What it feels like to be dyslexic

(Liz Brooks, formerly Executive Director, DI)

"It is a lonely existence to be a child with a disability which no-one can see or understand, you exasperate your teachers, you disappoint your parents, and worst of all you know that you are not just stupid."

Susan Hampshire
Past President
The Dyslexia Institute.

Dyslexia Checklist

All ages

• Is s/he bright in some ways with a 'block' in others?
• Is there anyone else in the family with similar difficulties?
• Does s/he have difficulty carrying out three instructions in sequence?
• Was s/he late in learning to talk, or with speaking clearly?

Ages 7-11

• Does s/he have particular difficulty with reading or spelling?
• Does  s/he put figures or letters the wrong way e.g. 15 for 51, 6 for 9, b for d, was for saw?
• Does  s/he read a word then fail to recognise it further down the page?
• Does  s/he spell a word several different ways without recognising the correct version?
• Does  s/he have a poor concentration span for reading and writing?
• Does s/he have difficulty understanding time and tense?
• Does s/he confuse left and right?
• Does  s/he answer questions orally but have difficulty writing the answer?
• Is s/he unusually clumsy?
• Does s/he have trouble with sounds in words, e.g. poor sense of rhyme?

Ages 12 - adult

• Is  s/he sometimes inaccurate in reading?
• Is spelling poor?
• Does  s/he have difficulty taking notes or copying?
• Does  s/he have difficulty with planning and writing essays, letters or reports?

Some common problems

You may think:

• S/he may have difficulty in remembering a list of instructions.

   

• S/he may have problems getting thoughts together coherently for story or essay writing.

   

• S/he may have sequencing problems and may need to be taught strategies to cope/alternative ways of remembering.

S/he's lazy

• S/he may have difficulty in organising work and need specific teaching to help her/him.

   

• S/he may be able to answer the questions orally but can't write them down.

   

• The child may have found that the less s/he writes, the less trouble s/he gets into for making mistakes

S/he's not concentrating

• S/he may have difficulty in copying accurately. This is often because  s/he cannot remember chunks but needs to look at each letter, write it, then look at the board again, find the place, and so on...

S/he's careless

• S/he may have very poor handwriting as  s/he hasn't sufficient hand skills to control the pencil.

S/he's not checking work

• S/he may spell the same word several different ways if s/he doesn't have the visual memory to know what is right or the kinaesthetic memory for it to feel right as s/he is writing.

S/he doesn't look carefully

• S/he may have a visual memory deficiency and therefore experience difficulty when interpreting symbols.

S/he's being awkward / impossible on purpose

• S/he may be able to produce very good work one day and the next "trip up over every word". "Off days" are quite common and require extra encouragement and understanding.

Some common strengths

• S/he may be able to arrange the furniture in the classroom very effectively.

S/he's very imaginative and skilful with her/his hands

• S/he may be able to make the best models.

S/he's practical

• S/he may be able to work the computer before the others - even perhaps repair it. S/he may be able to start the car when others have failed.

S/he's mad on sport

• S/he may excel at individual sports.

S/he's got a fantastic imagination

• S/he may be able to tell wonderful stories if her/his long term memory is good.

General comments

The teacher needs to recognise that the dyslexic child in the classroom has a different way of learning and therefore needs a different way of teaching.

The main problems are:

• poor sequencing skills;

   

• poor auditory discrimination and memory;

   

• poor visual discrimination and memory;

   

• poor short term memory;
  
• poor self confidence.

Summary