Rave Up with Arielle Free

[midnight]

Well, I've got my results back and they have confirmed I have dyslexia.

When telling people this I have found people who understand it completely and are able to help me, people who don't understand it but want to find out about it and help me, and those who don't understand it and are no longer talking to me because of it.

This has made me wonder what people on here know (or think) about dyslexia and the effects it has on people who have it. I personally still know very little about it and am having to try and learn more about it to understand it but as I read more about it I am discovering things I have always had that I didn't realise could be part of it eg bad timekeeping. I always just thought of dyslexia as finding it hard to read and write.

what does everyone else think then?

[Lee.]

i think i might have dyslexia were did you go to get tested

[John]

People don't talk to you anymore? That is harsh. Lots more is known about dyslexia today than it was 10 years ago. Its becoming more and more accepted in schools, higher education places and the work place. People no longer see it as a problem! Or not at least one that can't be helped with some adaptations here and there. Thing is... when I started high school (way back when some people on this site weren't even born) teachers segregated the students into 2 groups: Those that were bright, and did well in school and always achieved the higher grades. And those who were seen as 'slow' or 'thick' and always underachieved or needed prompting. From my own school experiences... 9/10 of the people in the latter were probably dyslexic, as opposed to 'couldn't be arsed to learn in school'. And as a result, the students who were segregated into 'lower classes' are suffering now in life because they were never given the opportunity to learn with everybody else.

Thankfully this is becoming a more socially accepted issue now. Like I said earlier, people can now go to university, or go to work or to school as there is a better understanding of this now and what can be put into place to help students/employees achieve their potential.

As a side note... make sure most of your literature is printed on yellow paper or pale blue paper as research has shown that this alleviates a lot of problems

[Jono]

Well, I think you are well written on here, midnight. I can only assume this means that dyslexia isn't just associated with spelling difficulties and the usual symptoms I've always thought it was to do with.

[Tom.]

Well, I think you are well written on here, midnight. I can only assume this means that dyslexia isn't just associated with spelling difficulties and the usual symptoms I've always thought it was to do with.

I thought that as well... My spelling is far worse than midnight's

[Nik B.]

Well, I think you are well written on here, midnight. I can only assume this means that dyslexia isn't just associated with spelling difficulties and the usual symptoms I've always thought it was to do with.

Its not as bad as you'd think, it's not necessarily a big problem. As you can see I write alright although my grammer can be a bit pants, and Capitalisation gets me all the time.

I've had previous friends with Dyslexia, and both my best friend and myself are both dyspraxic, kinda the same with more balance problems. However I've never lost friends because of it, even though I'm the div in the corner who needs someone in the lesson specifically to help me. So I guess these people who stopped talking to you are idiots who aren't worth worrying about. It is good that you got the help in the end, as learning can be an absolute pain if it goes unaided

[Robbie Keane]

Dyslexia is often simplified as just not being able to read or write properly, which is unfair. It's simply the mind working (ie. processing information) in a different way to other people which can lead to difficulties when "other people" tend to be considered the norm and thus everything is presented in a way to suit them rather than to help those who are dyslexic. There are dyslexic people who can spell and read perfectly, but it may take them a little longer to do so than it does for us and they may not be able to store as much of it as we can because it takes longer for them to make sense of it.

[DC]

you can't even tell, so don't worry. i know a few people who suffer with dyslexia and it only limits you if you allow it.

[Guest]

Well, I think you are well written on here, midnight. I can only assume this means that dyslexia isn't just associated with spelling difficulties and the usual symptoms I've always thought it was to do with.

Me too. I thought this aswell. Hmm... well my brothers got dyslexia too and he's alright ont the spelling and things.

[midnight]

People don't talk to you anymore? That is harsh. Lots more is known about dyslexia today than it was 10 years ago. Its becoming more and more accepted in schools, higher education places and the work place. People no longer see it as a problem! Or not at least one that can't be helped with some adaptations here and there. Thing is... when I started high school (way back when some people on this site weren't even born) teachers segregated the students into 2 groups: Those that were bright, and did well in school and always achieved the higher grades. And those who were seen as 'slow' or 'thick' and always underachieved or needed prompting. From my own school experiences... 9/10 of the people in the latter were probably dyslexic, as opposed to 'couldn't be arsed to learn in school'. And as a result, the students who were segregated into 'lower classes' are suffering now in life because they were never given the opportunity to learn with everybody else.

Thankfully this is becoming a more socially accepted issue now. Like I said earlier, people can now go to university, or go to work or to school as there is a better understanding of this now and what can be put into place to help students/employees achieve their potential.

As a side note... make sure most of your literature is printed on yellow paper or pale blue paper as research has shown that this alleviates a lot of problems

I was always "smart" in school and got good grades but since coming to uni I have really struggled which is why i eventually went and got tested.

I am getting coloured overlays from the uni I think to help me with reading coursework and lecture notes. When typing things up in word I tend to change the background to a pale blue which i think helps.

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that affects the way in which an individual processes language, both visual and auditory. It has nothing to do with intelligence as it is limited to the part of the brain that deals with language learning. People are born with dyslexia and it is a life long difficulty so there is no ‘cure’ as such. The key is finding out the best way in which you can help your brain to process and organise information.

People with dyslexia learn language in a different way to non dyslexic people and success in reading, spelling etc depends on the way in which you have been taught and indeed the way in which you teach yourself.

I don’t know anything about your personal situation Heather but I am assuming that as you are at university, you must have picked up a few coping strategies over the years and the key is continuing to do this, as well as building these strategies with aspects of life that you are still struggling with.

You have said that you believe your difficulties with time keeping are associated with your dyslexia. This is because dyslexia affects the part of the brain that deals with your ability to plan and carry out tasks, therefore if you have a lot of things to do in a specific time, your brain can find it difficult to process the most logical order in which to do things and as a result how long it will take. Have you ever tried writing lists when you have a number of tasks to do and noting how long you think each part will take? You may also have found that your organizational skills and problem solving abilities are not as strong as non dyslexic people.

In general, breaking information down into small chunks can be very useful as it means your brain only has to process a small amount at a time.

Have you tried finding some internet forums for people with dyslexia? You may find it useful to speak to others in the same situation as you as you can share stories, coping strategies etc.

As for the people not speaking to you because of this, well I’d forget about them for the moment, you need to focus on yourself When you feel more confident with your dyslexia and feel that you have a grip on how this is affecting your day to day life, then you may decide to go back to these people and educate them or you may decide that they were really not that important to you in the first place.

Best of luck, I hope getting a diagnosis is helpful and that it means you will now be able to access services and support which was perhaps not available to you before.

I've tried making lists which helps a little but usually as I score one thing off the list I have to add 2 more which then starts to get me down a bit lol. t does help me with coursework deadlines though I have found.

Problem solving was actually my best thing in the test as I am really good with working things out I just struggle to put things into words when i have to write it down and have to reread things a lot to work out how to word it properly. I am good at solving problems verbally though. My organisational skills are pants though.

Jono you commented that my spelling and grammar on here are always good - that's down to rereading and editing posts a lot and having an inbuilt spell checker on my internet browser.

[Nik B.]

This is how I have my Backgrounds and stuff