Dyslexia

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Okay, so I suspect that I have dyslexia, is it possible to get tested for it, and if so, is there any point in me getting tested?

Erm... yeah.

By age 18, if you've gotten this far and no one at school has suspected, I would imagine that it's mild. You are getting by.

You walk, you talk, you're a grown-up, you have a general idea of what's going on. If you read up on it, I would think you could self-diagnose with reasonable certainty. People have general idea of what dyslexia is, so if you say you have "a little mild dyslexia," I don't think they'll have a problem with it. Shrinks are so expensive and time-consuming and draining and stupid... why bother...

Then again, if you're already diagnosed as an Aspie, why didn't they notice? Do you have a shrink now, and is he worth anything?

(PS: I always loved Leto Atreides)

yes, definatly get tested. its also common in aspies, as is dyscalclia - numerical dyslexia.

you might be able to get treatment for it, or extra time/credits if you study; in the uk some student qualify for free computers.

it will also make you feel better about yourself- i went through school being told i was stupid and lazy because i couldnt spell, though i was at the top of all my classes.

i have 'mild dyslexia' ie- undiagnosed at school in the 80s because -'only boys get it, you hvae neat handwriting'- the words and letters swim about the page for me too, so i hvae it. it made university really hard, until i read a freind's thesis on dyslexia, and realised i def had it, as he had graphics showing how HE saw words and letter swim about.

i still read a book a day, i just know that what im reading is a different book to the one other people read...

Yeah, if it is what I have, I definitly have it mildly. I have poor spelling, sometimes I have to write out a word 3-4 times before the letters come out in the right order, I get that with typing too sometimes. I also have a hard time describing right and left at times. If I am removed from writing for too long, I can mix up similar letters, which is why I don't use cursive writing. When reading, I will read some sentences as being completely different than what's on the page, and I generally only notice it when what I read makes no sense, or very little. I have difficulty pronouncing long unfamiliar words, which is part of the reason I dropped Japanese, the other being that I couldn't pick up the language fast enough to pass the course. I also have extreme difficulty learning foreign languages, Japanese was even harder because I had another alphabet to learn that was very easy to mix up. I am still going to learn the language, but in my own time. There is more that was on the list of symptoms, one of others was a being unable to find the right word often, even when I know the word, and it just isn't coming to mind. ?Had that happen on an IQ test once, and as soon as the guy told me the word I was like holy f*** that is the exact word I was trying to search for, and just couldn't find it.

That certainly sounds like mild dyslexia. I only know this matching up what you said about spelling and my own research (I'm a researcher/investigator). It might be worth it to get a diagnosis, but then again, maybe not. If you think that you need treatment or that getting a diagnosis will help you in some way, I say go for it. You have nothing to lose in trying right?

You should certainly check out the Adult Dyslexia Checklist on the British Dyslexia Association website and use it as we use the various Aspie questionnaires - as part of paving the way towards future diagnosis.

Here it is:

http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/adultchecklist.html

and you may as well look at the rest of the site while you're there.

Two of my many associated conditions, many do not know but its recommended Dyslexia and Dyspaxia people can have special driving lessons see uk site and recommended use auto cars etc.. http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/s ... riving.php and I have heard a huge percentage of asd people have dyspraxia if not all, affects driving and if have Dyslexia as well can be harder to learn at first.....

Quick and simply basic Dyslexic Assessment
Use the following list to see if any of these occur in life or in school:

Vision
Changing or reversing shapes and sequences of letters or numbers
Incorrect / inconsistent spelling
Seeing letters and numbers move, disappear, grow or shrink
Omitting or altering letters, words and lines while reading or writing
Omitting or ignoring punctuation and capitalisation

Hearing
Difficulty making speech sounds
Perceiving sounds or words not really heard or experienced by others
Accused of not listening or being negative
Hearing sounds softer, louder, nearer or further away than they actually are
Balance and Movement
Dizziness or nausea while reading
Poor sense of direction
Inability to sit still
Difficult with handwriting (dysgraphia)
Balance / coordination problems

Time
Inability to sit still or maintain attention for long (ADD)
Inability to learn maths (dyscalculia)
Difficulty telling time or being on time
Criticised for daydreaming and fantasising
Distracted easily
Trouble with sequencing (getting things in order) or setting priorities
If a few or more of these symptoms are consistently experienced, dyslexia is the likely cause.

