Dyslexia

[WeirdChild]

Hello, I have never started a thread before and I am a bit nervous about doing it but i wanted to make this thread.

 

mika is very vocal about his dyslexia but I think it is a very misunderstood condition and I would like this thread to help people understand it. If you are dyslexic or have dyscalcula, irlens syndrome or Dyspraxia, please comment with your experiences. 

[WeirdChild]

Some symptoms of dyslexia in adults

• Poorly organised written work that lacks expression (for example, even though they may be very knowledgeable about a certain subject, they may have problems expressing that knowledge in writing)
• difficulty planning and writing essays, letters or reports 
• difficulties revising for examinations 
• trying to avoid reading and writing whenever possible 
• difficulty taking notes or copying 
• poor spelling 
• struggling to remember things such as a PIN or telephone number 
• struggling to meet deadlines

Discalcula is similar to dyslexia but has more to do with the organisation of numbers. People with dyscalcula often don’t get diagnosed because they assume their symptoms are dyslexia. These things can include difficulty telling the time and counting on their fingers.

[WeirdChild]

This is what Irlens is. I have glasses with green lenses to help with this. It mostly happens to people with autism (over half) but 15% of neurotypical people have it too. 

 

Reading Problems:

• Poor comprehension
• Misreads words
• Problems tracking from line to line
• Reads in dim light
• Skips words or lines
• Reads slowly or hesitantly
• Takes breaks
• Loses place
• Avoids reading

Discomfort:

• Strain and fatigue
• Tired or sleepy
• Headaches or nausea
• Fidgety or restless
• Eyes that hurt or become watery

Attention and Concentration Problems:

• Problems with concentration when reading and doing academic tasks
• Often people can appear to have other conditions, such as attention deficit disorder, and are given medication unnecessarily.

Writing Problems:

• Trouble copying
• Unequal spacing
• Unequal letter size
• Writing up or downhill
• Inconsistent spelling

Other Characteristics:

• Strain or fatigue from computer use
• Difficulty reading music
• Sloppy, careless math errors
• Misaligned numbers in columns
• Ineffective use of study time
• Lack of motivation
• Grades do not reflect the amount of effort

Depth Perception:

• Clumsiness
• Difficulty catching balls
• Difficulty judging distances
• Additional caution necessary while driving

Distortions:

• Words on the page lack clarity or stability; i.e., may appear to be blurry, moving, or disappear

Edited January 3, 2019 by WeirdChild

[silver]

8 minutes ago, WeirdChild said:

This is what Irlens is. I have glasses with green lenses to help with this. It mostly happens to people with autism (over half) but 15% of neurotypical people have it too. 

 

 

I've read about the use of different coloured lenses to help people with reading - I know one study tried  red lenses, blue lenses, and a mixture of both.  I believe they found one red lens and one blue lens seemed to help people with dyslexia.

[WeirdChild]

2 minutes ago, silver said:

 

I've read about the use of different coloured lenses to help people with reading - I know one study tried  red lenses, blue lenses, and a mixture of both.  I believe they found one red lens and one blue lens seemed to help people with dyslexia.

I haven’t heard about this. Didn’t Mika used to have glasses with yellow lenses? It’s probably true though, or as irlens is still a new diagnosis it could be related to irlens 

[silver]

I read it in a magazine article maybe 2 years or so ago

 

But I found it interesting because due to an unrelated medical condition, I had double vision for a while and noticed that my eyes didn't see colour in the same way - one eye saw things more blue-tinted, the other more pinkish. Now both eyes work together, I'm not aware of this effect.

[WeirdChild]

21 minutes ago, silver said:

I read it in a magazine article maybe 2 years or so ago

 

But I found it interesting because due to an unrelated medical condition, I had double vision for a while and noticed that my eyes didn't see colour in the same way - one eye saw things more blue-tinted, the other more pinkish. Now both eyes work together, I'm not aware of this effect.

 

Thay sounds like some form of colour blindness rather than dyslexia or irlens. Maybe one of your eyes wasn’t sending a clear message to your brain? That’s really interesting, I might research that effect.

