Does dyslexia exist?

[nuba km]

I'm dyslexic (<-seriously why is it so hard to spell) I have been told every spelling and grammar rule there is it try my best to apply them but I can end up spelling the same word three different ways in one sentence. I try my best to correct grammar and spelling mistakes on the computer without just pressing the grammar and spell check button but will still show about twenty errors in one short paragraph. also before anyone says I'm just stupid I have an IQ of 138. when it comes to reading I will either have to read a sentence out loud or around ten times before I remember it for about 1 in 20 sentences because when I read it it just sounds like noise in my head not an actual sentence. I never knew that people thought that dyslexics were generally smart because I know some other dyslexics that are to say it nicely not the brightest cookie in the bunch. (<- BTW I know what that saying means but where did it come from)

edit: OK the spell check thing was an exaturation it's more like five mistakes per paragraph but that's after I just normally went over it. but is would want to wright a word but I can't because I completely get the spelling wrong and the computer can't correct it like up above guess what word was incorrectly spelled and what I wanted yo wright ok make it two words with one repeated.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I don't believe dyslexia exists as a neurological condition, I believe it's a deficiency in the methods used to teach language. If teaching a language a different way (synthetic phonics for instance) cures a neurological condition it's a fair bet it wasn't a neurological condition.

I also believe dyslexia is used as an excuse for people who have either stopped trying to learn or decided that they should have learnt by now, ergo they have a disability. This is compounded in the UK by the fact that dyslexia support is exactly the kind of extra support a lazier student would love (in my university I know of people getting tested just on the off chance they can be said to have it) including extra time on exams, personal learning support and a free laptop.

Oh yeah, if you can't read you get given a computer because...I don't know. Maybe letters are easier to read off a screen or some such theory?

One of my friends was told he didn't have it throughout secondary school but they gave him the text when he got to college and decided that he in fact had it. Now he has spelling exemption and extra exam time but he'll be the first to admit he doesn't need it.

I think that has alot to do with the fact that he wasn't given exemption at a younger age so now he is at the same level as most other people.

 

[NiceGurl_14]

I'm dyslexic but I've learned to live with it. I'll usually end up reading the same sentence 3 or 4 times before I can understand what it says. I had to work hard at my grammar and spelling but it paid off in the long run. I still occasionally switch letters around but not intentionally. It's just something that you have to learn to deal with.

 

[Booze Zombie]

From what I understand of dyslexia, it's simply my senses not picking certain things up, so it's a simple premise:

Erroneous input equals erroneous output, though it can be eventually corrected.

 

[Jamieson 90]

I was diagnosed with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Mires Irlen Syndrome when I was 10 I can assure you it is very much real and does exist, It made my years in primary school a living hell. Even today as an Adult it still affects me although I now have strategies in place to help me deal with the problems, for example I?m very forgetful so I record things such as shopping lists on a digital recorder and play them back later.

Quite a few people who are not educated on dyslexia just assume it only affects spelling and reading. it however also affects short and long term memory, writing and eye coordination. People with dyslexia such as myself don't actully read words, what we do is store words we know and remember how to pronounce them, thats why when a dyslexic person sees a new word they can't pronounce it, in effect a dyslexic persons brain is like a huge computer file

 

[PurpleSky]

I'm not an expert,but I'm positive it exists.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

My cousin has it. It is a problem with interpretation of shapes, usually letters. He can't write at all, but he can type because he memorised the location of the letters. And no, it cannot be corrected or treated, only managed.
Alot of false cases, though. No doubt several students get support who don't need it. This is because it is extremely difficult to diagnose.

 

[nuba km]

i have a mild form of dyslexia and i find it hard to spell things. i can usually get some semblance of the words but it pisses me off when your spelling a word so wrong even spell check doesn't know. i also had alot of trouble reading i couldn't really read to grade 3 every time i tried to read an actually book apparently if i would loss my spot on the page and be unable to find it. now i think i'm a pretty good reader. the other thing was i sometimes i have a hard time ordering my sentences right so they make sense. even when i talk occasionally there will be a sentence that just doesn't make sense. it also comes out in my writing a lot more and requires a lot more of editing on my part to make it all make sense.

