Regardless of what my 3rd-grade teacher said, I'm not stupid.
I'm Dyslexic
Tihs is waht I see wehn I raed. The wodrs look srtgnae and you hvae to wrok hadrer to mkae sesne of it all. But teh mroe you raed the eaesir it gets to unerdsatnd exatcly waht is wirrten. Vrey inretsetnig isn't it?
Dyslexia is different for everyone, my dad's issues are different than mine, and my son experiences yet other issues. These are mine:
Reading on a rollercoaster:
When I read, the words move on the page.It's like reading through an earthquake. I have to chase the words around the page and hope they stay still long enough for me to read them. It's exhausting.
It figured out that if I change my font color to something less contrasting than black on white the words stay still. Then I learned about colored eyeglasses. Now everything I see is rose-colored and I don't have to struggle with the words moving around the menu, a newspaper, or my favorite book. The Dyslexie font works great too.
My eyes don't know where to go:
When I read my eyes don't follow a pattern. They will go from this line to, well, almost anywhere on the page, two lines up or 3 lines down who knows? And since the words don't always make sense anyway, I might not even realize it.
Before I was diagnosed I had a tutor, Phoebe Lazarus. She encouraged me to read with a piece of paper under each line of text so I was able to stay on course. Another suggestion is to read aloud. According to www.Beating Dyslexia.com it helps get your brain and eyes working together.
I just don't get it:
When I read, things just don't make sense. I'm seeing the words but they aren't making sense, I read and re-read to try to understand what I'm seeing, but I still need to make assumptions. This is decoding, or the lack thereof.
Phoebe taught me to slow down when I don't understand something. She told me to break words and sentences into smaller pieces. Now, when I read a word I don't know I separate it into two or three letters groupings and look for clues. I break a sentence into its separate clauses and read them one at a time.
These issues, and others, have long-term effects. But Phoebe taught me one more important lesson. She taught me that I was okay, I was good, and I was definitely NOT STUPID. I'm so thankful she was in my life. I truly believe she was ahead of her time and she changed my life forever.
I pass along this support, and more, to my son. I hope that by putting these tips in place now he won't ever feel stupid, dumb, or lost and he will understand his worth as he grows into an amazing adult.
Remember, Dyslexics are teople poo. :)
ref: thanks to https://www.beatingdyslexia.com for the useful information.
PS: 40 years after working with Phoebe Lazarus I got searched for her and found her. I called her and we shared some tearful moments. After all that time, I was still able to describe her home, her techniques and shared with her the impression she left upon my heart. She spent a lifetime in education and I'm sure she touched the lives of everyone she met.
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