[Loo]

My little brother had to read with these different coloured plates on his book, and it seemed to work. But he did not want to continue his sessions with the psychologist.
 Now he reads "normally" with a more mature brain. However, he remained above all an artist who did not have much of a foothold in the prosaic reality!

[silver]

On 1/4/2019 at 12:46 AM, WeirdChild said:

 

Thay sounds like some form of colour blindness rather than dyslexia or irlens. Maybe one of your eyes wasn’t sending a clear message to your brain? That’s really interesting, I might research that effect.

 

I thought it was quite interesting too - if I closed one eye and looked at something, then switched, I thought I was seeing the same colours.  It was only because I could see two images at once that I noticed the colour disparity.

 

But anyway, we digress from the topic.  My friend's son is dyslexic, but though he found school difficult, he's done quite well since he left.  Fortunately he had an employer who let him take his time reading manuals etc, and learning procedures (he was a firefighter).  He's now in the USA working as a medic, I believe.

 

Mika claimed to be dyslexic, but there is some doubt about this as he seems to have been able to read OK as a young child.  But if you see his handwriting there seems to be evidence of a problem with reading/writing/spelling.

[Loo]

18 minutes ago, silver said:

 

Mika claimed to be dyslexic, but there is some doubt about this as he seems to have been able to read OK as a young child.  But if you see his handwriting there seems to be evidence of a problem with reading/writing/spelling.

Dyslexia can occur after post-traumatic stress disorder, and he had many of its features.

[silver]

1 hour ago, Loo said:

Dyslexia can occur after post-traumatic stress disorder, and he had many of its features.

 

Oh, I didn't know that.  I thought it was a condition you were born with.

[WeirdChild]

I definitely see Mika as someone who is dyslexic. Dyslexia isn’t even just about spelling and reading and effects many parts of your life and it isn’t just the spelling he has difficulty with. For many people, their being dyslexic isn’t picked up on until they are older. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 15 although I had teachers shouting at me for the things I was worse at compared to other students. In my opinion, Mika is definitely dyslexic.

[Loo]

2 hours ago, silver said:

 

Oh, I didn't know that.  I thought it was a condition you were born with. 

Perhaps, that's why he knew how to read and play the piano before he was harassed and became mute.Even adults after post-traumatic stress can become dys(lexic, calculus or other).

Edited January 9, 2019 by Loo

[Menahyl]

I think he's definitely dyslexic. He did say he couldn't sight read music like his sisters could and had to figure out the notes on his own. And even Westminster only took him because of his music. But I don't think his was an extreme case. Bullying and dyslexia might have led to PTSD, not the other way round, I guess.

[Lalli]

I've read the whole conversation and I can share my experience

I'm a psychologist, I have a Master degree course in Specific Learning Disabilities. I work with kids from 8 to 18, to help them improve their abilities (reading, calculating, writing...) and help families with compensatory tools and dispensatory measures at school. 

SLD are not a consequence of trauma or PTSD. They are neurobiological disorders, from birth. That's different from mutism, which it could be a consequence of a traumatic event.

In my opinion, from what he has said, Mika is dyslexic and maybe he's also disortographic. Now he probably has found right strategies to avoid his difficulties in his job and in his everyday life as an adult brain matures, even if SLD are "for life". 

 

[Loo]

40 minutes ago, Lalli said:

I've read the whole conversation and I can share my experience

I'm a psychologist, I have a Master degree course in Specific Learning Disabilities. I work with kids from 8 to 18, to help them improve their abilities (reading, calculating, writing...) and help families with compensatory tools and dispensatory measures at school. 

SLD are not a consequence of trauma or PTSD. They are neurobiological disorders, from birth. That's different from mutism, which it could be a consequence of a traumatic event.

In my opinion, from what he has said, Mika is dyslexic and maybe he's also disortographic. Now he probably has found right strategies to avoid his difficulties in his job and in his everyday life as an adult brain matures, even if SLD are "for life". 

 

Thank you @Lalli  for your testimony. 
 

