• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Dyslexia

Paul C. Anagnostopoulos said:
I presume that's not just because they take off points for bad handwriting, right? It's because her handwriting is so bad the teachers can't read it, right?

If I'm right, then ask them to provide a scribe for handwriting-intensive tests.

~~ Paul
Click to expand...

Things spelled wrong, difficulty finishing in-class writing without a computer, etc.

Basically, when writing thigns down, she slows down from her usual speed by some gigantic factor.
 
jj said:
And I remember in school when they told me "hold up your hands with the thumbs out, your left hand is the one that makes the 'l'".
Click to expand...

I remember that. I remember thinking, oh, great...now I have to remember which way the "L" goes to remember which one's my left!

With me, though, it was only the concept of right/left that got me, not the actual direction. So, for example, I could always remember the way you turn at an intersection to go somewhere, but I would always tell people, "And then you turn right...no, left...no, wait..." I knew which way to turn, and could point to it, but figuring out left and right has always been a problem for me.
 
shanek said:
I remember that. I remember thinking, oh, great...now I have to remember which way the "L" goes to remember which one's my left!

With me, though, it was only the concept of right/left that got me, not the actual direction. So, for example, I could always remember the way you turn at an intersection to go somewhere, but I would always tell people, "And then you turn right...no, left...no, wait..." I knew which way to turn, and could point to it, but figuring out left and right has always been a problem for me.
Click to expand...

Yep. I draw a map, it will come out just fine, and in general I navigate and draw maps a great bloody lot better than most anyone. Just don't ask me if the turn "that way" is "left" or "right". Look where I point. :)

I got sent to the principle's office for "not listening" when my 4th grade teacher told me the idiot 'L' thing. I asked her "which L", she asked me which was "left", I got it wrong, and she screamed at me and sent me to the office.

Sheesh.
 
I am the only non-dyslexic in my immediate family. My mother was essentially illiterate and was treated as "dumb" during her school career. She was in art school when she met, married my father, and had me.

They tell me I started reading at about eighteen months. They would get a new book and she would sit down to read to me and I would correct her. She was so embarressed that she stopped reading to me and made my father do it.

After a while, she realized that was ridiculous and sat down and taught herself how to read. (Her personal preference, which she's taught to me, is to turn the book upside down.)

The hag then spent the next twenty years raiding my bookcases.

I know that hers causes problems when it comes to left/right. This has been slightly passed on to me when it comes to gesturing or giving directions, since I'm not used to saying, "left," or, "right." I would say, "your side," or, "my side," or point and say, "over there."

My father's and my sister's is lighter. Neither of them have ever actually talked to me about it. My sister is still embarressed by it and my dad's a flake. With my mother, she clearly credits me with having helped her with this (you know how much she loves the story I told? *sigh*) so she's more willing to talk about what it's like and such things.

jj, my sister had a similar experience. I don't think it helped her that when I had gone through the school system, I stopped doing work and just started coasting because... well a bunch of reasons. Even after my mother went to an outside source and had her tested, they still sent her to a behavoirist.

Mom had her transferred out after a big fight.
 
Has anyone ever seen any research on this "left/right" problem. I've mentioned it here in the past but it is certainly prevalent in my family. Nearly all my cousins on my maternal side have the problem, no instinct of what is left or right, it's all "the hand you write with" or "I meant the other left".
 
kittynh said:
One thing they brought up is "what if the other parents also want their kids to take their tests with help?" Sort of, if they find out she got an A plus, they'll ALL want academic support! Huh? The whole point is that if it WORKS, then you have to take it away...
(...)
It wouldn't have anything to do with her private tutor I pay for, or the fact that she covered all this material last year in MIddle School.
Click to expand...
It has everything to do with the fact that education in our part of the world is competition: (A plus, C minus etc.). If it weren't, other parents wouldn't feel threatened just because somebody's child got better grades than their own. And parents of dyslectic children would only have to worry about dyslexia, about teaching their children to read - not about the competitive disadvantage of dyslexia.

Edited to add:
What I wanted to say was: "... just because somebody's child was better at reading than their own." The grades are the instrument of competition.
 
Last edited:
I've always had minor dyslexia, but I've mostly managed to get over it. The only leftover I have is an unusually high tendency to re-arrange 4 or 5 digit numbers, so phone numbers and zip codes give me some problems. And, of course, I had to get a job where I work with numbers all the time. Hehe.

I didn't get over the lack of left-right distinction until I was around ten years old. I would always reverse my letters. Caused a lot of problems with lower case b's and d's especially.

I'm not sure why I just suddenly figured it out though, but it seems like it happened over one summer. I just suddenly 'got it' going into fifth grade.
 
A lot of people do just "get it". The thought is your brain decides to find another way to do it, or another part of your brain takes it over.

I'm not worried about Kitten2 in the real world. The girl knows how to WORK. She does more work than the other kids. She had to do a project for a class (mainstream). She built a copy of Hatshepsuts oblisk. 80% of the kids didn't do anything. Period. The project was supposed to be done on your own time over the course of a month. She worked on this thing everynight. It's a work of art. (mind you, it's smaller than the real one, but pretty darn BIG). She also had a detailed written report about the history of the King/Queen. She used Dragonspeak to "write" it, and I read all the research while she took notes in her tape recorder.

But....I recently saw a show on tv about twin boys that live at a hotel (it's on the Disney channel). They showed one of the boys faking dyslexia so he could "get out of work". He wouldn't do his homework joking, "well, I'll just tell my teacher I tried my best!" They totally bought the belief that kids with LD are asked to do easier work and get a break on work required. Right....thanks Disney!

You do not want to be parent at a school board meeting where the school board claims that the budget is all shot to heck because of the LD kids. Fun fun fun...

And yet I wonder why other parents say to me, "Well, she seems smart, are you sure she should be labelled LD?" hey, she is smart!
 
I'm the same. Left and right confuse me. I have to navigate by landmarks, as I can't handle signs very well. Dance class has helped although I get the 'lead with the OTHER left!' now and then. :D
 
shanek said:
I remember that. I remember thinking, oh, great...now I have to remember which way the "L" goes to remember which one's my left!

With me, though, it was only the concept of right/left that got me, not the actual direction. So, for example, I could always remember the way you turn at an intersection to go somewhere, but I would always tell people, "And then you turn right...no, left...no, wait..." I knew which way to turn, and could point to it, but figuring out left and right has always been a problem for me.
Click to expand...

You must be a real horror in traffic.
 
jj said:
Why? He's like me in this regard, he knows which way to turn, it's the words "left' and 'right" that create problems.
Click to expand...
Exactly.

0001-0406-0814-1230_TN.jpg
 
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos said:
Zep, I have some trouble with left and right, too. I remember left is first in alphabetical order, and the words are placed on the page in alphabetical order, so left will be first and right second. Since we read from left to right, that works.

~~ Paul
Click to expand...
I can get it correct - I have not forgotten left or right. I just need to dredge it up from deep archive each time...
 
Heh! We need an OD (Dyslexics Only) party at TAM4... Maybe at a Japanese restaurant?? ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom