I Am Dyslexic Starring Will Smith
Whoops, my mistake that’s I Am Legend. But Smith is in fact dyslexic, something I never knew until recently. Something else I never knew was that about 4% of the population are severely dyslexic and a further 6% suffer moderate to miner effects, that’s 1 in 10. What’s the point of this? Let me explain…
Last week I received some ‘helpful’ comments on this site from someone whose opinion I valued (and, I surpose, approval I wanted.) I mean, this was after I’d been over it with spellchecker and corrected the worst mistakes, so I must be bad right? Following these comments I was not only ready to stop writing this blog and delete everything I’d already written, but also sell my house and move to a small island off the coast of Scotland, in the hopes of being far enough away from civilisation so as not to infect anyone else with my illiteracy. Thankfully some good friends persuaded me out of this course of action (I say thankfully as it gets cold up there and I hate the cold) and instead to dig a bit deeper to find the root of the problem.
Dyslexia was first recognised by Parliament in the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 although it wasn’t until the 1993 Education Act that it was defined as a special educational need. Basically what this means is that if you were a kid going to school in the 70’s who suffered from severe dyslexia there was a chance you might get some kind of special attention. If on the other hand you only suffered a mild form, the chances were you would just be branded as a ‘bad speller.’ I was a kid going to school in the 70’s and I was a ‘bad speller.’
So am I saying I have dyslexia? No but I do have many of the ’signs’ -
- Do you find difficulty telling left from right? - I’ve always had trouble with this. I have to think, ‘which hand do I write with?’ in order to work it out (I’m left handed and there is also a higher chance of dyslexia in southpaws.) On bad days (and the good days/bad days thing is another sign) I have to think hard in order not to get ‘b’ and ‘d’ the right way round.
- Is map reading or finding your way to a strange place confusing? - A big tick on that one. It’s a family joke that I always get lost.
- Do you dislike reading aloud? - Yes.
- Do you take longer than you should to read a page of a book? - I’ve always been a slow reader.
- Do you find it difficult to remember the sense of what you have read? - Yes, particularly when it’s a dry piece of text full of information. Fiction is easier as there is a narrative to follow, although I still need to reread parts.
- Is your spelling poor? - Yes. Very.
- Do you get confused if you have to speak in public? - Yes
- When using the telephone, do you tend to get the numbers mixed up when you dial? - Yes, all the time.
- Do you find it difficult to say the months of the year backwards? - Yes.
- Did you find it hard to learn your multiplication tables at school? - As far as I can remember (and it’s been a while) the answer is yes, pretty hard.
- When writing cheques do you frequently find yourself making mistakes? - If I don’t concentrate hard, yes.
There are others I don’t suffer from but the one’s listed are enough to suggest I may have it. Why have I only discover it now? Well I hadn’t really written anything other than a few letters since leaving school until I started this blog a few weeks ago. So based on what I’ve found out so far from the internet and advice I’ve been given, I plan to get tested, I’m looking into the best way now. It’s not easy, while it’s a recognised disability try getting your GP to recommend you for tests. He can do it but only if it is affecting your health, for example causing undue stress. And the results could end up proving I’m just a bad speller, still there’s always that Scottish island (I’ll just have to get some thermal underwear.)
So, what if I do have it? Well I’m in good company - Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Salma Hayak and of course Mr Smith all have it. If I’d been born American I’d have a better chance at becoming President - Woodrow Wilson, Andrew Jackson, J.F.K., Lyndon Johnson, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and George W. (and his dad) were all ‘blessed’ with it.
But what of the printed word. Surely no one with this disability could pursue a career as a writer? Wrong - Hans Christian Anderson, Earnest Hemingway, Lewis Carroll, Agatha Christie, Mark Twain and Steven J. Cannell (creator of one of my favourite TV shows, The Rockford Files!)
Any chance of a cure? No, it’s genetic. Basically, your brain works differently from ‘normal’ people. On the plus side, there are sometimes high artistic and creative abilities to compensate (not always though.)