Working with adults, there are several theories that emerge. Either dyslexia causes post-traumatic stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder causes dyslexia (or Alexia).
This was realized by finding some cases of dyslexia among veterans or firefighters.
Alexia as well as Aphasia are sometimes a consequence of great stress.
 But work continues in this area.

 

http://dyslexia-research.com/page25.html

http://www.ibiblio.org/rcip/dyslexia.html

https://www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/1371/l-etat-de-stress-post-traumatique-n-est-pas-l-apanage-des-militaires

 

 

 

 

[Paoletta]

@WeirdChild  poor Mika

[Irem Aytepe]

@WeirdChild this is a very good idea to open this thread!  I didn't know so much thing about dyslexia. I knew just what is it and Mika has it. Thread gets help to me about that. I'm sure, anyone who does not know something about it, they will learn.

[Lalli]

2 hours ago, Loo said:

Thank you @Lalli  for your testimony. 
 

Working with adults, there are several theories that emerge. Either dyslexia causes post-traumatic stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder causes dyslexia (or Alexia).
This was realized by finding some cases of dyslexia among veterans or firefighters.
Alexia as well as Aphasia are sometimes a consequence of great stress.
 But work continues in this area.

 

http://dyslexia-research.com/page25.html

http://www.ibiblio.org/rcip/dyslexia.html

https://www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/1371/l-etat-de-stress-post-traumatique-n-est-pas-l-apanage-des-militaires

 

 

 

 

Thank you I'll read these articles. I've never heard about these research. 

[WeirdChild]

I really get what Mika says because when I was at my first primary school my teacher was horrible to me because my spelling and handwriting and reading was worse than some people in the year below me. She kept getting the students work and showing it to me next to my own so I could see how rubbish I was. This was when I was 6/7 years old so I don’t know what she was expecting anyway. I ended up being removed from that school and my parents paying thousands of pounds a year for me to go to private education. People didn’t realise that I was having great difficulties with dyslexia until I was 15 years old, they just thought the teacher was bullying me. 

 

In in my opinion, it’s not completely out of the question for Mika to not have been diagnosed or recognised as dyslexic until he was older because most people don’t recognise it at a young age. 

[Menahyl]

1 hour ago, WeirdChild said:

I really get what Mika says because when I was at my first primary school my teacher was horrible to me because my spelling and handwriting and reading was worse than some people in the year below me. She kept getting the students work and showing it to me next to my own so I could see how rubbish I was. This was when I was 6/7 years old so I don’t know what she was expecting anyway. I ended up being removed from that school and my parents paying thousands of pounds a year for me to go to private education. People didn’t realise that I was having great difficulties with dyslexia until I was 15 years old, they just thought the teacher was bullying me. 

 

In in my opinion, it’s not completely out of the question for Mika to not have been diagnosed or recognised as dyslexic until he was older because most people don’t recognise it at a young age. 

I am truly sorry you had to go through that. Anyone who has to go through that. Teachers can be so cruel sometimes. Unfortunately the world still lacks a major understanding about neurobiological and psychological disorders. It can be a very insensitive place.

 

I must thank you for starting this thread. We'll all learn something and hopefully it would positively impact people's lives who suffer from similar disabilities

Edited January 11, 2019 by Menahyl

[Loo]

16 hours ago, Lalli said:

Thank you I'll read these articles. I've never heard about these research. 

Tell me, do you have new methods to manage dyscalculia in Italy?
 I was discussing it last month with a colleague psychiatrist, and in France there is still not much to help people suffering from this disorder, especially adults.

[Lalli]

On 1/11/2019 at 1:09 PM, Loo said:

Tell me, do you have new methods to manage dyscalculia in Italy?
 I was discussing it last month with a colleague psychiatrist, and in France there is still not much to help people suffering from this disorder, especially adults.

I work with kids, so probably this isn't helpful with adults. Usually we use videogames for numeric facts (multiplication like 2x2, or sums like 5+5...), lines with numbers for consequences and teach them some strategies using schemes. They always have to use a calculator, but they can improve their automatic skills a little bit.

What's your job?