The one main problem I have had since primary school is that there are lots of people who just don't understand what dyslexia is.

Dyslexia effects people in different ways and is no the same for every person but it is now very common for people to have dyslexia. It's the lack of understanding that annoys me which has made people believe in my school mainly the teachers where your not capable of doing any type of work understanding anything and your stupid which is how one teacher put it me once. It started in primary school and the moment they found out they kept me at the bottom group of all classes and special needs, which has effected a lot of my work in senior school because I haven’t learnt all the basics that I should of. I have found that so many other people have had the same problem because of the lack of understanding. I just wanted to know what people always thought dyslexia was and if anyone else has this same problem or if your dyslexic and what do you think. This should really stop and I believe that teachers shouldn't have such a lack of understanding as it really does affect a student’s work and self of steam. Let me know what you think and your opinion on this matter or if you are unsure about it.

Dyslexia is not an actually where you have a problem with your eye sight but it is in the brain that can jumble up the letters which then effects how you read something. There can be different effects and effect people in different way. For exsample letters moving around (not just words) letters changing missing out lines while reading.

For me personally it's where I find it hard to read and takes me along time because the letter changes into a different letter move around and I jump lines constantly. I also miss out words and never seem to get the whole sentence. This may be different for other people.

Let me know what you think or if this affects you too. As I think it is a big problem at the moment with the lack of understanding and needs to be sorted.

Thank you for taking up your time to read what I have written and any contributions to this matter would be of great help. many thanks. XX

I know a few people who are dyslexic. One of my friends has lyme disease, and it infected her nervous system which, among other things, caused her to have dsylexia. Another of my friends is severly dyslexic, and because of it, the school system tried to only teach her how to read for many years, ignoring her math, history, science, and other subjects. She eventually ended up going to a private school for people with learning disabilities, where she was able to learn, but she is 21, and has never had a science, or history class.

Here in the UK - I'm not sure where you are - people with learning difficulties are given 15% extra time in exams, and use of a laptop rather than handwriting if they want it. A friend of mine has dyslexia and still managed to get an A in English

There is actually a reasonable amount of support in the UK for Dyslexia in the schools system as long as you can get the school to acknowledge this. There are to reasons I know this 1 I'm dyslexic and had to fight to get my school to access me and 2 the reason they finally agreed to access me was that my mother trained to teach people with dyslexia and went in all guns blazing so they had to take notices of what she was saying because she had the qualifications to back it up. Yay! Mum!
Anyway due to what my Mum does she's pretty up to date on what's going on and usually tells me. I got a reasonable amout of surport in the last couple of years of school (the extra time and a few other bits and pieces) and when I went to Uni I had a computer payed for for me and a bursary for printer ink and photocopying.
I'm lucky my dyslexia isn't so bad and because of my up bringing (and yes I really do think that effects it) I've a wide vocabulary alot of which I can spell but I still have trouble with the spelling side of it and sometimes end up giving up on the word I'd rather use because I can't remeber how to spell it. It effects me more from the point of veiw of speed, I'm not a fast reader writter or worker in general, I've tried to push my self to work faster because it's caused me lots of problems in the past and still does now but it doesn't seem to work for me it just seems to end up going to hell in a hand basket and taking me the same amount of time it would have anyway. I'm also more likely to forget to do something small silly but important, and thats another point where my dylexia comes up my memory espeacialy if some one tries to give me a load of instructions vocally. Can't do it just plain dont work it has to be a written list and be given the time to work through it or I can garentee I will miss some thing on it.
Though it doesn't sound like it from this it doesn't tend to bother me to much, I've taught myself to deal with most of the problems it causes me and coming to the forum has improved my typing speed no end (maybe not my spelling sometimes though )
Any way if there's any one who has any question or wants advice about Dyslexia please PM me and I can pass the querie on to mum if I cant answer it myself.

I am wondering about something else that would affect me and maybe other people. This is may not be a problem for everyone but do you find that if you panic in a test your dyslexia gets worse and if you try reading something for too long trying hard to still read the words you get a headache. I am also just wondering about the different effects it has on people. Thanks.

I am going to complain to my school soon. Especially my primary school. There really is a problem here at the schools I have been and going to. I hope to sort this out soon. It’s good just to have extra knowledge about what I am trying to sort with my primary school more.