Dyspraxia?
This is just a basic list, but quite helpful:

The pre-school child
• Is late in reaching milestones e.g. rolling over, sitting, standing, walking, and speaking
• May not be able to run, hop, jump, or catch or kick a ball although their peers can do so
• Has difficulty in keeping friends; or judging how to behave in company
• Has little understanding of concepts such as 'in', 'on', 'in front of' etc
• Has difficulty in walking up and down stairs
• Poor at dressing
• Slow and hesitant in most actions
• Appears not to be able to learn anything instinctively but must be taught skills
• Falls over frequently
• Poor pencil grip
• Cannot do jigsaws or shape sorting games
• Artwork is very immature
• Often anxious and easily distracted

The school age child
• Probably has all the difficulties experienced by the pre-school child with dyspraxia, with little or no
improvement
• Avoids PE and games
• Does badly in class but significantly better on a one-to -one basis
• Reacts to all stimuli without discrimination and attention span is poor
• May have trouble with maths and writing structured stories
• Experiences great difficulty in copying from the blackboard
• Writes laboriously and immaturely
• Unable to remember and /or follow instructions
• Is generally poorly organised

Copyright © 1996 - 2007 Dyspraxia Foundation. All

Last edited by asplanet on 02 Feb 2009, 5:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

If I were in the UK the driving thing would probably be useful, I am in Canada though... I do not have dyspraxia, none of that seems to fit. I am also so sick of correcting spelling mistakes... especially when coding a CS assignment, although spelling errors are less common when typing than writing, and easier to fix.

People need to be more open minded on how we all communicate... being dyslexic is one of my many neurological differences and at times being intellectually differently able... means I am often get so wrongly judged...

My thoughts and words often race and how ever hard I try, as I write like my thoughts words often jumble, meaning I have to check and recheck and then spell check everything I add so others can read, so if you feel spelling errors are a pain, try being me!

But have you ever had great difficulty reading? Did you learn to read late (much later than other kids)? Are you unable to sound out words? Because some of the associated symptoms that you mentioned are also traits of AS or dyscalcula (I think), among other things. Just wondering, because I´ve been reading about dyslexia lately. I was diagnosed for dyslexia when I was a child, but I think it was a false diagnosis. With just a little therapy, I "got over it" totally, and I read and write fine now. According to what I´ve been reading lately, dyslexia is something you never get over, though you can work with it.

I missread statements a lot, I have to go back and read things again, sometimes I wonder if I actually read the same book as other people, simply because, unless the sentance doesn't make sense, I won't double check what I have read. I don't have problems with numbers and math, except for when copying things from one line to the next. I lost so many marks in math because of errors in copying numbers or signs. I'm not too bad, but it is a pain, I think I am writing "associated" and "sasoicated" or similar comes out, although I often catch the mistake mid word. Now here's a story for you, I once used the lable of Dyslexia as a part of a personality for name I once trolled under... kinda ironic how a few months later I'm thinking I actually have it. (when I did the trolling I just figured type EVERYTHING out wrong, and create a pattern to make it look logical) I don't remember much about my reading as a kid. I had a difficult time learning how to pronounce okagesamade and other Japanese words of similar length. Problem is I am a procrastinating perfectionist. I can't know that I have spelled a word wrong and leave it.

When younger no one understand me, my words a complete jumble of chaos, eventually had speech therapist which helped, but often if stressed can revert back... as for the sound of words, still get some wrong and have been told devised my own method of speech so maybe I am a true alien

Reading never been easy for me and still have trouble at times with new words have not seen, as I learned from visually seeing the words, not sounding out. But like with anythink get easier over the years and we learn to adapt, conceal etc...

As for "dyslexia is something you never get over,"
I guess I can not get over from being me, I have learned over the years that my symptoms are part and parcel of my many neurological differences, but we all need to remember we are all different and with me I see and visualize things others do not, creatively wise makes life very interesting

I am also and makes life interesting if not complex at times for me, the problem with this is that as do not always know that I have spelled a word wrong, if someone picks up on I have to go back and correct, or will worry about

and like you "I miss read statements a lot, I have to go back and read things again, sometimes I wonder if I actually read the same book as other people, simply because, unless the sentance doesn't make sense, I won't double check what I have read." its alos the same for me, others may not always get what I am trying to say, but I do not them.. I guess if we were all the same life would be boring....

Yes, you are right!

And people with dyslexia are very creative people.

I don't think it will really make a difference. Help is offered to those who have severe dyslexia. I've talked to people with severe dysleix online, well, tried to because I could never understand what they wrote and they couldn't tell that they had made a mistake.
I have a lot of symptoms of both dyslexia and dyspraxia according to that list, but I didn't get diagnosed with dyslexia.
I'm not sure if it was a matter of be being under a lot of stress and having anxiety, or if it was that I was too mild to be diagnosed. I remember the person that tested me saying that if I was diagnosed all they could offer was coping strategies, which I would eventually work out on my own.
Just remember if you get tested that stress, anxiety and depression can give you dyslexic-like symptoms.

These days I just like to think of my dyslexic/dyspraxic symptoms as something that comes from having AS.

Were you, by any chance, taught to read and write by the old-fashioned method of synthetic phonics, as I was? That is probably why spelling is generally second nature to me but the flip side of that is that it makes dyslexia more difficult to diagnose; I have literacy issues which relate to the BDA Adult Dyslexia Checklist as posted earlier but it is difficult for a human spellchecker to be taken seriously as a dyslexia case, regardless of the other aspects.