Dyslexia
I read an interesting article on MSNBC today about dyslexia. The only reason it caught my eye is because I am dyslexic. The article was about a new book called “Overcoming Dyslexia” by Sally Shaywitz, which I think I’ll pick up one of these days.
The article described some indications of dyslexia and also the difficulties that can develop if it’s not caught early on. Fortunately for me I had a good second grade teacher that became concerned when I had an awful time reading but could handle math and other subjects rather well. I spent a few months going to a resource class to overcome it and also spent hours and hours going over flash cards with my mom. I honestly can still remember the exasperated look on her face when I would call “was” “saw” after going over it multiple times. None the less, due to some good teachers and patient and persistent mother I think I can say I overcame it. A lot of indications listed for young adults dealt with difficulty in reading or an aversion to reading but I don’t have either. In fact I really enjoy reading and feel I read at least as good or better than most. Although I admit if I’m tired or stressed it seems to agravate things and I’ll occasionally have problems.
Since I seem to do ok with reading I really haven’t thought about dyslexia affecting me in college that much, or even in high school for that matter. However, the article listed some other indications/problems dylexic people often have such as difficulty with exams with open ended questions such as essays and things. Difficulty with spelling and writing fluently and also lack of glibness particularly when “under the gun.” In addition to these there were others I can really relate to. Comparing my scores on essay exams to others, it’s easy to see a discrepency. Also, I can’t tell you how many interviews or other pressure situations I’ve been in when I’ve found it difficult to express, in words, what I want to say. Usually it’s about 10 minutes after the interview or situation is over that I actually formulate what it was I wanted to say. Given a little time I can formulate what I want to say pretty well, I just have some trouble with it when I’m put on the spot. Fortunately, the article indicated that difficulties like these aren’t a sign of lack of intelligence. The brains in people with dyslexia just process information differently than others. That’s interesting, all this time I’ve never bothered to find out what dyslexia is. All I knew was it made it difficult for me to learn how to read. Now it all makes sense.
A few months back, in one of my first entries, I think I mentioned I thought my blog would be a good tool to help me write more fluently since that’s something I feel I’ve struggled with. Just like the resource class and note cards helped me overcome my reading impediment, perhaps this will help me overcome some others. By the way, the article had a link to the website for “The International Dyslexia Association” which also has quite a bit of information if anyone is interested.
P.S. As an afterthought, am I the only one that finds the idea of writing a book directed towards people with an aversion to reading, slightly humorous?
May 5th, 2003 at 11:53 am
It suprising that you dealt with dyslexia Jeff. In all the time I’ve known you I would have never guessed. I think you do better than most at expressing your thoughts well. It’s good that there are some teachers that do care and watch for such things…I would have to aggree that you have overcome it quite well.