Thanks for your help. XX

I think the panic in test making it worse is pretty much a definate that pretty much the same with any disability. You put presure on that disabilty due to stress it'll get worse. I think the headache when reading over and over is probably tention related because the more you try and do it the more stressed your getting that your not getting it right so your tensing up your neck and shoulders which is giving you the head ache. I say to solve that put it down strech and come back to it later. You may be having trouble with the reading because you need coloured lenses (Earlen (sp?) are company who do them in the UK if you want more info about them let me know and I'll get that off mum). It sounds a little wacky but it really can help some people.

Thank you for the information about why the headaches are caused!
I have the colour glasses their green But I got told they don't always work and when you are put under pressure it still affects me a lot the glasses do help and I recommend them to a lot of people. Do you find that a lot of teachers have a lack of understanding in what dyslexia is? Sorry but the more I talk and the more information the better. Some one is telling me that the exsact same problem is happing to a boy that happened to me who is going to the Primray School I went to.

I know a young girl who's dyslexia has gone completely unspotted by her school and her parents. Thus she suffered a great deal of problems, being accused of just a sheer lack of ability and/or intelligence. It's frustrating to see, and must be even more frustrating for her.

As for the headache/reading something for too long... the above girl has also said to me a few times about how she can only sit and read for a little while before she starts suddenly finding it a huge struggle and (in her own words), "Forgets how to read". A headache often follows.

My 7 year old brother, and my 21 year old sister are both dyslexic, but my older brother and I aren't. My sister is about to start her second year at uni, and has only just had a test to determine her dyslexia. She has had problems since primary school, but as she has always got good grades, they have sort of been ignored. By good grades, I am talking 8 A's and 2 B's at GCSE...

My little brother on the other hand is about to go into his third year of primary school, and had a test about half a year ago. I don't know why he had his test so early and my sister so late, but perhaps it has something to do with a rise in awareness of the problem.

But as my sister has proven, dyslexia doesn't make you any less of a person intelligently, or socialy. You might just not beable to coordinate some things... But I can't do that anyway

In University they get disability grants, which I feel boarders on unfairness. How does being dyslexic stop you from paying for the internet out of your own pocket. Why should someone on my course get sodding DJ equipment, an iBook with mbox and assorted other goodies and very expensive software just because he's dyslexic and has bad eye-sight. I know I'm being a little mean, but I just feel that's taking the piss just a little too much, it's giving him facilities which others without disabilities have to plan for and book well in advance. I have to pay for the internet out of my own pocket or use it in university. Extra time in exams and a note taker I can understand, but the amount of monetary assistance he gets just takes the biscuit. Am I being too harsh?

Personally I think it's a pop condition.
Everyone and their dog now blames their inability to put a sentence together on dyslexia, and you know wht it's total crap.
I DO NOT believe that 1 in 5 people on the internet have it( which are nubers that come from listening to people whines) as that would probably even out to 1 in 3 in general.
In adittion to that I don't think it's an exuse (I wouldn't have guessed cath had it) obviously you can be more coherant if you consider it a priority


*END RANT*

It's a recognized disorder... I'd like to hear where you got the statistic. Wikipedia says "Between five and 15 percent of the population can be diagnosed as suffering from various degrees of dyslexia." Not 1 in 5, certainly, but it's not as rare as one might think.

"From a neurophysiological perspective, dyslexia can be diagnosed by close inspection of the morphology of the brain" "Researchers studying the brains of dyslexics have found that during reading tasks, dyslexics show reduced activity in the left inferior parietal cortex."

If people can study the brains of dyslexics and come up with such information, I don't think it's a made-up "excuse". And why should you be able to pick out everyone who has it? It's neurological... People with disorders aren't going to announce they have it all the time, either. I'm sure coherence is something people with dyslexia do have as a priority, but they struggle more to read/write so it's harder for them. Sometimes all of us could do more to be coherent

As someone who has struggled with Dyslexia (more specifically Dysgraphia) her entire life I can tell you it is not a "pop condition". Your definition of it being a "pop condition" is uninformed and insulting. I suggest that in the future you research an issue before you just declare something to be invalid.

