What’s It Like to Be Dyslexic? Why We Do What We Do

"It’s like I was trapped in a jail. I couldn’t – I couldn’t read." ~Ian, 4th Grade

As director of the 32° Masonic Learning Center in Peoria, I am often asked what it’s like to have dyslexia. While it is not difficult for me to define dyslexia—the National Institutes of Health have an oftcited definition—it is very difficult to describe what it’s like to have dyslexia. Misconceptions about the disorder abound, and for those of us who have always gotten along fine with our reading and writing skills, it’s hard to imagine what it’s like.
Some people assume that dyslexics see words or letters backwards when they substitute was for saw and b for d. Others mistake dyslexia for generalized developmental disorders, like mental retardation, and say unintentionally hurtful things. One well-meaning woman once told me about a middle aged man at her church who “still lived with his parents because he’s dyslexic.” When I asked her how she knew that he was dyslexic, she replied, “Oh, you can just tell by looking at him.”
Actually, dyslexics look like everyone else. Unlike other neurological or developmental disabilities, like Down’s Syndrome or severe autism, people with dyslexia don’t look different or behave in ways that betray their difficulties. All dyslexics are normally or even extremely intelligent, and all have areas in which they excel: some are athletes, others performers, artists, naturalists or born engineers.
It’s generally not until they are confronted with reading, spelling and writing tasks that their difficulties rise to the surface.
So what exactly are those difficulties like? Every so often, I receive an e-mail with mixed-up words, making some claims or other about how the brain works and what it’s like to be dyslexic. Google “dyslexia” or “what it’s like to be dyslexic” and you will find a host of websites, videos and blogs that offer some version of the experience. The following sentence was developed by a dyslexia educator to demonstrate what it might be like for an individual with dyslexia to read:

su chachilg wa yshom distur dance sin per ceg tiou couceg tiou aca bew id ac hieve went and dew o tion aldeh anior ei the er seg arate elyo rin cow din a tinon.

(Such a child may show disturbances in perception, cognition, academic achievement and emotional behavior either separately or in combination.)

Often, these kinds of examples focus on difficulty with reading, which again contributes to the misconception that dyslexia is a visual disorder. It’s not; it’s a neurological disorder, based in the parts of the brain that process language. Some dyslexics are average readers, but their spelling and writing skills lag far behind their peers and far behind their abilities to learn, reason and think. Because they are smart, their academic difficulties are compounded by feeling lost, confused and frustrated. Overall, I find it most helpful to let dyslexics tell us themselves what it’s like. In her book Reversals, dyslexic author Eileen Simpson describes the experience as “something wrong with my brain.” She writes, “I seemed to be like other children, but I was not like them.” Former student Ian, quoted above, likened dyslexia to a kind of personal prison. A keenly intelligent child, Ian explained the feelings of confinement and powerlessness that dyslexia left him with. As his skills improved through the Learning Center program, Ian reported, “It’s like I’m halfway out [of jail]. I’m almost ready to read.” Releasing children from their personal prisons: that’s why we do this.

Here are two opportunities for you to HELP!

October 17^th, 2009 walk and/or get pledges for the 32° Learning Center Walk.

Attend the 3rd Annual Learning Center GALA on Friday October 23^rd, 2009.