Dyslexia and related conditions being talked about.

[rosieposie87]

Is it me or do people never hear dyslexia and of course related conditions talked about in general. I know I would be a lot more comfortable talking about my diffucultes if you heard more people talking about things. I always find it quite hard to bring up in conversations (im dyslexic and dyspraxic but more dyspraxic) I hear lots of people talking about any medical trouble like if they've had migrane or allergies and things like that. I'd love it if I heard people saying im having a bad spelling day, or my memory has gone to pot today or im having a really clumsy day today watch the breakables, as we all know no matter how many coping strategies u have you will always have good days and bad days especially under times of tiredness and stress. I work in a primary school and find the nearer it gets to school holidays the more clumsy I am and the more reliant I am on spell check etc.

[Hidden]

What a great point to make! I do agree.

I often find that my students do discuss their daily difficulties with me, but of course that is because they know I am specifically trained to understand, can suggest some strategies to try and they feel 'safe'. Parents also feel able to discuss the emotional impact that Dyslexia is having on their children.

However, I know you are talking about discussing in a 'wider' situation; I think the difficulty is having the courage to 'come out' about Dyslexia/Dyspraxia etc so as to be able to discuss life with it on a daily basis. I think you will find though, that others will also soon relate to you similar instances, if not with themselves but other people they know. For instance if I mention that I am a Dyslexia Tutor in a social situation it seems to give others the courage to say .. 'yes I think my son is Dyslexic because this is happening..' etc - whereas they would have otherwise kept quiet. So you discussing it will actually empower other people!

I hope this reply encourages you!

[Edwilson]

Hi rosieposie87 that's a brilliant point. I thought I was the only person who had dyslexic days my term for a bad day. For me it normally understands what I'm reading. In some ways it's quite amusing as I will read a sentence that is really simple but it takes three attempts to understand it so to see people’s faces when I say I don't quite understand what's written is quite funny. In all seriousness though I have one or two colleagues who suffer from migraine or similar and will just leave half way through the day because they are not feeling well. If I did that because I'm not having a good day I suspect people would be less sympathetic.

I also recently worked out that talking about it can bring about some helpful tips. We have a new head of HR and she asked if there was anything she could do to help with coping strategies. She happened to mention an eye condition that is related to dyslexia, Dyslexia-tutor might know and have more details about the one I can't remember what it is called, anyway I've always had problems when looking at screens and reading of paper. The optician always says that's what happens when you get older and you've been working in an office for a long time, in a slightly nicer way of course. Anyway our head of HR arranged for me to have the IT guys sit down and play with the screen, changing the colour settings and darkness. It's amazing for the first time in my life I can look at a computer screen for more than 5 minutes without them feeling like I’ve been swimming without goggles! It turns out that I was working so hard to stop the words jumping about the page it was giving me a head ache. So it is definitely worth speaking up about your dyslexia every so often somebody will give you a little help!

[Hidden in reply to Edwilson]

So glad this helped you - did you see teh Kara Tointon programme - she found coloured glasses really helped her. I had never heard of it but my son now reads through rose-coloured glasses! Joking aside he can now read things he couldn't before as the words now stay still. amazing!

[neddesh in reply to Hidden]

Rich

How old is your son? You know that anyone over the age of 7 doesn't have to wear colour glasses as a way of curing they dyslexia don't you?

From what you say, your son has visual dyslexia which is an issue in the eye relating information to the brain. Rose coloured glasses do attempt to fix this issue I agree, however they only provide an EXTERNAL fix and don't really cure the problem internally. Take the glasses off him and he's back to square one.

The treatment which my brother & I had - LASD eye correction treatment, actually sorts the issue in the eye itself. Visit lasdbrighteningfuturescentr... or lasdbrighteningfuturescentr... for more info.

My brother used to hate reading and he'd always say "just tell me what it says" now he reads pretty much anything he can get his hands on!

[RATTER15]

I totally agree, I work with about 25 people in a care team, 6 of which are Dyslexic, when I first joined the team only two had openly admitted to being dyslexic. I was very open about my dyslexia as I found it easier to explain the problems I encounter on a daily basis, when others saw how open I was about it and how I talked freely about it, others came to me in private and told me they were also dyslexic, two noticed similarities and have recently found they are also dyslexic, so it really helps others to be very open it. The biggest problem I have is that many people think that dyslexia is just about reading and writing and really don't understand that the reading and writing element is often just the tip of the iceberg for many dyslexics.