There are some cases in which Dyslexia may be grounds for getting disability, but in general not really. I have found that people with Dyslexia are actually more intelligent that most people. I personally am not ashamed of my disorder and feel that I was blessed to have it. One of the perks of the disorder is that most of us think in 3D. We are able to visualize better than most, which makes us great engineers and designers. Of course that is a very general statement and there are various forms of Dyslexia. My Dyslexia affects writing and language skills. However my reading comprehension skills are amazing. I was reading at a college level when I was in 7th grade. I excelled at science, marketing, English literature and social studies/history. I was horrible at grammar, math and foreign languages. Even though I struggled in mathematics I scored higher on the engineering/mechanical concepts portion of the ASVAB than any other female in the state. I contribute a lot of that to my ability to visualize structures and create 3d objects in my mind. I don't think those functions would be so advance if my mind did not have to compensate for the disorder. Of course this is all theory that my specialist and me discussed. The thing with Dyslexia is it is different with all minds.

My father has terrible Dyslexia and has never learned to read or write. However the man has built his own home, built cars, designed steel structures etc. He is amazing; he can create anything he wants in his mind and build it. The man is a genius! If he was identified as a child and given the needed treatment and education I would not be surprised if he would not have been one of the greatest architects of our time.

The problem is it was not recognized and during the time period in which he would have been treatable (1930's) most people knew nothing of Dyslexia and he was treated as if he was just stupid. Which lead to his over reaction when I started showing signs. He once was shown where I made all my 3's backwards, his reaction was to make me write the number 3 over and over again till I had filled up a notebook. He was so afraid that I would be treated the same as him that he went way above and beyond to make sure I was treated. I am thankful for it now, but as a kid it was a bit much.

I just want to apologise for insulting you and any one else I may of offended. I meant to offence but realise my mistake, sorry.

Marriegold, I think I'm missing someting, but who do you think you have insulted? From what I'm reading, Ravein was responding to DCLP's post about Dyslexia being a "pop condition".

I found no reasn to take offense from any post but DCLP's so I don't think you have a reason to appologise to anybody.

I don't know anybody with dyslexia nor do I know much about the disorder. I mainly just posted to point the above out, so I apologise for the spam.

Now I think I may be a tad offensive here, and I should probably warn in advance.

DLCP : You have no room to complain or rant about using a disorder as an excuse. You have made two topics about your aspergers. You used it as an excuse in one of them for your inability to express yourself properly through text and inability to understand certain emotions, you probably try to make it a priority to improve that. I would say you should rethink your post, and I am not saying in the least that aspergers would be considered a "pop condition" and I certainly don't consider dyslexia to be one either. If you take offense to this, I'm sorry, but in my opinion your little rant wasn't very justified.

Guilty conscience whish I got more solid information before I brought up this issue. I just want to ask for permission to use your point of views or anything you have sheared on this thread (apart from DCLP's who is wrong by lack of understanding).
I want to complain to my primary school and others schools that I know who have no understanding as they assumed that it's where your apparently in cable of doing anything and failed to realise what dyslexia actually is. As the many times I had to repeat my self some of the greatest minds are dyslexic but it never stopped them. I don't know if anyone feels the same but I feel schools really do need a better understanding (or some do). Just let me know if I can use what you have posted. Many Thanks XX

P.S Please keep letting me know. Thanks

Did I say no one has dyslexia?.....No I didn't
What I said was that every 5th lazy f**k on the internet can't be bothered typeing properly,or a least trying and taking advice on how to do it and they claim dyslexia which I believe is a lie and an exuse.
Why don't I just claim it? I can no longer read for extended periods of time, I spell things wrong and look at them a second later and say "what the hell thats wrong as..." I must be dyslexic, everyone acceot my bitching moaning crap spelling inability to comunicate an idea and my rudeness when people are pissed off with that.

Half the board must be dyslexic as they can't even shorten my username correctly.

Way to go DLCP. You've insulted just about everyone on the board, offended a significant number of people unfortunate enough to have to cope with a genuine disorder (none of whom I presume ever asked to be dyslexic) and once again alienated yourself and justified certain people's theories regarding your undesirable character.

I don't have a clue what you were trying to say.

I missed your username once. I can't be arsed to get it every time, you said it yourself, you don't get everything right all the time, so why should I get everything perfect?

Also, relax, I was just pointing out that the two threads are similar. If I had dyslexia I would take offense to your post as Ravein did. It was rude.

