do you see words spelled out when you hear them?

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do you see words spelled out when you hear them? i do.

Yes, and if I've seen a word, I can spell it 99 percent of the time. My spelling ability is in the "very superior" range, and I won my school spelling bee four years in a row, coming very close to nationals a couple times.

Yes, I do.

Grammar Geek, that's fantastic!

No, I don't, or if it has happened it has been the exception.

No. I either see pictures/videos of their meaning or get the sound recorded by brain and reply it over and over again till I see picture/video of the meaning.

No.

I have difficulty spelling out loud to people (e.g. if they want me to spell my name, street, or other personal details).

Spelling verbally (as opposed to spelling visually by writing words down) is incredibly difficult for me. I often struggle if people ask me to spell something out loud to them. I have to apologise and say "please can you hold on while I get a pen and paper and write it down first so I can read it out to you. I can't spell out loud".

Then people misunderstand, and think I'm saying that I can't spell.

Then they wrongly conclude I am only semi-literate and they start being very "kind" to me in a polite, patronising way because they think they are dealing with somebody who cannot spell at all.

Then I have to point out to them that that's not what I said. I didn't say I can't spell. I said I can't spell out loud unless I write it down first, and then read it out to them.

Either that, or I have to close my eyes and visualise myself writing the word down, and move my finger in the air as though it were an imaginary pen, and read out to them what I am "writing" in my mind's eye.

This clearly makes me look slightly crazy, and I'd rather not close my eyes and wave my finger in the air in public, so I tend to go for the option of asking them to wait while I get a piece of paper and actually physically write it down and then read it out to them.

I do not but I'm dyslexic & NOT a visual person.

Yes!

I was also a spelling bee champion in grade school, and I have always had an interest in words/word roots.

i do, just like i hear words in my head when i read them. if i concentrate, i can also see the letters flashing on a virtual keyboard in the dark in my head. one thing i've noticed is that i type a lot faster (and, depending on my mental state, i also make fewer mistakes) if i don't look at what i'm typing on the screen

i learned to write before i started kindergarten, so i have no memory of what it's like not to know how to read or write. i also used to play with my father's typewriter when i was little. spelling was always very intuitive to me (my language isn't as irregular as english, but it has its ambiguities and idiosyncrasies), and it was perplexing to me how my brother was so horribly bad at it no matter how much he studied (he's still bad at it. coincidence or not, he's also terrifyingly bad at history and geography, which are subjects i was always fascinated by)