I know this is outside the usual scope of this site but it’s something I feel strongly about; even if it turns out I don’t have it. It’s easy to feel superior, I’ve done it myself on occasion, but that doesn’t make it right. It may be a natural first (and second and third for some) reaction to put someone down because you think you’re smarter than they are, that doesn’t mean you have to give in to it though.
Hopefully someone is getting something from this site (I know people are visiting, I’ve seen the stats) even if it’s only filling up a couple of minutes during their morning tea break. I may not be a literary genius but I don’t think that makes my opinions any less valid. Like someone great once said, ‘opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one’ (name that film!) Comments are always welcome even if you don’t agree with what I have to say. You can even tell me I should book that one-way ticket to Scotland if you want, although if you do I reserve the right to tell you to ‘fuk of’ in return (a little dyslexic humour there.)
Below is a picture of a chimp I drew for a friend (sketching is something else I’ve just started doing again, for the first time since leaving school twenty odd years ago) Does this show I have ‘higher artistic abilities?’ You tell me. But monkeys are cool (just ask my great-nephew) so who needs an excuse?
I’ve often pondered about whether I might be a touch dyslexic; but I’ve come to the conclusion that, sadly, I’m just a pisspoor speller and, despite, having some 30 plus years practice, I haven’t really got the patience, or temperament, of a really good proof reader.
Ironically, after spending my forumulative years in employment slaving over a hot galley, I can read both upside down and back to front like a bastard!
You’re far from a bad writer, BTW, Ian…
Comment by JohnH | August 18, 2006
Thanks for the kind words John. Your spelling may be poor but your use of the English language is always a joy (and inspiration) to read.
Anyway, I must be doing something right as I’ve just been accepted by Blogcritics (http://blogcritics.org/) Hopefully this will give my site and filmjournal.net wider exposure.
Comment by Ian W | August 20, 2006
It’s very refreshing to see someone actually admit that they can’t spell. It’s just too easy to play the dyslexic card. The modern trend is to look for some excuse to explain why we can’t do something, instead of working to improve it.
Comment by Stilicho | August 24, 2006
It’s easy to admit you have a disability? I don’t think so.
And are you saying someone who shows signs of dyslexia shouldn’t attempt to find out for sure? They should just try to improve there spelling? There is far more to it than just not being able to spell as I thought I made clear. And if they have dyslexia and can’t improve what effect will this have?
I’ll give you an example of something that happened to me not long before writing the piece you commented on. I was posting on a forum and I wrote ‘mine reviews in the usual place’ to direct people to this site’s weekly viewing log. Something seemed wrong with what I’d written but I couldn’t see what it was no matter how hard I concentrated. So, as I post more or less the same comment every week, I looked back at what I’d put the week before, ‘Mini reviews in the usual place’ was what I’d put then and what I’d intended to write again.
Why get it right one week and wrong the next? And not be able to see what was wrong? Is that just bad spelling? I don’t think so. FUCKING FRUSTRATING is what it is. I may not have dyslexia, I don’t know yet, but if I do finding out may alleviate some of that frustration. Isn’t that a good thing?
By the way, I’m still waiting to hear what your ‘superior’ top 5 films are.
Comment by Ian W | August 24, 2006
Do you know what’s really frustrating? People who leave responses without reading and understanding what they are commenting on.
Where in my comment did it say anything about me having a superior top 5? That one came from Hmurray : “This makes me laugh! There’s always one. ‘What, how in the hell does your top five not correlate with my, far superior, selection.’�, who also didn’t read it correctly.
Also, having a narrow view of film is not the same as being narrow minded.
So much for attempting to start an intelligent debate on the merits of the US “Blockbuster� vs The Cinema Of The Rest Of The World.
Comment by Stilicho | August 25, 2006
You may not have said you have a superior top 5 but you certainly implied it.
‘Lacking tolerance, breadth of view, or sympathy; petty.’
