Living with dyslexia


Dyslexia is a life-long conditionIn the book, An Introduction to Dyslexia for Parents and Professionals, Hultquist states that the neurological difference in a person with dyslexia can mean that a person can have other problems aside from reading and spelling words correctly.  Hulquist lists other potential problems such as " reading comprehension, listening, speaking, writing, math, storing information in memory, getting information out of memory, and doing things quickly" (p 14). 

Each person with dyslexia has a unique set of issues and skills which they have to learn manage.  In the videos below two people who have dyslexia talk about their experiences with living with this condition.  The first video is of Orlando Bloom, a successful actor, talking about his experience of dyslexia at the Child Mind Institute conference.  The second video is part 1 of a 4 part BBC documentary called Don't call me stupid, where a British soap-actress undergoes diagnostic tests for dyslexia, receives multi-sensory learning strategy instruction and talks about her experiences with having dyslexia.
The Australian Dyslexia Association (ADA)  draws attention to the fact that research has indicated that we should be wary about automatically assuming that the difficulties associated with dyslexia are deficits. Some of the cognitive differences that dyslexic individuals display may actually confer advantages for some kinds of thinking or encourage them to find different paths to learning:

The ADA lists the following as some of the strengths that individuals with dyslexia may display:
  • Inquiring mind
  • Problem Solving
  • Comprehending new ideas
  • Generating ideas
  • Analytic thinking
  • Creative thinking
  • 3-D construction
  • Finding different strategies
  • Seeing the big picture
  • Insightful thinking