Is dyslexia a mental illness?

snarkydaddy · Mar 01, 2014, 08:34 PM

Interesting article on a Yale dyslexia site

http://dyslexia.yale.edu/EDU_whatisdyslexia.html

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sewerrats · Mar 02, 2014, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Open Eyes

HBO offers a great Documentary on it. My daughter and I watched it and it was very moving for her as she does have it and did struggle in school.

Journey Into Dyslexia: Synopsis

This documentary is also based on a long study of dyslexia done by Yale. My daughter was involved in that study for many years. She began the study around age 6 and it helped me to understand where her challenges were, and how to help her.

Many people who struggle with it struggle with feeling they are not smart enough or good enough and often can get made fun of by their peers. My daughter dealt with that for years, sigh, peers can be mean. But, the truth is, often the person who has it can have a very high IQ, and in the study they noticed they tend to be more driven in spite of how they are challenged with learning.

As I mentioned, it has nothing to do with intelligence, the brain uses different areas when learning, which takes longer, but can actually have advantages. Because we now understand it better, students are often given more time to take tests because of how it can take the dyslexic brain a bit longer to read a question, understand the meaning of the question and then come up with an answer. That was a challenge when my daughter was in school because of how her peers made fun of her, she tended to not want special treatment or stand out by having more time than others when test taking.

Because my daughter was a part of that study, I was lucky because I had the paperwork to present to teachers and the school so she would not be punished for mis-spelling and the teachers would encourage her to be ok if she needed extra help or time. I was lucky because the paperwork I had to share with teachers discussed her challenged areas because not all dyslexics are the same. While math was a challenge for her, she grew to love it, and oddly enough she works in a job where she is always using numbers and math and she has designed programs to make certain calculations easier. Also, in spite of the challenge dyslexics have with reading, my daughter grew to love reading and reads a lot.

Our technology is very helpful to dyslexics because of spell check etc. now.

OE

spell check is great it tells you when your wrong, but don't tell you what letter to put ,you still have to come close or it wont work and dyslexic.s can be miles off ,I have just used it and changed 10 words wrong in this small post

sewerrats · Mar 02, 2014, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snarkydaddy

Interesting article on a Yale dyslexia site

What is Dyslexia * The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity

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the vid says we have trouble reading and reading big words not so, we well I can read other people post very well it writing them myself that the problem , letters like C and G has are many others . I thing I am putting say a G and put C ECT ECT.

Open Eyes · Mar 02, 2014, 02:35 PM

sewerrats, my daughter uses spell check all the time. My husband is horrible with spelling and needs to have me help him when he is making out bills or estimates for his customers.

I really think that it is important to catch it early and help a child that struggles when their brain is still growing and developing. I think it is harder later on to spend the time developing the skills that slowly make learning and achieving easier.

What was so incredibly moving for me when watching the documentary is how it brought my daughter to tears because for the first time she was hearing from others about how really hard it is to learn and try to keep up and how that challenges self esteem so much too.

Actually sewerrats, I can completely understand how you compensated, I saw my daughter do it too.

OE

snarkydaddy · Mar 03, 2014, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sewerrats

the vid says we have trouble reading and reading big words not so, we well I can read other people post very well it writing them myself that the problem , letters like C and G has are many others . I thing I am putting say a G and put C ECT ECT.

when I was at Eagle Hill, I had to walk out giant d' and b'. As well as p's and g's as part of the training I rec'd there. I also have a similar training with the teacher writing on my back with there finger so I could have an even more tactile association

sewerrats · Mar 03, 2014, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snarkydaddy

when I was at Eagle Hill, I had to walk out giant d' and b'. As well as p's and g's as part of the training I rec'd there. I also have a similar training with the teacher writing on my back with there finger so I could have an even more tactile association

The cruel BASTARDS , that's so wrong

Open Eyes · Mar 03, 2014, 03:43 PM

In my lifetime I have seen people who genuinely struggle be treated so badly, especially those who struggle with learning disabilities and really need to learn in a different way then others learn. It doesn't mean they are stupid at all either. It's always hard to hear about how different people where treated so badly by teachers who's very job is to help them learn and develop self esteem.

I saw what my daughter went through, she was such a good and sweet child too. I am so grateful that at that time I was able to have access to that Yale study that tested her and told me where her challenges were. It really helped me help her with her homework and make "sure" she got the right support. I even went to the college she attended and talked to her teachers there too. Well, she got so she didn't like that, yet our bargain was that I would no longer do that if she would make sure to do it for herself. She did, and that was an important part of her learning to be her own advocate.

It is nice to see that there is an increasing effort taking place to recognize the different learning challenges and have better programs to help with these challenges.

OE

happiedasiy · Mar 03, 2014, 05:11 PM

I saw what my daughter went through, she was such a good and sweet child too. I am so grateful that at that time I was able to have access to that Yale study that tested her and told me where her challenges were. It really helped me help her with her homework and make "sure" she got the right support. I even went to the college she attended and talked to her teachers there too.

