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


Posted by Lily at 10:12 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Find Out Now – Get A Test For Dyslexia Online

 test for dyslexia  No Responses »
Nov 132010

Dragon Speech To Text

If you have grown up with dyslexia, you know how difficult and isolating it can be. A test for dyslexia online may be the way forward if you have been keeping your worries to yourself for years, or simply do not want anyone to know. You can find information about such a test HERE.

As a child, being dyslexic can lead to frustration and feelings of low self-esteem that will stay with you into adulthood if you don’t get the right kind of support. Even if you do, you are likely to have grown up compensating in some way for any difficulties. I’m not talking here about the way you avoid reading in public, I’m talking about the cognitive processes we use to read the printed word.

There is more than one theory of how the brain processes letter strings and I do not believe any of them can totally answer all the different ways that dyslexics read real or made up words, or in how they treat specific types of words. I’m not going to go into the ins and outs of this, but suffice it to say it is the subject of a great deal of debate amongst cognitive psychologists that has led to a lot of conflicting research. IMHO, the root of all this conflicting information is based in individual differences and that dyslexia should not be treated as a single group, rather as a collection of sub-types within that group and each sub-type showing more pronounced difficulties in a specific area. This is why you may not fit into what you have read as a definition of dyslexia.

However, there are several unifying factors that the majority of dyslexics will exhibit. These include poor spelling, slow reading speeds that can lead to poor comprehension. Frequently dyslexics will have problems with the order of numbers and confuse things like phone numbers for example.

A basic thing you can do is (for example) when reading this short article; try changing the background colour to a pale colour to reduce the contrast of black on white. Try a pale cream, blue/grey or pink and see how it feels. Increase the size of the font and change it to a dark grey or dark blue. Play around and see what works best for you. Copy the text and paste into your word processing software as this will give you more options such as a changing the line spacing and changing the actual font to Verdana or Arial. Some speech to text software works better than others but they will also work in reverse to read for you. We recommend Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Home Edition (PC) for speech to text and  Voice Reader Home for text to speech.

Also, stay clear of bright lights that cause a glare on your screen or pages. Tone down the contrast on your monitor as well – on mine, I press ALT and FN together and the down arrow.

Posted by Jan at 11:23 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

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.

Posted by Lily at 12:31 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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