On being dyslexic: learning to learn

“52.18,” I read on the computer screen, and then began to write it on a piece of paper. As I wrote, I thought, “It was 52.18, wasn’t it?” I glanced back, nope, the number I was coping was 52.81.”

Being a dyslexic is challenging, as what I see at first instance can be a completely different word upon review. When typing, I will omit words or endings, which at the time of typing I had thought I had included. It is nearly impossible to edit whilst I am writing. As a writer, this makes me want to yell out to the world in frustration.

David Boies visiting with Matt Soper.
© 2013 UNH School of Law.

In the book, David and Goliath (2015 ed), by Malcom Gladwell, famed appellate lawyer David Boies, is quoted as saying, “My wife gave me an iPad a year and a half ago, which was my first

computer-like device, and one of the things that was interesting is that my attempt to spell many words is not close enough for spell-check to find the correct spelling[.] . . . I can’t tell you how many times I get the little message that says, ‘No spelling suggestions.’”(p107-08) Boies, who is dyslexic, told the aforementioned to illustrate his dyslexia and how it impacts his daily life. Boies is remarkable, as he found tools, strategies, and mechanisms for strengthening other aspects of he learns and retains information. Boies chose litigation, as it had the least reading within the profession of law and allowed him to use his memory and thinking stills to over compensate what is compensated for by dyslexia. Boies is one of the frequently sought lawyers to argue cases in front of the US Supreme Court.

Reading takes much longer than my cohorts. Recently on a flight with my girlfriend we were both reading similar books on the plane. As I was quite proud of making it to page 50 when we landed, I glanced over and realized she was nearly finished with her book of approximately 400 pages. Likewise, reading text in a movie / TV show is annoying – as the words disappears before you can read the entire message.

While dyslexia has the appearance of making me slow, my written works have been published in academic journals, established newspapers, and online blogs. To tackle my dyslexia I have had to become a tremendous listener. This is not to say I am an audio-learner. What is meant by developing listening skills is being able to listen, for example, to the audio of a Supreme Court debate, then memorizing, through memorializing key points on paper and later reviewing and repeating the those  points.

A trademark element of dyslexia is what appears to be poor short-term memory. Developing a strong long-term memory is the strategy for coping with dyslexia. To say dyslexia is ‘not having a good short-term memory’ is incorrect. It is more that the processing speed of the mind is what causes problems for taking-in and learning information on first impression. For example, a dyslexic has difficulty processing rapid auditory inputs, which makes remembering a phone number challenging without writing it down quickly.

A major problem for a dyslexic is the inability to revisualize the gestalt of the word. Dyseidetic dyslexia, also known as visual dyslexia, effects reading and spelling patterns by causing confusion with letter orientation, limits on sight vocabulary, losing place while reading because you don’t instantly recognize what you already read, omitting letters and words because they were not visually noticed, along with difficulty trying to sound out and spell irregular words. For me, it is irritating to sound out a word phonetically, only to have spell check tell you that you miss spelled it.

Foreign languages present a unique challenge for a dyslexic. During my Edinburgh years, I began studying French as mental relaxation from law. I found whilst I could hear the sounds and pronounce words correctly, even with the proper accent, the spelling proved horrific. I found I would think of a word, then drop of letters that were not pronounced when writing. French highlighted the difficulty of remembering phonetically regular and irregular letter combinations, along with difficulties analysing unknown words.

Dyslexia is more than just a passing term to dismiss laps of the memory. As a dyslexic, I find objectives hard in a world that doesn’t understand the challenges I face daily. Yet, seeing the world in a different light is far from a weakness.