Journey Into Dyslexia – The Documentary

 Other dyslexia related  No Responses »
May 302011
 

In an archive post at businessweek.com there is a report of a study of 102 successful entrepreneurs in the United States. The most striking co-incidence among them is that 35% of them said they were dyslexic. When you compare this to the ‘normal’ rate of 10%, that is incredible.

The study was conducted by Julie Logan in 2007 and also revealed that this same 35% were the most likely to own multiple companies, employ more staff and were more able to delegate tasks.

The success of these dyslexic entrepreneurs was accredited to the way they grew up with dyslexia and the accompanying problems. Finding it hard to read and absorb information, dyslexics quickly learn to seek the most vital information and learn it, they rely less on having to go back and read something again. The other skill required is to be able to trust others, and reliance on others is important when building a business.

There is now a new documentary being aired called “journey into Dyslexia” that profiles dyslexics from different backgrounds. It recounts their struggle through school and how they managed to compensate for their problems as adults. The aim is to look at people’s misperceptions of dyslexia and the implications it holds in the business world and outside of it.

The documentary has been made by successful filmmakers, Alan and Susan Raymond and has just been aired on HBO2 and will be available On Demand until June 5th.

IMHO, this is a remarkable and enlightening piece of work and illustrates nicely the difficulties that growing dyslexics have as children. They are almost forced into thinking along different lines and in developing alternative strategies to cope with their difficulties. It is likely this ability to develop and switch strategies is instrumental in their success in the business world.

You will find other reports of compensated dyslexics on this website. Just pop the term into the search box. For more on this documentary, visit the film maker’s website at http://videoverite.tv/pages/film-JID-about.html


What Happens To Dyslexic Children When They Grow Up?

 Other dyslexia related  No Responses »
May 102010
 

This short report really focuses on adults who now believe they may have dyslexia. If this is you, and you are, you obviously grew up with the deficit.

How you cope now, depends on the type of problem you had as a child. May be you found it difficult sounding out printed words, if reading out loud, you tended to pronounce certain words (e.g. yacht, bough) incorrectly, or maybe you had difficulty remembering what you have read for example.  Unless you have a severe dyslexia, as you go through your education, you will gradually develop strategies to help you cope. That is, things you can do you tend to rely on more. For example, if you have a difficulty in sounding out words, you will listen carefully when others say them and add them to your lexicon by memorising them. Adult developmental dyslexics are often referred to as compensated dyslexics when they have found ways to cope with their problem.

You may cope perfectly well as an adult using these strategies and no one would ever be aware. But you may realise there is a problem and want to check it out for sure.  You can look at your spellings and see if there is a pattern. Do you regularly spell words you hear as they sound (even “yacht” or”bough”) for example.

One thing that research has shown is that there is nearly always a reading speed deficit, even as a compensated dyslexia, as an adult the reading speed will be slower than normal. If you are going to test your reading speed yourself,  do not use a paragaph where you can pick up the context as this obviously helps you. Construct a 200 to 300 word paragraph that consists of random 3 letter words that do not form a sentence.

Such a sentence may be along the lines of, “dog, the, may, cat, say, the, big, and”. Read it silently to yourself with a stop watch and get a couple of other people to read it as well. See if your speed is slower.

At this point, it must be pointed out that you may not dyslexic at all. If you failed to learn to read properly at school because you had poor attendance, moved around a lot, didn’t bother, poor eyesight or hearing etc., you may just be a slow and ‘garden variety’ type of poor reader. Take the online dyslexia test today and give yourself a proper idea.

CLICK HERE to go there straight there now.

This short report really focuses on adults who now believe they may have dyslexia. If this is you, and you are, you obviously grew up with the deficit. How you cope now, depends on the type of problem you had as a child. May be you found it difficult sounding out printed words, if reading out loud, you tended to pronounce certain words (e.g. yacht, bough) incorrectly, or maybe you had difficulty remembering what you have read for example.  Unless you have a severe dyslexia, as you go through your education, you will gradually develop strategies to help you cope. That is, things you can do you tend to rely on more. For example, if you have a difficulty in sounding out words, you will listen carefully when others say them and add them to your lexicon by memorising them. Adult developmental dyslexics are often referred to as compensated dyslexics when they have found ways to cope with their problem. You may cope perfectly well as an adult using these strategies and no one would ever be aware. But you may realise there is a problem and want to check it out for sure.  You can look at your spellings and see if there is a pattern. Do you regularly spell words you hear as they sound (even “yacht” or”bough”) for example. One thing that research has shown is that there is nearly always a reading speed deficit, even as a compensated dyslexia, as an adult the reading speed will be slower than normal. If you are going to test your reading speed yourself,  do not use a paragaph where you can pick up the context as this obviously helps you. Construct a 200 to 300 word paragraph that consists of random 3 letter words that do not form a sentence. Such a sentence may be along the lines of, “dog, the, may, cat, say, the, big, and”. Read it silently to yourself with a stop watch and get a couple of other people to read it as well. See if your speed is slower. At this point, it must be pointed out that you may not dyslexic at all. If you failed to learn to read properly at school because you had poor attendance, moved around a lot, didn’t bother, poor eyesight or hearing etc., you may just be a slow and ‘garden variety’ type of poor reader. Take the online dyslexia test today and give yourself a proper idea. CLICK HERE to go there straight there now. " />

What is Dyslexia Screening?

 test for dyslexia  No Responses »
May 032010
 

Dyslexia Screening Test

Dyslexia screening is a method used to see whether you may have dyslexia. A positive dyslexia screening test may not mean you have dyslexia, just that there is a possibility you could have.

The fact that you looking for a dyslexia screening test indicates that you think you have a reading problem, but probably wish for some sort of confirmation before you take the step of approaching a professional body for a more formal assessment.

A dyslexia screening test will ask you to perform certain tasks to investigate what your particular problem is. These may involve rhyming tasks such as being asked to say what word rhymes with ‘cat’ from ‘fit’, ‘mat’ or ‘bar’ for example. You may be asked to spell spoken words and it may also surprise you by having number tasks as well, as this is often found alongside reading problems.

The word ‘dyslexia’ tends to be used to encompass all the different types of reading problems. But within the term, you must understand that there are different types of reading problems. These problems will show different symptoms in how you read.

Broadly speaking, it is possible you have more problems with words that do not follow the traditional spelling-to-sound rules, such as ‘steak’, but you can read made-up words such as ‘shulz’. Conversely, you may be fine with words such as ‘steak’, but are unable to process the made-up words. The reason for this discrepancy is widely debated within the academic world on various grounds, as are the different theories of how we read. A basic guide to reading theories will be the subject of another article as this may help people understand the deficit better.

It gets more complicated for adults as, having grown up with a reading deficit; they may have learnt to compensate for it in other ways.

Thankfully, dyslexia screening tests can be found online and will offer you useful advice. However, it is important to remember that should the test indicate possible dyslexia, an individual assessment will be far more specific. Whoever the professional is who tests you, they will also be able to suggest tasks that may help you cope better.

Taking an online dyslexia screening test is a good way to avoid feeling embarrassed before you need to! However, you should not feel that way, as the professionals you deal with are well aware of your feelings, the years you have spent trying to avoid reading out loud in public, the other difficulties you have had as well as the courage it takes to try and help yourself.

Be smart, and get those questions answered that have plagued you for years today. There are very few online tests of this nature, but our recommendation is ….. HERE and is endorsed by the British Dyslexia Institute. Take a look and decide for yourself and find out in the peace and seclusion of your own home.

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