h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Why do they have to give dyslexics one of the most confusing names to spell? I'm not dyslexic but it still took me ten years to learn where to put the X.

What does DNA stand for? National Dyslexia Assosiation... (a dyslexic told me that one so I don't think it should offend anyone!)

Dyslexics of the world untie (you have nothing to lose but your chins?)

Using a keyboard is easier than writing, but even then you tend to hit an awful lot of the wrong keys.
At school, if you are obviously intelligent no-one is likely to think you have a 'learning difficulty'. You get labelled as being lazy, careless, having an attitude problem.
We found out accidentally, when my son was 14, that he was dyslexic and then discovered that I was too (I was 33) so I knew what to look for in my younger kids, but it doesn't help. If the LEA 'Statement' a kid they are required, by law, to provide help for him/her. They can't afford to do that so the only way to get your kid(s) statemented is to fight for years, often having to take the LEA to court.
If your child is unlucky enough to have dyslexia coupled with high intelligence it is impossible to get the authorities to take you seriously. They say things like "I can't see what you're worried about. His performance in the IQ tests is 2 years ahead of his age" etc.
It's hell growing up with people thinking you're a buffoon because you walk into things, get lost, mix up dates, times, names, even your own spoken words.
All we need is a little understanding. We're not stupid, just different.
Many dyslexic youngsters end up turning to crime, drugs etc due to the frustration of never being able to live up to normal people's expectations.
Dyslexic children have difficulty doing more than one thing at a time (such as standing on one leg and counting) because they have to concentrate so hard on each activity. Using this aspect of the condition simple tests have been developed which can be used on all children even before they start school SO WHY AREN'T THEY USED
(I wanted to use an angrier smiley there but I couldn't remember how to do it!!! )
Yer gorra larf int yer?

Hear hear, good on you.
As I read through this article it just about brought tears to my eyes.
My sister was diagnoses with dyslexia at 11, this showed up that I, at 21 was also dyslexic, and my poor father had lived all his life trying to hide the fact that he could not write because of his dyselxia and not known. Once you have a name for your disability you can work with it.

I remember as a child in primary school, I was a solitary child and books are the, and books are the hiding place for solitary children. I decided that i was not going to let reading defeat me and I didn't. I just ended up with a greater vocabulary than I could ever spell.

Man made computers I am sure God made the spellchecker.

Nothing is unattainable



Moondancer

Peregrin: It took me about 18 years to learn to spell it, and I'm 19!

I am dyslexic, and happy. Well, sort of happy. I was diagnosed at about 7, shortly after my brother of 4 years older was noticed to have it. So I was the luckier one, though in Gloucestershire, schoold tend not to accept it as being real, so I had extra saturday and monday lessons at great expense to my Mother. I have also had private schooling sinse senior school as that was the only school where could get help, again at great cost (thought luckily gained a schollrship to 6th form).

Now in University I am finding that there is help available, finally, and it is quite possible to get by, but there is definitly a poor lack of help in helping younger kids, and something needs to be done.

I have leart to cope with it and am actually quite thankful for it, hense the first sentene, because it has made me work really heard to get good results, and I have a good ability to work round probles. But it still isn't half frustrating just trying to speak coherently.

I think the best advice I have been given is to blame my dyslexia, and not myself as I usually do, for my inability to do things.

I did write an article about dyslexia, though it is more personal and so wasn't accepted to the guide, it's here: http://www.h2g2.com/A452206

Hear, hear Nicholas Bailey and to Moondancer.
I went to a very old-fashioned primary school, where we had spelling and tables tests every week. I was also forced at home. Failure wasn't an option. I am now such a good proof reader that my work has fewer typos in it than most normal people manage.
I really do wish I had known before I was 33. It might have saved me a lot of angst.

Do either of you find spoken words hard to understand? Sometimes when people speak to me they appear to be speaking Chinese (especially if there are others talking in the background). I think that may have contributed to my becoming a loner - it's embarrassing saying "Pardon" all the time

Off to read your article. (I've just written a long and rambling post about dyslexia in Salamander the Mugwump's Journal, under the thread 'Recycling Bins')

I'm not dyslexic to my knowledge but I have the same problem as you do, I have to say 'pardon' all the time... very familiar. Very difficult in pubs or the like where there's loud music and everybody talking at once. I end up sitting in the corner agreeing to everything because I haven't got a clue what anybody is talking about.

I used to have a lot of difficulty speaking, too; I still stumble over my words quite a lot (and have memory problems too which doesn't help, I keep on forgetting words). But I did a public speaking course, not because I wanted to speak publically, but to improve my speaking capabilities. I can recommend something like that wholeheartedly, I think it's helped me a lot.

Public speaking scares me rigid, probably because I can't.

I must say that I do have troubles with understanding people, I just never really thought about it as part of my dyslexia. I really find that everyong else can use either alot more useful words or be able to comment on past comments whereas I have forgotton the whole of the conversation that went before. Thank God for written forums!

Does anyone find that spoonerisms are eally reasy to do, and that you say them without fearly rinking about it?

You do sound like a borderline dyslexic Peregrin. How's your sense of time? ...direction?

Yes Yeliab, I sometimes think Spooner ought to be my middle name.
Have you ever had those conversations where everyone manages to hear something totally different to what was said and you all end up totally confused?
Life as a dyslexic can be a lot of fun

Especially when your dental appointment is 1/4 to 2 and you arrive at 1/4 past 2



Moondancer

Definitly much fun, and yes I'm continually finding that I havent the foggiest as to what the conversation was about.

However, what you were just saying about, err.. was that , umm... oops.

> You do sound like a borderline dyslexic Peregrin. How's your sense of time? ...direction?

Time... well I've just remembered that I'm cooking a pizza. Hang on...

Well my senses of time and direction are virtually nonexistent... infamously so...

But then I seem to test positive for every known mental condition so adding dyslexia to the list wouldn't be too surprising

Watch the BBC1 News NOW

Not haveing a TV and being a poor student have sadly stopped me from performing the above task.

I did hear 5Live earlier with some news about possible cures for dyslexia, something to do with astronauts I think?

Drat drat drat dart
They didn't have it on the news tonight. Apparently it was on earlier but I missed it

Oh well. . .

actually what it is is that some people can cure well near enough themselves and one of them is an astronaught

What I heard is that astranoughts suffer from some symptons of dyslexia when in a space environment and they were looking at wether and how they were able to cure it, something also to do with balnce.

Its all greek to me, Dyslexia is latin and means problems with lexon or something like that. Although I do know that that is not the correct deffinition.

Dyslexia is genetic and cannot be cured

it can after a fashion..if you work hard enought (wich obvasley I dident) you can actully get to the stage where no one will notivce..wich in itself is more or less a cur.

Except occasionally when you find yourself wondering why the milk tanker has Untied Diaries written on the side.