The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #75436   Message #1325128
Posted By: Helen
12-Nov-04 - 08:24 PM
Thread Name: BS: Dyslexia
Subject: RE: BS: Dyslexia
I am dyslexic and as Bobert said, I have also worked out some tricks to help steer my brain in the right direction.

The first was to wear a ring on my left hand so that I could tell left from right quickly, and then my wristwatch took over that function.

A neat trick for remembering b's & d's is to write the word "bed" and see the word as a picture of a bed - bedhead, mattress, foot of the bed. Then it's easy to remember which way the letters face.

The best thing I have done is to go and get diagnosed for Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome for which I was prescribed Irlen lenses, which are mildly coloured lenses in my glasses, and for some reason that helps to stop the print from jiggling about on the page. For me the print has a little shadow-halo around each character and this is made a lot, lot worse by high contrast black on white letters. With high contrast it is a lot harder to stop my brain from picking up words from the print lines above and below the one I am reading, as Bobert also described.

For my computer I have adjusted the Appearance on the Control Panel (PC, Windows) so that the background colour of documents is a neutral beige shade so that the black print doesn't contrast so much and hurt my eyes.

I usually know if I have typed something incorrectly and go back and fix it because I have spent the majority of my life writing, reading, typing etc so it is automatic for me to proof read as I go.

I find it a very conscious experience using a typewriter or keyboard because I learned to touch type about 30 years ago but I still hit the wrong keys by hitting the key with the corresponding finger on the other hand, e.g. instead of an "s" (left hand, ring finger) I would hit an "l" (right hand, ring finger).

Other than that, yes, I do have a sense of humour about spelling, more so than a lot of the pedants, some of whom can appear to have little sense of humour about spelling sometimes. Spelling, as Tinker said, is a little flexible. I tend to make little jokes about it, which sometimes only amuse me, e.g. referring to my former profession as a "lie-bare'-i-an", rather than "librarian" or the "lie-berry" instead of the "library". It tickles my funny bone when pedants pull a cats-bum-mouth face and correct my pronunciation. ;-> Sorry!

And, as always, it is the spirit in which the joke is made which makes all the difference.

Helen