You also said everybody blames incorrect spelling on dyslexia and that implies that nobody has it as they say they do. Of course you didn't outright say nobody didn't have it, but you didn't really give any wiggle room there for people that truely do have dyslexia.

Also, I'm not giving you your flame war. I'll give you a civil response though, all curses and emotion aside.

While it may be true that people sometimes claim that they have a disorder (some out of "laziness" as you say, and others because they don't know enough about dyslexia), it doesn't make it any less a REAL disorder.

And frankly, I think you're rather rude in claiming that it's not a real disorder.

Infact, it's due to the increasing awareness of dyslexia that people are becoming more panicked about it, so to speak. If aspergers was as well known a disease as dyslexia, I imagine 1 in every five 'lazy *****' would be claiming that as well.

¬_¬

Oh, and tone down the language dude.

Or it could be that:

1) Depressed Crazy Lonely Person sounds about as sensible as Depressed Lonely Crazy Person.
2) Nobody really cares enough to go back and check every time they want to type it.

That's nothing to do with dyslexia, just a confusing username.

Oh muffin! This is Moop, my laptop is still logged in as Candice. >_<

Further to that (now on the right username), there's a difference between shorting someone's name (Thomas -> Tom) and writing someone's 'name' as an acronym (Depressed Crazy Lonely Person -> DCLP).

Further still your demeanour on the forum doesn't exactly inspire me to waste time and effort making sure I got your nick right.

How does rudeness come into being dyslexic? Writing isn't the only way to communicate ideas and for me personally because of my dyslexia I find other alternatives speaking, acting, pictures, creating something with my hands, dancing (depending on what it is). I see writing as just one of the many forms to use for expression, (I defiantly haven’t menaced all the different ways to express yourself). It's just the one education prefer to use writing I am not sure if this counts for other people but I found the reason why I spell words wrong is because when I start to learn it the letters would move around and change. The teachers never realised this but I use all the correct letters just in the wrong order. If you struggle with spelling I also think it's the reason why you find it hard that may explain if this could be a possibility of dyslexia (not saying this is correct just a thought).

I apologise, DLCP for misordering the letters that make up the acronym from your username. For some reason, Depressed Crazy Lonely Person just seems to roll off my tongue more fluidly than Depressed Lonely Crazy Person.

Back on topic:

My sister is dyslexic, and it took my mother a fair while to get her the extra support she needed at her primary school, after it taking a good while for her to get tested. My sister didn't get into a good secondary school, so my mother decided to home educate her (though home edding had be on the table for a while before we finaly knew sister hadn't gotten a place). Mainly so that my sister could get taught in a way that was about fully teaching her with the dyslexia, rather than only teaching with it for only periods of time. The way I see it happening in my family, is that it's not just about keeping my sister up to school standards, but making sure she can cope and learn and operate and know how to go about her everyday life without the dyslexia being a handycap, because it won't be.

My step father was labeled dumb at school. -With it taking him a long while after leaving school before he could read to a reasonable enough level. -He didn't just read books to my siblings at night for their sake. Thats what happens when ignorance rules.

My spelling is quite atrocious at times, is it because I'm dyslexic? I don't think so. Is it because I'm lazy? Most likely. xChat is my friend, because it has auto spell checker. MSN is not my friend, nor this free text entry box I'm typing into at this moment in time because they don't have spell checkers. EDIT: When I make a concious effort to remember how to spell a word, I can.

DLCP, you say you wouldn't of know that Cath was dyslexic, from her post. -I wouldn't of know from meeting her IRL -Well, apart from when she said it me. Dyslexia has many forms, and can affect some people's reading, writting, maths, memory (I'm sure there is other stuff, but I'm no expert). But not always at the same time, but some times.

Marriegold, I saw a programme about two brothers who wern't getting along with school. They both ended up with tinted glasses, (blue and red) which made the letters not move all over the page, therefore made it easier to concentrate on the work at hand, thus enabling the boys to participate in sit down lessons that envolved reading. It's such a small thing to so, change the colour a person reads in, but it made such a huge differance.