The deffinition of narrow minded provided by answers.com. So lacking a ‘breadth of view’ wouldn’t translate as having a narrow view? Think you’re wrong there Stilicho.
Comment by Ian W | August 25, 2006
It’s taken me a while to decide whether or not to comment on this post. But here I am.
On the one hand, I thought that writing about this was brave. It’s posts like this - deeply personal ones - that make it worth reading blogs. If everyone wrote superficial crap there’d be little point in reading any of it.
On the other, reading this made me a little angry. And I’ll try to explain why…
You clearly have a strong suspicion that you’re dyslexic. If you’re proven to actually be dyslexic tomorrow, and are officially inducted into Club Dyslexia, does that really change anything?
Part of blogging - if it’s going to be worthwhile - is to constantly attempt to refine your writing. They say “use it, or lose it� and that’s very true of writing. The more you do it, the better you get at it. I’m certainly not the greatest writer on the face of the planet, but I’m trying.
And I like to think I’ve improved during my time as a blogger. And, similarly, I’ll get better as time goes on. But I need to work at it. I need to read articles on how to write, read other people’s stuff, and focus on the things I do too often, or not often enough.
So far you’ve posted 7 articles in August and 9 articles in July. You haven’t been doing this long enough to expect to have conquered all of your literary gremlins. If someone offers criticism, take it. Focus it. Use it to improve what you’ve got. Regardless of how difficult it is to hear.
If you’re going to threaten to run to the hills every time someone says something bad, give up now. That sounds harsh but it’s true. Particularly if you’re serious about BlogCritics. You need to be thicker skinned, dude.
And if you are dyslexic, do you genuinely believe that it makes you disabled? Do you get a special parking space, and tax benefits? No. You get a label. Maybe you get a little peace of mind, and a comfortable wall to hide behind when you don’t fancy squaring up to the world.
You’re not ill. You don’t need surgery. You don’t have cancer, or diabetes, or epilepsy. You’re not deaf or blind. You’re not even caring for someone who has any of these things. You have a bit of trouble spelling, and you get lost from time to time. In the grand scheme of things: Big deal.
For what it’s worth: I don’t think you’re dyslexic. I’m reasonably certain you wouldn’t be writing to the standard that you are - or reading the amount of books that you do - if you really were. From time to time everyone struggles with certain things thanks to tiredness, lack of concentration or focus.
I’m focusing this entirely on your specific circumstances, not on dyslexia as a whole, but if I were you I wouldn’t bother getting tested. I’d just get on with it. You’ve made it this far without knowing, and you’ll make it further. Stick with it, focus, improve.
Comment by Dan | August 27, 2006
I recently watched a program on a family, where both the parents were deaf and the mother was only partially sighted. They had 2 children. I thought they were amazing to overcome their disabilities because they wanted children so much. They should be an inspiration to anyone who feels the need to moan about petty things.
Although I am sure dyslexia, (is that the right spelling? No pun intended), is considered very serious to those who have it, but as Dan said would you really feel that it made you disabled? I do not wish to offend anyone. I had friends at school who were dyslexic and I have only ever heard it referred to as a “learning disability�.
Do you not feel that perhaps there are more serious disabilities and illnesses? I.e. Cancer etc etc.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion; nobody believes that more than me!! But I think a little focus is needed here Ian.
Comment by Ruth | August 28, 2006
Dan thanks for raising some interesting points. I’ll take them one at a time –
‘You clearly have a strong suspicion that you’re dyslexic. If you’re proven to actually be dyslexic tomorrow, and are officially inducted into Club Dyslexia, does that really change anything?’
It depends on what you mean by change. Dyslexics don’t improve at my age (41) or at least that’s my understanding from what I’ve read. However, it will allow me to get on with more productive things than worrying about something I’m not going to change. If I’m a crap speller then I need to work on that, if I’m dyslexic then, while I still need to try, I also need to be aware that great improvement is unlikely. And I didn’t know there was a club, do you think they have a secret decoder ring?
