Dyslexic

Mike Horne .

I teach part time courses for adults for a University Foundation Award (it used to be known as Adult Education) and am also a part time dyslexia tutor for the Disabilities unit both at the University of Hull.

Probably to most people it is considered to be a form of illiteracy, an excuse for bad spelling or the subject of anagram-like jokes ("dyslexia lures K O!"). A search of the World Wide Web reveals that there is no single definition of dyslexia and no such thing as a typical dyslexic person. The word itself comes from the ancient Greek - meaning "difficulty with words".

"The dyslexic brain is different from ordinary brains. Studies have shown differences in anatomy, organisation and functioning of the dyslexic brain as compared to the non-dyslexic brain. Some people suggest that dyslexic people tend to be more 'right brain thinkers'. The right hemisphere of the brain is associated with lateral, creative and visual thought processing....These neurological differences have the effect of giving the person a particular way of thinking and learning." These brain differences mean that the dyslexic person has difficulties with - short term memory, processing sounds, motor skills and words.

"...The majority scientific view at the present time [is] that dyslexia is a neurological condition, usually inherited, which affects mainly those functions of the brain dealing with the processing of phonological information. The result is that mapping the processing of phonological codes (sound information) on to graphical and lexical codes (information on the appearance of letters and words) is fuzzy and poorly specified, and the memory storage and retrieval of such information is inefficient."

Or to put it another way - it is different arrangement of the brain, which can cause periodic problems with reading, writing, spelling, communication, learning or short term memory. Dyslexia manifests itself in different ways in different people and at different times. It affects up to 10 percent of the population and occurrence, is not limited to any racial or social groups. It may be worse if the dyslexic is under stress or hurried. There may be secondary problems of lack of confidence or low self-esteem due to undiagnosed dyslexia. It is often hereditary and may be associated with left-handedness, dyspraxia, asthma and eczema.

Dyslexia is not the same as illiteracy.

Effectively being dyslexic means that :-

• I am prone to days when my spelling is bad, so my overheads, handouts and web pages may contain spelling errors,
• I am not enthusiastic reader and certainly dislike reading aloud,
• I find that reading things printed in a sans-serif font on pale blue paper is easier,
• I sometimes say the wrong word without realising it,
• I can be a bit forgetful so I prefer people to e-mail me important information or tell me things when I can write them down.

There are positive parts to dyslexia too - in particular it means that I have to understand something to be able to teach it, so I am not repeating something that I have memorised from a book the night before! I am also able to respond to students requests and questions, and change the course content if necessary. I also appreciate that learning part time is not easy and try to be as flexible as possible about learning styles and assessed work. If you wish to discuss any learning difficulties that you are experiencing please let me know.

For more information about Dyslexia, learning and teaching please click here.

(written December 2002; updated April 2006)