I know exactly what you mean I have the random sentence while writing as well and also writing a word wrong so badly the spell check doesn't know what it was mend to be. (for more detail read post 23 that's me)

 

[PurplePlatypus]

Yeah I?m dyslexic; at least it?s what they tell me. I think part of the trouble is a lot of different problems fit within Dyslexia; my dyslexia might be very different from someone else. I think it does exist though, and not just because I have it. In fact I would be more inclined to say I have a rather bad short term memory and a difficulty with ordering my thoughts. I?m not even going to say how long it will take me to make this post. Some of it will be figuring out what to say and how to say it, the other bit will be going through it trying to catch as many mistakes as I can and figuring out how to fix the mistakes the computer picks up that I don?t. Yes I have bad spelling and grammar, it?s not through lack of trying, I do try. Part of the problem is I can only really concentrate on spelling and grammar or what I?m trying to say separately. Also, I don?t know if you may call this an excuse or not but let?s face it, English spelling as a tricky mistress, and to add to my confutation spell checkers are sometimes set to American English rather than British English.

There are many other characteristics given to dyslexia that I don?t have, I don?t have much problem with numbers and I don?t often switch around letters/numbers. Apparently for some people the switching doesn?t just happen with letter but with general shapes, they can?t see the difference between a curve going to the left or a curve going to the right until someone pointed it out to them. Another one that I find particularly interesting is that when looking at writing on paper or a screen instead of the black lettering popping out to them the white does, this makes it particularly difficult to read. This is interesting to me because I draw a lot and so being able to switch to easily between looking at positive and negative space could be quite helpful. I?m happy that it doesn?t happen to me though as it seems a bit more trouble that it?s worth. Dyslexia in short seems to be a number of different mess ups with the brain. It also seems to be hereditary for me, at least my brothers and I seem to have gotten a number of these problems from our Dad, we have it to different degrees though and I don?t think we all have quite the same problems. One of my brothers had dyspraxia to for instance.

Not that people don?t use dyslexia as an excuse to be lazy, or as an excuse to hold them back from doing something but there are a lot of dyslexics that do try but fail a lot worse than me.

 

[Funkysandwich]

Sye, it dsoe.

 

[hyrulegaybar]

A fun note on dyslexia. The Japanese don't have dyslexia at all due to their written language being processed differently by the brain. Of course their written language is a ***** to learn compared to the ones using latin letters.

This is probably true for chinese and other languages using a different approach to writing.

Incorrect. Including kanji, which is nonphonetically spelled, the levels of dyslexia in Japan were measured at around 6%, which is roughly equivalent to levels of dyslexia in English. While it is true that phonetic spelling can help, there was a recalcitrant 1% of Japanese students who could not even master that. It is a spectrum disorder that can go from mild to severe.

I do wish people would fucking get diagnosed with it instead of just claiming to have it, but I suppose going to a doctor would be too bloody hard.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

Tasteless...

and yet I still laughed.

 

[Jamieson 90]

Yeah I?m dyslexic; at least it?s what they tell me. I think part of the trouble is a lot of different problems fit within Dyslexia; my dyslexia might be very different from someone else. I think it does exist though, and not just because I have it. In fact I would be more inclined to say I have a rather bad short term memory and a difficulty with ordering my thoughts. I?m not even going to say how long it will take me to make this post. Some of it will be figuring out what to say and how to say it, the other bit will be going through it trying to catch as many mistakes as I can and figuring out how to fix the mistakes the computer picks up that I don?t. Yes I have bad spelling and grammar, it?s not through lack of trying, I do try. Part of the problem is I can only really concentrate on spelling and grammar or what I?m trying to say separately. Also, I don?t know if you may call this an excuse or not but let?s face it, English spelling as a tricky mistress, and to add to my confutation spell checkers are sometimes set to American English rather than British English.

There are many other characteristics given to dyslexia that I don?t have, I don?t have much problem with numbers and I don?t often switch around letters/numbers. Apparently for some people the switching doesn?t just happen with letter but with general shapes, they can?t see the difference between a curve going to the left or a curve going to the right until someone pointed it out to them. Another one that I find particularly interesting is that when looking at writing on paper or a screen instead of the black lettering popping out to them the white does, this makes it particularly difficult to read. This is interesting to me because I draw a lot and so being able to switch to easily between looking at positive and negative space could be quite helpful. I?m happy that it doesn?t happen to me though as it seems a bit more trouble that it?s worth. Dyslexia in short seems to be a number of different mess ups with the brain. It also seems to be hereditary for me, at least my brothers and I seem to have gotten a number of these problems from our Dad, we have it to different degrees though and I don?t think we all have quite the same problems. One of my brothers had dyspraxia to for instance.

