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RebelOne

(30,947 posts)
1. That is so, so wrong.
Sat Mar 2, 2013, 08:05 PM
Mar 2013

My son was dyslexic as a child. He saw some letters as if in a mirror. I had to take him to special classes to overcome it. He is now an adult and reads just fine.

applegrove

(118,008 posts)
11. Words get turned upside down because dyslexics look at things in the world from all angles...
Sun Mar 3, 2013, 09:21 PM
Mar 2013

Last edited Mon Mar 4, 2013, 12:18 AM - Edit history (1)

from various perspectives in order to get a 3D model. It works well for things, ideas or people even if it doesn't work well with some words and letters.

drynberg

(1,648 posts)
5. Excuse me, but all dyslxics are not alike...you see, they are individuals, y'know just like ...
Sat Mar 2, 2013, 10:15 PM
Mar 2013

"Regular People" And people can only think as fast as they talk (200 wpm)? WHAT?? This is almost funny, if it weren't a serious issue for millions. This should be taken off, of course I only taught learning disabled for 30 years...so whadda I know?

zeemike

(18,998 posts)
6. Well I believe you.
Sun Mar 3, 2013, 12:43 AM
Mar 2013

And I have one of those LD label....
And it was most pronounced in spelling....I can be typing along and come to a word that just stumps me as to how it is spelled....If I type it out and spell it wrong I can see that It is spelled wrong but will not have a clue how to spell it right.
It makes no sens I know, but that is how I am.
But I did not recognize myself in any of that.

onlyadream

(2,159 posts)
7. This video is correct
Sun Mar 3, 2013, 09:09 AM
Mar 2013

At least it correlates with my experience, having a dyslexic child, sister and husband. I also tutor dyslexic students, and they do look at a word as a picture, all at once. I teach them to decode left to right (as well as teaching every sound and rule in our language). These children can learn to read as well as any other.

Quixote1818

(28,903 posts)
9. My sister is severely dyslexic and she is an interior designer. She claims she can see an empty
Sun Mar 3, 2013, 06:10 PM
Mar 2013

room in 3D in her head, filled with furniture with little effort. Goes hand in hand with what this video is saying.

IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
17. Not Surprised
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 07:01 PM
Mar 2013

As I wrote in my long-winded essay, under the right conditions dyslexia can be a precious gift. I believe it also contributes to various forms of ESP and compatibility with other species. When I had horses, sometimes I'd stand between my two favorite broodmares with my arms across their withers, and it seemed like I could literally feel their spirits flowing through mine.

surrealAmerican

(11,339 posts)
10. The video does not make any sense.
Sun Mar 3, 2013, 06:55 PM
Mar 2013

Non-dyslexic people do not think solely in words. Every person who understands English will visualize an actual tree on hearing the word - that is not a skill you lose when you learn to read.

Quixote1818

(28,903 posts)
12. The video said exactly what you just said if you listen closely.
Sun Mar 3, 2013, 11:45 PM
Mar 2013

Snip> "People think more or less with both methods. Dyslexics usually think non-verbally but more in 3D". She is suggesting most people who are not dyslexic use both methods of thinking, verbally and non-verbally which would include visual thinking but Dyslexics DON'T use both methods as much, however when they think in pictures it's more in 3D than 2D.

surrealAmerican

(11,339 posts)
13. ... but then she goes on to suggest ...
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 12:03 AM
Mar 2013

... that only dyslexics actually visualize a in three dimensions, which is nonsense.

She doesn't really make much of case here when it comes to the relationship between spoken and written language interpretation abilities. Is she trying to say that people who are dyslexic are unable to understand spoken language in the same way as those who aren't dyslexic? It sounds that way to me, but that assertion seems pretty dubious.

Quixote1818

(28,903 posts)
14. You make a good point. As with anything in science things are looked at in probabilities
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 01:59 AM
Mar 2013

The narration could be a little more clear that these kinds of thinking can overlap in Dyslexics and people who are not Dyslexic but I suspect at a higher probability Dyslexics do tend to think more non-verbally and probably the more dyslexic the more non-verbally they tend to think. There are probably lots of people who can think both ways but they won't be diagnosed with dyslexia because they can go back and forth and would not have problems with spelling and reading. That would be a good research project. To test 3D thinking in people who are not Dyslexic.

stlsaxman

(9,236 posts)
15. i discovered my own lydexia from dialing phone numbers...
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 07:38 AM
Mar 2013

as a kid, and to this day, i, without exception, must actually verbalize a telephone number as i read it or i will dial an "inverted" version.

though i have little problem with reading words, i find myself "verbalizing" sentences in my voice, or, if i know the voice of the author, theirs. i prefer audiobooks to reading in any case, not because i see words inside out but because i seem to be more hearing oriented...

I don't get this "3 dimensional" aspect they're referring to. i can comprehend the written word just fine. but, put a string of numbers together and, oh boy- fuggitaboutit!

IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
16. OK
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 06:34 PM
Mar 2013

After watching the entire little video and reading every response ahead of mine, I'd like to toss my two cents in the pot.

The video might be spot on in many respects, and I certainly enjoyed it. But I think most of the apparent misconception it provokes is due to extreme brevity. They picked a huge subject and only threw a little (some mis-)information at it. What can we expect under such limitations. It was foolish for them to think they could begin to explain the universe in a few short minutes.

Although I was dyslexic before most people ever heard of the condition, with the luck of the Irish I could easily access both sides of my brain, together or separately. For the moment let's dodge the matter of depth. We'll discuss that later if you can corner me somewhere. Good luck if you try.