Thank for for the information. Most people I have met have told me the same the school failed to realise that they or some one they know was dyslexic and should of noticed it earlier to get the right help that would help for that particular person as dyslexia effects people in different ways. Does anyone hear feel that if teachers (especially in a primary school) had a better understanding and could start to see the signs that maybe a child could be dyslexic this would help and improve education a lot more? As my school when they found out in year 6 then all asked what dyslexia was and told me it was just made up. I feel very strongly in this and feel that teachers and schools need to understand what dyslexia is or try and recognize the sings earlier (realising that it may not be that obvious) and what type of help is required for people with dyslexia and even how to recognize if some one just might possible be dyslexic (knowing that this might not always work). I wondering if this would improve education and help more people. Let me know what you think.

I feel that some teachers fail to realise that dyslexia doesn’t make you stupid and it doesn’t but was the exsact words a teacher used on me. Some of the greatest minds are dyslexic.

This doesn’t count as too what I was saying out_frog what I do is copy and paste what I have typed from Microsoft word that way I can check all my spelling before sending the post.

Well, depends. Is this person getting scholarships because of his disability, or is the university just giving him stuff?

Speaking as a person with a "disability", I can, in theory, get lots of money for it. I get money for being genetically defective. While this is nice for me in the sense that I can get money without really doing anything for it, I feel it's kind of well, cheap. I mean, if I'm going to get money for having depression, why don't I get money for having red hair as well? It just seems kind of silly to me. Which is why I don't apply for any of those scholarships. It feels like I'm getting an unfair advantage. Honestly, I'm not disabled incredibly badly, and there are tons of people out there who could use the money a lot more badly than I do.

Hmm.

I have dyspraxia and possibly dislexia (its imposible to tell because most of the symptoms of dyslexia are also found in dyspraxics)
I had a hard job in primary school because I hadnt been diagnosed however after I was diagnosed their was lots of support from the school, I also get 25 percent extra time in exams. In college thehelp istheir if I choose to use it although I usely manage ok with out it.

And you think you havn't been rude to me




Who's theories? No one has ever sugested that they had an issue with me or contacted me to say as much.

Why am I expepected to see that people have an issue with me when they don't say a thing.
Why do I get bashed everytime I express an opinion and why are you hell bent on taking it the wrong way instead of just reading what I say.
In future if you have a problem with me why don't you just say itnstead of sneaking around talking about me?

I see nothing wrong with some one giving an opinion, however you can give an opinion with out being offence . Like you said you don't believe in the facts about how many people have dyslexia and you dislike the idea of people blaming their inability to write a sentence or spell on dyslexia (which can some times happen but is put right when they get tested and are told that they are not dyslexic). The term you used 'pop condition' is offensive to those who do have dyslexia. I still don't understand and would like to know why you think it is a 'pop condition'? I still don't understand what you meant by this term exactly.

By that I mean that it's a very popular thing to say you have like it was very popular to be bi-sexual a few years ago.
Am I the only one that see's that when this is the case and people not afflicted with dyslexia<that looks wrong go around saying oh I'm just a bit dyslexic it belittles the condition for actual sufferers, as in they make a huge percentage out of the population that claim dyslexia but don't need assistance(as they just say that because it's cool, fashionable, something they heard on Dr Phil) therefore making it harder to get funding or assistance for those that need it and minimuising the effectit has or schooling and the difficulty it causes in some people.

Exactly, how does being dyslexic stop them being able to use the internet in the university? All it does is make them £20-odd better off each month.

DLCP (see? got it right!). Firstly, calm, breath in, then out, picture a clam blue ocean. Secondly, in England at least, you're tested for dyslexia before you can actually claim assistance. I sometimes think I'm dyslexic, I mix up numbers esspecailly sometimes. But I was tested for it and I don't have it. Maybe I'm just stupid...or lazy...probably lazy.

I did get the help (had to pay own internet though) I got a computer payed for and some other bits and the money comes from your local council. The reasoning for it is (this is just Dyslexia or for mine any how and this was the people who accessed not mine) because of my dylexia I had trouble taking note and keeping up with dictation so I got a grant for photocopying because I be doing alot more that other people I also got a dictaphone for the dictation (which I personally found useless) I got a upto date computer because I would be useing it for the next 3 year wouldn't become to outdated in that time. It was payed for so I could type my essay on it rather than having to write them in a note book seeing as my hand writting is awfull and even I cant understand it at time and it'd have a spell check and also most Dylexics are very easily distracted and if your in a room full of other people your not going to get anywhere near as much work done as if you were some where private.
And anyway yes not all my year group benifitted from this but a lot of my friends did as I was always willing to let them use the things I had payed for with the grant. These are the reasons I got my grant and I'm not going to feel in the slightest bit guilt that I did claim and if it was going to help me get the degree I want I dont care and why shouldn't I claim it because by some genetic fluke I find it harder to read and write. I'm paying for it now by working and paying taxes which is what it boils down to.
Marrigold your more than wellcome to use any of the imformation I've given.

