Good morning
I looked at the 37 characteristics of dyslexia and I have about 25 of them which includes spelling and reading problems. I am unsure whether or not to seek advice, can anybody give me some recommendations on what to do? Most of my problems are leaving letters out of words, I spell checked this message so you could understand what I try to say. Not often do I transpose, but when I do it is usually the letter ‘t’ with another letter. This is why I doubt it could be dyslexia, as it only happens with the ‘t’, yet I have had tremendous difficulty with reading, including comprehension difficulty, and viewing the letters in the wrong order, or, very ocasionally, backwards or upside down. I wonder if anyone could perhaps give me some advice on this issue, as I am drawn both ways. It seems very unusual because this problem only arose when I entered A-Level in the UK, and I heard that although problems can suddenly ‘crop up’ they usually appear during middle school or the transition into the fourth form?
Please help me make sense of this, it is wholly confusing, as I have never heard of a case like this ever. Could someone please tell me what to do, shall I talk to someone about it?
Regards,
Tara
Re: Tremedous difficult decision - am I dyslexic?
Tara,
It’s certainly possible that you are dyslexic, and yes it can crop up at any point along the way, but is especially likely to do so when changing levels, as Sara pointed out. You probably have had means of compensating at lower levels, but as the intensity and demands increase, sometimes the compensations don’t work as well, and the system gets overwhelmed. The only way to know for sure what is getting in your way, and to what degree, is to get some testing. What’s called a neuropsychological evaluation is usually the most thorough, and will tell you a lot about your strengths as well as weaknesses, in addition to giving you some direction as to what to do about it.
If you some general info on assessment, treatment and research, please visit my website at www.angelfire.com/on2/thepuzzle and feel free to email if I can answer any specific questions!
Sharon
Have you struggled in school? It seems not from your post. It seems as if now, for the first time, you’re finding some things difficult.
Some of what you’re saying does sound like some of the signs of dyslexia. Many people have some of the signs. Some people go through their lives without those signs being any kind of a problem. Others find it a problem much younger. The problems can “crop up” at any time really but often come following a transition in school. A move into a higher grade where the demands are also higher.
What to do becomes the question. Sometimes people move back down into the former grade to give more time, sometimes they move “over” into a different program that requires less reading or writing. Sometimes they persevere but feel like they’re struggling while they pesevere.
It’s can never hurt to talk to someone when you’re feeling unsure and it sounds as if you might be.
Good luck.