Anyway, my heart breaks for people stuck on one side of the divide or the other. Someone in the family was always reading to me, so I knew how before first grade. It wasn't until we got to printing that I discovered a brick wall. For some reason cursive went well, but at almost 68 I still can't print legibly. True, I do still read slower than some people; but I believe that aids comprehension and retention, and a zebra could hide its stripes easier than I could my love of words.

It turned out to be a fairly easy condition - in my case not really a disability - to hide because I was forced to find creative ways to cope. There are many dyslexics who feel they were given a great gift to be able to see the world in so many ways. I remember how it stunned me to learn that not everyone could play an entire symphony in their head, for instance. None of this made me any smarter, just more versatile than some people.

By far most trouble came from the outside. (Spoiler alert! Long story coming!) For instance, I always read financial periodicals and it was plain as day when the housing bubble loomed over us. That's the main reason I decided to sell when the rate of increase slowed, well before it peaked. That meant leaving for retirement a little earlier than otherwise advisable, but I didn't want to get stuck in place and wind up underwater either. So I sold when most people's eyes were still glazed over. They're now the ones who can never afford to retire.

That landed me here, trying to eke out a living on the profits for over 3 years until I could really retire. So toward the end of that period I somehow managed to slip into a little part time job at a state office. No problem there because I didn't intend to stay too long. But when the main manager failed to convert me to her church, she got real nasty. They were still using an antiquated computer program in DOS, with reams of convoluted printed instructions.

Anyway, though my trainer said I was learning at a good clip, I decided to go one better. On my own time I pored over the manual and reduced it to a nice tiny graph that I could tape to the bottom of the monitor and keep my place in the program's ridiculous DOS thicket. The trainer not only verified the graph's accuracy but said I'd mastered the system (more like 'broke the code') faster than anyone she'd ever seen. I love her to this day.

The stinky boss, however, started filching my tiny graph when my back was turned like the sneaky stinky coward she is. Finally I started removing it myself when I left the desk for a second. Then she openly forbade its use. So each morning I inked it on my right palm and kept it out of her sight. When she caught me at that finally, all hell broke loose. She said she had written the program herself (that figures, I thought) and that it takes anybody at least a year to learn it. (What's wrong with this picture, I thought, having been there only 2 months) When I finally said well, I'm dyslexic and can follow the graph easier, she had no freakin' idea in 2007 what dyslexia meant. I told her it merely meant that my brain was wired a little different from hers.

After showing her up by cracking the ridiculous code she was so proud of in a few days' effort, I guess that wasn't the most politic thing to say to her. She almost screamed, "I NEVER WOULD'VE HIRED YOU IF I'D KNOW YOU WERE DEFECTIVE!"

That's pretty much where we parted company because I called her a stupid B and walked out. Two months of her was more than I could stand. For a few weeks everyone I ran into from the office high-fived me. Damn, it felt good.

So no, dyslexics are not necessarily less intelligent than constipated single-plane people. And yes, many of us do get a lot of gaff from ignorant and vicious idiots. Sadly not all are equipped to handle the garbage thrown our way. Those of us who can and do eventually kick back are labeled 'difficult' at best. And I'm so dumb I wouldn't trade places with anyone else in the world.



Quixote1818

(28,903 posts)
18. The fact that many of the most brilliant people in history tend to skew toward being Dyslexic
Tue Mar 5, 2013, 02:57 AM
Mar 2013

is threatening to a lot of people who got good grades and liked to hold that over the people who struggled in school many who were Dyslexic. They may not have rubbed it in their face but many did feel superior and would never have given that up. So when now informed that Dyslexics may actually be more intelligent than others who excel in more traditional ways of teaching this pushes them off there pedestal and they don't like it. They were the top dog in school and it's hard to see as Bob Dylan once put it "The slow one now will later be fast" start to unfold. I sense this video is also threatening to traditional learners. When you are a straight A student but then you see a Dyslexic who was way behind you suddenly a brilliant entrepreneur or writer or architect, thats like a punch in the gut. You're no longer the "special" one that got all the attention in school. The "dumb" kids are passing you up.

IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
19. Thanks
Tue Mar 5, 2013, 05:35 PM
Mar 2013

You're a good shrink.

During my varied career years, I could've bought and sold that woman a dozen times over, and I'm sure she was for sale. I'd tell you at least her first name, but that's hazy with me even a short few years later. I tried to push her out of my head as much as possible and when she intrudes I tend to call her "Horseface" because she was ugly as sin on top of it.

But as 'they' say, living well is the best revenge. For me that means freedom of association even if it results in less money. Most of my pleasures at this age are free anyway. Or nearly so. I've got to send DU some $ next month, because it's become such a wonderful part of my day that I really want to chip in. The library has a permanent sale of culled books, and often they put out some from the early 1900's. Just my taste. The current events of that day are history now, and I really prefer my history that way. It shows more about the times.

Of course that's not always palatable. I read one account of the Civil War by Jeb Stuart's nephew, written somewhere in the late 1890's I think. He told about the recapture of one of Jeb's slaves who'd escaped to Union lines, and said the poor bleeper was so glad to see his white folks that Jeb didn't have the heart to whip him. Southern chivalry, right?

Lest anyone misunderstand, as a fan of Matthew Brady I do have a small print of his famous portrait of Robert E. Lee - but it hangs upside down between large portraits of Lincoln and Obama facing each other. To me it makes the point, and that's the point.

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