*sigh*
I really feel that I am making a mistake by saying my opinion here, but I do feel that everyone is being a bit harsh on DLCP.
I don't have dyslexia, or any other disorder that I know of, so I don't really know, but I think society does really ovcercompensate for minorities and disabilities. I don't know all the facts on disabilities, but in minorities, I have a friend who is Native American. She is not as intelligent as me, but can get full scholarships to almost anywhere she wants because she is a minority. I think I am seeing it is generally the same for diasbilities. If you have been tested and are sure you have the disability it is fine, but many people just claim that they have dyslexia or whatever else to get sympathy and support for their lazyness or inability to spell. Plus, some people who are dyslexic seem to be getting things free from the gov. that their disability wouldn't prevent them from paying for on their own.

I hope I wasn't offensive, but I really think that it is a bit injust.

I can understand what you mean, but I do think that someone who has been diagnosed with severe dyslexia should get help. My sister is going to get something along the lines of what Cath described- a laptop, dictaphone, photocopying etc, but she is still going to have to work very hard to get her degree in Drama and Theatre arts. She still has a job, she still has to pay for things, and she still has to write the essays. But all these things will do is to perhaps get her to the same "level" as the others on the course so she has the same chances of success.

I know that I haven't worded that particularly well, but I couldn't think of a better way of putting it.

Re. getting paid for things- I get £30 a week from the British government because I have continued into 6th form to to A-levels, I keep my grades up, and that my mum earns less that £10,000 a year.
I accept this money as it comes in handy to pay for things like contact lenses and going out and having fun.
I personaly think that the government is stupid to give people like me this money, when not all of us actually need it. Why don't they use the same money to subsidise uni fees, and not increase them?
To make it fair, each month I donate to two charities (Oxfam and Cancer Research UK) using this money. I found the idea of the government funding them was quite funny.
Just to say- I also have two jobs as well.
//sorry for going off topic...

I can sympathize with the government funding students with dyslexia and other disabilities, as a bit of equipment can help keep disabled students level with the rest of the class. A few dyslexic people at my school get extra time on tests, and I see how that is necessary because they get the words confused.
However, giving scholarships to minorities really annoys me sometimes. Universities have been banned from keeping minorities out and most application forms let you leave your race blank if you want to, removing that excuse. Too many organizations want to push minority students into college at the expense of majority students. That can leave less space for people with better scores and grades who aren't of a minority. Being kept out of college on the basis of your race and skin was horrible for minorities, but giving out scholarships like lollipops based on race can be nearly as bad. Some colleges are extremely competitive. Say two students with the exact same qualifications and grades apply to Harvard. If one is a minority student, they will be more likely to get in because being a minority adds some points to their application scale. If the two students are white, they will do it by lottery. I think that college entrance should be based on academics, sports, and extracurriculars (not sure if they call it something different in the U.K.).
Sorry if I've ranted and gotten off topic, but that really gets up my nose.

Unless the course is sports related, I don't think someone should beable to get a university place purely on their ability to throw a ball. (Over simplified but you catch my drift)

Just my .02:

I'm dyslexic. I say I'm dyslexic very often so that people will understand better why I type/write/speak the way I do, not for attention and seldom for special treatment. I'm not lazy or stupid, so I don't use dyslexia as an excuse for my sometimes poor typing/typos/off reading comprehension.

I'm very intelligent, I had near perfect marks in school from pushing myself, and people seldom believe I'm dyslexic at all. I even get doubts as to my age! This makes things very hard for me sometimes... because I'm not the stereotypical bumbling stupid can't learn anything idiot, people assume I'm fine and just trying to be lazy. I had to get several doctor's notes for every school I went to explaining that I am indeed dyslexic, and not just trying to get out of anything, because of my high test scores. I was in advanced classes and everything. I AM alright, but of course, I have my problems that effect my school work and ability to learn...

