Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects 20% of the population. I am a 26 year old college student with this learning disability and iv learned a lot about the different symptoms over the years. By using different tips and tricks your life doesn’t have to be defined by your disability.

• Dyslexia Features
• Tips and Tricks
• Success Stories
• Are you Dyslexic?

What Does Dyslexia Look Like?

From the physical appearance, you wouldn’t be able to tell if someone has dyslexia. There are no physical indicators of the disability. Words letters and numbers come up backwards and reversed when trying to read something. People with this learning disability might have trouble spelling and often write letters and numbers backwards or reversed. Some dyslexia symptoms would be when reading aloud they will probably read slower than most to organize the words in their head to make sense. Iv had this problem my whole life. When I was in elementary school I failed every spelling test, to this day my spelling is very poor. I am lucky to have spell check on my phone and computer, but very often I spell a word so incorrect that even spell check won’t recognize it. My biggest fear in school was reading in front of the class. It wasn’t that I was scared of public speaking, it was that reading was very hard for me. Letters appear backwards and out of order so while reading, my sentences wouldn’t make sense.

Dyslexia Tips and Tricks

Dyslexia symptoms varies, some have it more sever than others and some might only have a few of the signs. If you’re in middle school or well into your career there is technology to help make life a little easier.

The first being “Easy Spelling Aide” this app allows you to say the word that you don’t know how to spell, then the app will show you how to spell it. Another easy tip is to make the size of your fonts bigger. This allows you to see each word and letter better and have less of a problem reversing the letters. This can easily be done on your phone, computer or anywhere else you read. I always make my fonts bigger when typing a paper so that I can see it better and its easier for me to go back and read it.

Having trouble concentrating is another sign of dyslexia. Taking a test in another room so your not distracted by other students, playing soft music so other noises don’t bother you and even wearing noise canceling head phones can all help to make sure you keep your concentration. Try experimenting with both and see which works best for you. When I was in grammar school I was pulled out of the classroom when ever we would take a test. I was put into a separate room with only a teacher so that the other kids wouldn’t distract me. Taking a test and hearing other kids tap their pencil, hum or even whistle would element my concentration. By the time I was refocused time was up and my test unfinished.

Since spelling is one of the hardest things to do with dyslexia spell check is often not enough. Sometimes I spell a word so incorrect that even spell check doesn’t know what it is. That’s where the app “Ghotit Real Writer” comes in. This app is aware that the words coming in are going to be far from what they are suppose to be. The technology in the app gives you options for the word you’re trying to spell and helps you with grammar. This is one of the dyslexia symptoms that effects me the most. Even at 26 years old spelling is one of my biggest struggles. This app really helps when I phonetically spell a word and it recognizes what I am trying to spell.

Dyslexia Success Stories

Sometimes dyslexia can feel defeating and overwhelming. Falling behind in school and not being at the same academic level as your peers can really take a toll. But, there are many successful people who have dyslexia who have made it into something great and have embraced it.

Whoopi Goldberg is a comedian, actress and talk show host that has dyslexia. She explains that “It was nice to know I wasn’t just lazy and that I didn’t have to explain to people anymore that it wasn’t that I didn’t want to [read], it’s just that I was having a hard time,” Goldberg has won numerous awards including Emmys, Tony’s, Golden Globes and many more. She explains her dyslexia symptoms by saying “I think the advantage is my brain sees and puts information in my head differently, sometimes more interestingly than I think the way everyone else does,”

Albert Einstein, one of the worlds most famous physicist suffered with dyslexia. Although he was gifted in science and geometry he struggled with speech and verbal development. He went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics and became one of the greatest physicist of all time.

Lastly, Steve Jobs the founder of Apple has dyslexia. He had difficulty reading and spelling but was very gifted in technology and creativity.

Do You Have Dyslexia?

There is a difference between having trouble reading and having Dyslexia. One symptom of dyslexia is learning to talk late. Normally, kids start forming words around 12 months. When a child has Dyslexia they may not start forming words till as late as three or four years old.

When you were in school and had to read, did you often find that you couldn’t remember what you just read? That is a sign of the learning disability. Reading a paragraph but focusing so hard on the words you read that you couldn’t remember what the words were saying.

Having spelling problems when your in school is common, but when you have trouble spelling when your an adult, it might mean something. Having spell check is helpful, but have you ever misspelled a word so off that spell check cant even find it? This is a sign of dyslexia.

So what’s it really like? Try reading the paragraph below. Letters backwards, in the wrong order, switching order. Did it take you longer to read it because you had to focus so hard on the words? Do you remember what the paragraph even said? This is what dyslexic people see when they read.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dyslexia