Well, she got so she didn't like that, yet our bargain was that I would no longer do that if she would make sure to do it for herself. She did, and that was an important part of her learning to be her own advocate.

It is nice to see that there is an increasing effort taking place to recognize the different learning challenges and have better programs to help with these challenges.

Dear Open Eyes,

YOU always fight the good fight for your family especially your daughter.
I would have done the same things if my child had the same difficulties.
And she would have acted the same as your daughter did at the college level.

I would like to say all mothers' would but we know this is untrue.

The fact that you got your daughter to be her own advocate came from you!
I assume this brought a tear or two, Congratulations.

The only problem with spell check is that it gives you the answers and does not teach or point out how to correct. The last two generation are not learning english, grammar, or language skills.
Spell check/Auto correct/Texting/twitter are imo dumbing down our kids and young adults.

happiedasiy · Mar 03, 2014, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sewerrats

The cruel BASTARDS , that's so wrong

Dear sewerrats, I have an old program that has spell and grammar check. It points out spelling errors and gives You the option of respelling before giving you the correct answer.
With grammar errors, it points them out and gives suggestions how their is an active/passive voice, 1st & 2nd ect narrative.

I was non verbal as a child and had many other physical and mental obstacles to overcome. I applaud you in your efforts to continue learning and reward yourself for how far you have come.

I also had dxs as long as day is by age 4. My speech therapy was hampered by untreated multi ear infections that left me with some hearing loss.
I remember therapist writing letters on my back, but it wasn't done in a harsh way. Writing repetition at home was a form of punishment by parents for errors made in school.

Encouragement in connection with verbal/reading/writing therapies works better than a harsh dogmatic discipline and punishment.

There is no cure for dyslexia

Quote:

Originally Posted by sewerrats

The cruel BASTARDS , that's so wrong

Dear sewerrats, I have an old program that has spell and grammar check. It points out spelling errors and gives You the option of respelling before giving you the correct answer.
With grammar errors, it points them out and gives suggestions how their is an active/passive voice, 1st & 2nd ect... narrative.

I was non verbal as a child and had many other physical and mental obstacles to overcome. I applaud you in your efforts to continue learning and reward yourself for how far you have come.: hug:

I also had diagnosis's as long as day is by age 4. My speech therapy was hampered by untreated multi ear infections that left me with some hearing loss.
I remember therapist writing letters on my back, but it wasn't done in a harsh way. Writing repetition at home was a form of punishment by parents for errors made in school. This did not help and made things worse.

Encouragement in connection with verbal/reading/writing therapies works better than a harsh dogmatic discipline and punishment.

There is no cure for dyslexia, which is Not mental.

I feel that you have a strong desire to express yourself in the form of writing a letter, a memoir, a book or just to help people.
There are many tools available now that can help.

WE may never be 100%. Be kind to yourself, have self compassion and what's in your mind will make it to paper.

Sincerely,
Happiedasiy
If you would like to know more about me, pm me anytime.

venusss · Mar 04, 2014, 04:45 AM

Quote:

There is no cure for dyslexia, which is Not mental.

It can be actually compensated pretty well when caught on early.

sewerrats · Mar 04, 2014, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VenusHalley

It can be actually compensated pretty well when caught on early.

YOU don't have it, so please don't quote stupid web research , you told us 10 times already , your saying we are thick

venusss · Mar 04, 2014, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sewerrats

YOU don't have it, so please don't quote stupid web research , you told us 10 times already , your saying we are thick

I *do* have it. You're implying things that are not true.

My Czech is pretty attrocious if I don't pay atttention to my writting. I been taught how to make up for it... yet I kinda can't do without spellcheck. English I have pretty memorized, so I don't tend to do the your/you're or their/there/they're blunder, simply because I learned them as separate phrases. I tend to drop words though, but I blame it on my fast mind rather then LD.

I am not saying "you" are thick.

I said in one of my posts...

Quote:

And these have nothing to do with IQ.... or being or not being depressed.

Just because you didn't get the proper support with your LDs doesn't mean everybody is doomed by them. Pedagogics progressed since your youth.

snarkydaddy · Mar 04, 2014, 12:35 PM

here is an intersting wiki; history of dyslexia research. Yes indeed things have changed.

History of dyslexia research - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

JustZeek · Mar 05, 2014, 12:10 AM

My husband and I both have slight forms of dyslexia. His is more letter transposition and mine is letters and numbers as well as when I read out loud I transpose words. One of my good friends also has it but hers is full blown. She struggles now with basic spelling and she is 33. Luckily I have no problem reading what she writes.

What I am saying is from my experience, everyone who has it can have different symptoms and severities. I just had to spend time focusing on my learning style and work from there. It's always there and not something you can cure. But you can work with it and find your own strengths.

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