I've found it takes awhile for most people to realise that something's wrong with me, and when and if they do realise, they can't seem to figure out what it is, exactly. I have a hard time expressing myself(which I'm sure is most apparent) properly, selecting and pronouncing words correctly, processing certain things, and I'm prone for switching numbers around in my mind. I CANNOT learn things the easy way at all, I have to be taught new things the long and tedious way... it's the only way I can fully understand anything. This is more of a curse than a blessing... I'm full of knowledge thats mostly useless, and it takes me hours to learn something it'd take someone else moments to figure out because I have to break it up component by component. Sometimes, most times, I KNOW I'm thinking wrong. It's like I'm telling my brain "No, you're seeing this wrong, it's a 9, not a P", but my brain can't process it. I don't know if this makes sense at all, but it's the best way I can describe it. Every day when I see a pigeon outside, I think of them as chickens. Not because I don't know they're pigeons, I do, but for some reason my brain can't grasp long term that they're NOT fucking chickens, they're pigeons. I have to correct myself every single day. Sometimes I have to watch a movie 4 times before it makes sense(though I've grown fond of repeating things I like over and over again anyway), or I catch something most people probably caught the first time around. I cannot perform mathematical equations past a highschool level. My brain blocks things that are in plain visual view out completely.

As you can see, my vocabulary doesn't suffer too badly. My grammar is decent. I form sentences well enough. I do just fine. I'll never be perfect, and that's ok. I do my personal best, I challenge myself, try to change what I can and accept what I can't.

I'm actually against dyslexics recieving grants/social security/etc... I don't believe I deserve money for not seeing and thinking things the way normal people do. My IQ is unaffected, my daily life is unaffected, I'm able to get jobs just fine. I *do* think it's fair to recieve special education, though. It's a mental thing to me, no worse than depression, and depressed people don't get money for being depressed. And I DO think that people that ARE genuinely dyslexic sometimes use their knowledge of this problem as an excuse to be lazy, though, and it's kind of annoying. Dyslexia is only an excuse for not learning/understanding. Being rude, lazy, deflecting, etc, are NOT symptoms of dyslexia!

I had a girl with Aspies insult a photo of me taken when I was 5 years old not too long ago. She said I was being poseurish and trying to be like Peaches, the "singer". I explained that I was 5 then, that photo was taken before "Peaches" existed, and I was simply wearing my mothers clothes. She instantly blamed it on aspies, saying she couldn't see correctly. Since when is a symptom of aspies insulting people?!

Hopefully this makes sense. I like to think it does, but if some of it doesnt, well, you know why! BLAME THE DYSLEXIA! But seriously, if I came across wrong, please feel free to point out where I messed up

Excuse me for almost falling off my chair with laughter about the pidgeons

It's ok, its totally a "Barbarella" thing amongst friends. "Hey, what's that?" *pointing at pigeon* Me- "It's a Chi...PIGEON!"

You actually spell and write very well, Barbarelle- better than some of my friends who aren't dyslexic, in fact. Your only mistake that I caught offhand was using effect when you meant affect, and some of my teachers do that. I really admire your drive to do well without getting money from the government. I had to laugh at the chickens... I have this "kill all the pigeons" mentality and I don't know why. If all the pigeons *were* chickens, then everyone would happy. Goodness and abundance of chickens would create world peace. Maybe. Everyone likes eating chicken... unless they're allergic... or a vegetarian... or... Oh look, my generalization just died. Woe is me.
Daria- Sports are very popular at most colleges, and some people just go to college for the sports. There is a certain amount of respect given to a college with a good sports program, which attracts students, which brings more money to colleges. This is good motivation for colleges to use sports as an admission factor, and it's not likely to change.

