Comments on: My Issues with non Dyslexics, not understanding Dyslexia

By: stephanie thompson

stephanie thompson — Sun, 04 May 2008 07:58:46 +0000

I too was not diagnosed until junior college. Having been certain that I was just “dumb”, learning that I had LD was both a releif and positive motivator for me. I found that with reading programs I not only could learn but loved learning. For every weekness there is a strenghth and mine was both audial and visual memory retention. After bairly making it through highschool I went on to complete my bachelors in Accounting and Masters of business degrees. I don’t hesitate to inform potential employers of my disability and am sure this has prevented me from optaining several desired positions but, the benefits to me from the assistive technolgy availible (at no cost to the employeer) far outway the personal frustration endured without it, not to mention the hurtful coments made by those around me when I misunderstand directions or take a significantly longer time to complete tasks. One major problem I find is that LD is not as easy to distinguish as say blindness and although I have medical documentation of my disability, employeers that have hired me seem to “blow off” my repeated requests for reasonable accomidations. At times it seems like they want me fail, to be someone they can make fun of for thier own sick ammusement. Sometimes I run away, throw my papers across the floor and even cry. When my fury subsides, I remember the blessings & opportunities that opened for me following that day in Pre-Algebra class when my professor recognized Dyslexia from me not being able to distinguish a number 8 from the infinity symbol. If it wasn’t for her, I would probably be a jr. college drop out, working in the fast food industry. Thank God for silver linings.

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 04 May 2008 07:58:07 +0000

I can see your point, having struggled with LD in a completely different way (I have trouble with math calculation and visuospatial relations). At the same time, there are a lot of people who are not dyslexic but simply don’t care enough to use proper spelling and grammar. It is much harder to read when people do this, and so becomes annoying. However, if you state outright that you have dyslexia it becomes just another difference, and it’s not annoying. This goes for any disability: I will go out of my way to accommodate someone if it’s necessary, but not if they’re just being dependent.

By: Derek Redpath

Derek Redpath — Sun, 04 May 2008 07:57:34 +0000

thank god for reading what you wrote here today i ment a lot to me to see and read it i like you am dyslexsic i went through hell as a child in schooland most of my adult life becouse of it trained in clinical hypnosis but just got my certifacatefor diploma it was harder i pulled out in the end i feel we get treated very poorly by people and understand why dislexsics end up in jails
with the frustration

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:28:36 +0000

Another point I was thinking about- I hear a lot lately about people not wanting kids to be “labeled.” Well, when I was a kid LD was not recognized and I was just gifted and “lazy.” It never seemed to occur to people that if I were unmotivated and/or lazy, I would be that way across the board, not getting A’s in some classes and F’s in others. As others have mentioned, the LD diagnosis was a gift in that it helped me understand why I couldn’t seem to do what was expected of me. I don’t see why people are so worried about stigmatization: LD and ADHD are only negative diagnoses if society chooses to view it that way. By evading the diagnoses, people keep the conditions under wraps and in the dark. What we need is more openness: after all, everyone is disabled in some way!

By: Andi

Andi — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:25:30 +0000

Finally, someone talking about more then the neurology, and symptoms of dyslexia. I couldn’t agree with you more. My experience in school was miserable, and friends rarely understand. It amazing how often people with dyslexia and other learning disabilities are brilliant or even geniuses in certain areas or fields, but never get credit for it because of the various difficulty caused by dyslexia, and how they effect us as a person as a whole.