Not that people don?t use dyslexia as an excuse to be lazy, or as an excuse to hold them back from doing something but there are a lot of dyslexics that do try but fail a lot worse than me.

I'm also Dyslexic, the problems you discussed about vision are to do with a condition called Mires Irlen Sydrome, a condition I have. Looking at white paper is very hard for me so I usually write on specially designed yellow paper, I have software on my computer that converts all internet browser windows and documents to yellow as well, and an overlay for printed documents to help me read them better.

 

[The Warden]

Two men walked into a bra.

 

[Airsoftslayer93]

Actually a large minority of people have dyslexia to a certain extent, but most dont realise, my brother has very severe dyslexia, he is one of the smartest people i know, but he just cant read or write very well. it does exist, it is common and quite frankly it pisses me off when people claim it doesnt or they say that people who have it are just pretending/stupid, it really angers me because of how hard my brother trys and how much effort he puts into everything.

 

[Jamieson 90]

I think it does but 99% of the people who claim to have it are just too lazy to learn proper grammar and spelling.

My exact belief. I've met a lot of 'dyslexic' people that use it as an excuse whenever they can't spell, but I've witnessed them first hand write perfectly on an important letter, like a job or college application.

I'm dyslexic and its a complicated condition, I have good days and bad days, I can find myself being able to spell the most complicated words yet some days I can't spell simple 4 letter words I just have a mental block. I hope you see things differently now because its exactly what you described that gives people the wrong impression of dyslexia.

 

[nuba km]

I don't believe dyslexia exists as a neurological condition, I believe it's a deficiency in the methods used to teach language. If teaching a language a different way (synthetic phonics for instance) cures a neurological condition it's a fair bet it wasn't a neurological condition.

I also believe dyslexia is used as an excuse for people who have either stopped trying to learn or decided that they should have learnt by now, ergo they have a disability. This is compounded in the UK by the fact that dyslexia support is exactly the kind of extra support a lazier student would love (in my university I know of people getting tested just on the off chance they can be said to have it) including extra time on exams, personal learning support and a free laptop.

Oh yeah, if you can't read you get given a computer because...I don't know. Maybe letters are easier to read off a screen or some such theory?

One of my friends was told he didn't have it throughout secondary school but they gave him the text when he got to college and decided that he in fact had it. Now he has spelling exemption and extra exam time but he'll be the first to admit he doesn't need it.

I think that has alot to do with the fact that he wasn't given exemption at a younger age so now he is at the same level as most other people.

I will admit that I don't need the extra time but I do need the spelling exception because my R.E. teacher actually doesn't give me my spelling exception in class tests. I mean one time I lost 2 marks because I spelled a word wrong so she didn't accept the answer or another time were I lost 4 marks because I forgot a full stop when writing a bible story in both cases it meant I got a B not a A. on a job application if it asks what did you get in you GCSE you would put down B because they don't care if it's a high B or a low B so it actually does affect the results of the test because you need every mark because they can make a difference.

 

[Reverend Del]

My ex-girlfirend is both dyslexic and dyspraxic, but wasn't diagnosed with either condition until Uni. By that time all the support they could give her was by and large useless, because she'd built up her own coping mechanisms to get round the fact she had these problems. In toher words, it's actually possible to develop your own strategies to cope with the conditions if you have the motivation to do it. She only got tested because another friend of mine is dyspraxic and he used it as a crutch to explain why he was failing hard at uni. She wanted to prove a point.After which his comments were "Well I'm more dyspraxic than you". Oh how we laughed.

But yes it's like Aspergers and ADD, too many folks claiming they have it because their laziness precludes them from admitting they suck. Takes away from the folks that genuinely have it.

 

[Kragg]

I wouldn't be surprised if it is being over diagnosed. It happens a lot with new diagnoses. Almost like a pop-diagnoses if you will (people are just lazy or more likely use apologetic tactics to diagnose).

Frankly I think it exists but only in a very small minority, most who claim to have it are just dim probably.

I think it does but 99% of the people who claim to have it are just too lazy to learn proper grammar and spelling.

Like ADD and ADHD!

yeah and self-diagnosis, like aspergers

 

[Yoshemo]

One of my best friends was born almost a month early and has Dyslexia. I can tell he does have it =\ Its real