An interesting development:

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/st...1561490,00.html

I find some of the help useful for exsample being given extra time in tests so I feel that not all the help that is offered is useless. However I do realise that it can't help everyone as dyslexia affects people in different ways but I do disagree with people using it as an excuse. What annoyed me though was the way I got treated and a few of my friends were also treated in school. I don't know if anyone else has had this. The moment they got told I was dyslexic they instantly thought it was where you couldn't learn and you are 'stupid' as one of my teachers liked put it. It took me years but I have finally managed to move up to middle group and getting average marks but it also took a lot of explaining to the teachers about what dyslexia actually was. The moment I moved up I had my teachers shouting at me for taking a long time to get the work finished and said that after the test they are going to move me down group. I found the extra time in the tests extremely useful because it takes me such a long time to get my work done, but my Maths teacher only got annoyed at me in the end because I got the highest in the class so he couldn't move his 'favourite pupil' which I should be learning from up unless he moved me up another class. Typical of him, he decided not move anyone up.

My point is that not everyone feels that they could benefit from the given and if you feel you can mange with out it great but I find that certain types of help provide can start to make a noticeable difference but not for everyone. Also this is just purely my opinion so correct me if you think otherwise but it's good to know I can still get that help if it is needed and improves my work which was the same for some of my friends that are dyslexic.

It still annoys me that I have to constantly explain to my teachers what dyslexia is and hand in notes. In my own personal opinion (not to offend anyone) that if you was going to be a teach you should get thought about things like dyslexia while you are training before you actually go into the profession as a full time career.

Also because my spelling is so bad I copy and paste this into Microsoft word, first to check my spelling. This could be seen as lazy but I am trying to improve my spelling but using a different technique.

I believe there is a programme on Channel 4 about dyslexia in the next couple of days. I just tried to find the info. but am having trouble. Hopefully it hasn't already been on.

For those of you with comprehensive TV listings next to you... all I remember is that it was about dyslexia, and I'm pretty certain it was on Channel 4 (a UK channel).

Thought some people here might be interested.

The programme Ii mentioned above is on Channel 4, Thursday night, at 9pm

It is a syptom of aspies to say things without realising that they'll be hurtfull, and to be insensitive the needs and feelings of others.
For instance last week my teacher asked me what I thought of this ring she was wearing... I said cute it was a very nice thought her daughter had had, ??????? I thought it looked looked like one of those cheap plastic rings out of those $2.99 my first jewelery kits in reality it was a $2800 white gold and diamond ring .
So that could be seen as reckless insulting which it wasn't really.

Oh man... I'm sorry, depressed lonely crazy person. I have enough an issue controlling my urge to smart off at all my teachers without aspies. I can only imagine how hard it must be for people who actually have aspies to control their responses.
I respect the need for people who have dyslexia to get extra time on tests, as it seems that they need it. Some of the teachers who I know don't know much about dyslexia, and that causes problems for their dyslexic students. They really ought to learn more about it so they can understand what the problem really is.
By the way, Marriegold, your Maths teacher sounds like an utter git. It makes no sense to screw up everyone's advancement beacuse he doesn't like your dyslexia. I've heard that dyslexic people tened to be better at math and science because words get mixed up more than numbers. Do you know if it's true or not, based on your experience and any other dyslexic people you know? Don't mean to be nosy or anything, I'm just curious.

It's great that people ask. By the way you’re defiantly not the first person to call my Maths teacher that and I think there are worse names used. It all depends on the person really as different people are effect by dyslexia in different ways. However you are right I find it harder to look at letters than numbers and so do a few of my friends. If anyone disagrees please correct me if I am wrong.

I struggle more at the academic work like English, Maths, and Science. It has been well known that a lot of dyslexic people can Picture images in 3D, which makes people with dyslexia good at graphics, design, engineering and a lot more. I am not saying though that everyone dyslexic finds it hard to do Maths, English or science as some of the greatest minds are dyslexic for exsample instine (if I could spell the name) was dyslexic but then again he was never timed or given a dead line for his work.

I believe that using words is just one of the many ways to express something but it's one the school prefer to use.

This doesn’t really mean anything but I thought I would just mention. That a lot of people have a lack of understanding and think that it effects how smart you are and I believe it doesn’t. All my friends are in the top class of everything and I managed to be friends with them because we got talking and started having conversations a while after they were shocked to hear I was dyslexic and actually in a lower class than them they thought I was going to be in the same class. Then I explained to them about what dyslexia actually was before they thought it was where you was slow in the head or found it hard to communicate. I didn't take offence just explained, I just think people need it to be explained so they understand what it actually is. If my friends could change their mind on what they thought dyslexia was then why can’t a teacher who is suppose to be more mature can't?