myself and have done quite well despite it. Thank you for posting this information, it is an eye opener.

Wow. I would never have guessed that you hold this self view. I see you as quite expressive and erudite in the posts you make here.