[sdrayton37]

I do talk about my dislexia and the related conditions to my freind who has Aspergers and he talks to me about his diffultys. I do like to talk about my diffultys and listening to Pepole about theirs . I find it a bit of an education and i feel I'm educating them when I talk about dislexia and the related conditions.but appart from that I find it hard to bring it up in conversation but I do find it hard to talk to other people about it unless they talk about their diffultys Frist

[rosieposie87]

thanks for your replys, I'm very open online about it I often tweet dyslexia action, and helped mollie from the saturdays win her award. I know very few people in the real world with dyslexia less with dyspraxia so im not used to hearing it in general convos much, how shocking is that in the 5 months ive been at my job ive never heard dyslexia mentioned once and that includes anything to do with children which im suprised about. I had a really bad experiance at uni where I was made to drop qts because the uni wouldnt give me help and I got told i ahd to come up with my own coping strategies and they didnt understand how I nearly got a 2:1 degree like how can someone with dyslexia/dyspraxia do so well but still struggle on placement etc was so ignorant, so i suppose it's made me loose my confidence telling people.

[rosieposie87]

I think it would be amazing if for one of their campaigns dyslexia action did one on giving people confidence to be open and maybe strategies to help people who may not be so confident.

[ClareLou]

I think that is one thing that is sometimes missing in terms if being dyslexic how do you go about telling people. For me everyone I know knows about what I have and what I struggle with but I also know other adults who keep it secret and have no support. I think there needs to be more support groups so people can share experience in a safe place

[rosieposie87]

Even just little things like colleges/ work places/schools having posters about it up, or it being incoperated into awareness week.

[Hidden]

I have a dyslexic son and husband, and although I always knew my husband was dyslexic, it is only since my son had trouble at school that he has openly talked about it with me and also at work (although they weren't the most helpful). I have just started working in a primary school as a TA and I am also amazed at how little the staff know about dyslexia. I now understand why my son hated it at school as there is little help available. I agree that a campaign for highlighting some of the issues people have would really help. maybe Dyslexia action could do a campaign highlightiing some of the famous people who are dyslexic and showing how clever they are and what they are good at. I find lots of people who think it means people are 'thick' or 'slow' and that really winds me up! Actually, most dyslexics I know are far cleverer than me, and have had to work much harder to get the same qualifications that other people have. They just think in different ways. My son actually said the other day he would hate not to be dyslexic as it sounds really boring not being able to see things in his 'different' way (he has an amazing imagination). It's a shame that he was labelled 'slow' at school.

It does seem odd that people talk openly about their headaches or dodgy backs, but it always goes quiet the moment dyslexia or related things are mentioned. As a society we should value everybody with all their strenghts and weaknesses and I hope one day all schools and workplaces will recognise what amazing talents many dyslexics have, and like everybody we are entitled to have good and bad days.

Best of luck with your career and lets keep talking about the issues until it dispells all the myths out there!

[rosieposie87]

Thanks so much for all your replies, I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like this. A lot of people assume that because there's more awareness then there was years ago that it's not a problem anymore but people really need to see the bigger picture. A lot of people would be quite suprised if they realised how little people know about it in schools.

[digits]

Dear rosieposie67:

I agree and empathize with everything written above. The more we open up to other people, the more possiblities will open to us for understanding and support. Of courrse, not all efforts will be equally successful, but, as they say: "If you don't play, you can't win!"

Please read Thomas G. West's book, "In the Mind's Eye", for a great expose of varieties of dyslexia, and stories of dyslexic people who overcame the shackles imposed by society and the school system and became brilliant successes, people like Edison, Einstein, Tesla, Maxwell, Faraday! After reading this book, I feel that we dyslexics (who often are also ADD, Autistic, Asperger's,et al.), we are much brighter than"They" the NT's (neuro-typicals) are and they invented the current systems just to slow us down so they can beat us in school and business!

Cheers! digits

[Ham02]

I also find that talking about my dyslexia is difficult and it always helps when others talk about it as well. I find that when at home in my own world and I look at web sites like this one about dyslexia I feel empowered, but then when I go out to work or are with friends it's like walking into a brick wall in terms of their understanding of dyslexia. I guess there is a vicious circle in that if I was more comfortable talking about dyslexia then that would help raise awareness in others ?

[jonto1]

i agree with digits about the school befor i was put in some specil class in comp i felt like i was learing a lot more in the normal class but because i was a slow writer and cos ive got dyslexia they put me in that class. what i dont get is that we are put in a slow class and we should be in some class thats gonna speed it up to learn or help are dyslexia not slow us down. i felt when i was in other class like geog i was still slow and because i was slow every body had to wait for me to finish what i was writing befor we could cotinue and it made me fill so low like i was a dumb kid in the class. some times we had to read each others text books to see that we are doing the work and i never let any one look at my writing because i know they would larth at me and i would get sent out every time rather than them seeing my writing when i get sent out i all ways took my book with me. even if i got sent out it felt like i won and it used to feel it was me aginst the school but ive talked to some of my friends who who allso have got dyslexia and they thorght the same way. one of my mates told me teatches used to call her laysey because she was slow in class and it makes her criey. i belive the schools have to be more aware of peoples disabiltys and should not asume things they dont now about or say things unless they are true.