‘If you’re going to threaten to run to the hills every time someone says something bad, give up now. That sounds harsh but it’s true. Particularly if you’re serious about BlogCritics. You need to be thicker skinned, dude.’
Very true, and I’m fully aware of that fact. In fact, I expected to get hammered on my first piece for Blogcritics (an Englishman criticising American TV on a site written and run by mostly Americans) and was pleasantly surprised by how well received it was.
‘And if you are dyslexic, do you genuinely believe that it makes you disabled? Do you get a special parking space, and tax benefits? No. You get a label. Maybe you get a little peace of mind, and a comfortable wall to hide behind when you don’t fancy squaring up to the world.’
I didn’t say it makes me disabled, the government did. Is it in the same league as being blind or not having the use of your legs? Of course not, that wasn’t my point, But if the government are going to recognise it as a disability then don’t they have an obligation to provide a test if there is a possibility you do have it? You mentioned all the things you don’t get but one thing you do get is help if it impacts on your work. Now it doesn’t affect my job at the moment (not to a large extent anyway) but who’s to say it wouldn’t if I went for a different position in the future? And I’d like to think its more piece of mind than having a wall to hide behind but you could be right.
‘For what it’s worth: I don’t think you’re dyslexic. I’m reasonably certain you wouldn’t be writing to the standard that you are - or reading the amount of books that you do - if you really were. From time to time everyone struggles with certain things thanks to tiredness, lack of concentration or focus.’
Dan I’m pretty sure some of the writers mentioned in the article wrote/write to a pretty high standard. Plus a spellchecker is a wonderful thing, it catches many mistakes (like the one I just made) that you never see. As for reading, I mentioned that it’s not easy for me but you’re right I do read a lot (if slowly) but this has little to do with enjoying reading and more with a love of story, be it in books, comics, movies…hell I even love story songs. Not all dyslexics have as much trouble with reading as writing (although many have more.)
Welcome Ruth thanks for your comment. How the truly disabled cope is indeed amazing and inspiring and, as I’ve already said, in no way compares to what dyslexics experience. As I explained to Dan, my point wasn’t that I’m disabled, it was pointing out the ridiculousness of a government act that recognises a disability but won’t allow everyone who shows signs to be tested.
Do I feel there are more serious disabilities and illnesses? Of course I do. I know someone who is dealing with just such an illness and facing it bravely (far braver than I would be) and is an inspiration to those around her. This piece was in no way meant to belittle what others go through.
Neither was it an attack on the person whose negative feedback inspired it. It is about my feelings on finding out, at 41 that I may be dyslexic, that my brain may not be wired the same as a normal persons and that it’s been like that my whole life. But if I do have it so what? I’m not sure it will really affect much in the long run and it will raise questions that don’t have an answer (like if it had been caught when I was at school how would it have affected my education?) I’m still looking into getting tested although I don’t know what I hope to achieve from it. I just hope I’m not looking for that metaphorical wall to hide behind that Dan referred to.
Comment by Ian W | August 28, 2006
Hi there am dyslexic. I had my test at Uni. It was hard and really made me understand why i hate reading, writing and spelling. My brain just cannot do it.
When I found out I broke down in tear’s as i recalled all the days of working after school to work on my grammer thinking I had mastered it but by the next day it was gone.
It has taken me a long time to be confident with myself as there is no cure it is part of who I am.
Comment by Zion | November 6, 2006
these days dyslexia is a gift- great one when you can’t spell your name or read a line in a book with a teacher improving your confidence and skill with superior teaching techniques like “your’e not trying”. I bet my son feels like all his birhdays have come at once- and the great thing is there is only six more years to get through.
All I know is I have a child that has worked hard at home and school for six years and cannot read or write a simple sentence, and to try and help him keep any self-esteem for him is all I feel able to do now.
IT feels like sink or just about doggy paddle
Comment by debs | September 11, 2007