Dyslexia

Will Wilson

Member
Location
Essex
Just interested to hear people's experiences with dyslexia. I think I have been lucky I have an amazing imagination and can work through problems pretty quickly, you have to learn to be resilient as well (dyslexics are grafters/survivors).

The downsides are well known so let's gloss over them.
 

Tractorstant

Member
Location
Monaco.
Yep fellow Dyslexic here. Not too bad but spelling leaves a lot to be desired, spell checkers work ok, but not for things like there and their! I used to get the Russian girl in the office to check important emails. 😊

Mind you I can nail the missing vowels bit on Only Connect.

If you struggle with reading documents try covering them in a coloured plastic sleeve, blue works for me, takes the glare off the page.

Matt
 
Also dyslexic, well more 'neuro-diverse' that the usual interpretation of dyslexia. I am actually very good at spelling. I put that down to more trying to improve on my weaknesses rather than naturally being good at spelling.

I find that my ability to see the bigger picture and forward planning skills are far better than the general populus.
My short-term memory is non-existent and my spacial awareness is poor. Exceptionally good at hiding the condition from those that like to judge.

Neither been in jail or an alcoholic (which statistically dyslexics are more likely to be).
 
Mrs O is dyslexic but is unfortunately of a certain age, so that back in her school days dyslexia was unknown and she was just treated as ‘thick’ and put in the back of the classroom. Some of the grandchildren have inherited it, but the modern education system has helped them.
I remember at my village primary school in the fifties there was a girl of 7 or so who with hindsight was clearly dyslexic and really struggled with ‘sums’. The teacher was very cruel to her. No-one from that school ever passed 11+ & happily my parents sent me for private education when I was 8.
 

Jerry

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Devon
Another one here…..

School was a struggle at times but parents sent me to a retired English teacher for extra help when I was 8.

She was very forward thinking and said I had an issue with my brain being wired slightly differently.

She worked with me til I was 16 and got me through my o levels. Without her help I doubt I would have got half the grades I did. Ended up with 12 O’s and half of them A’s and B’s.

She died before I started my A’s abs that turned out to be hard work but I scraped the points I needed to get to uni.

Uni approach to teaching very different to school lessons and that suited me and my brain. Got a first in agri and business studies. It also coincided with the first laptops becoming available so I did not have to rely on the written work as spelling and hand writing are awful.
 

Will Wilson

Member
Location
Essex
Thank you for sharing your stories - very reflective of my own.

Has anyone made good use of the 'dyslexic bit' to excel at one thing - I haven't worked out how to use the creative element properly which bugs me.
 

Tractorstant

Member
Location
Monaco.
Thank you for sharing your stories - very reflective of my own.

Has anyone made good use of the 'dyslexic bit' to excel at one thing - I haven't worked out how to use the creative element properly which bugs me.
I’m pretty good a sales.... not sure if that’s part of having to think on your feet over reading or writing.

Like @little_p says can’t remember anything short term, give me more than 3 things on a shopping list forget it!
 
Thank you for sharing your stories - very reflective of my own.

Has anyone made good use of the 'dyslexic bit' to excel at one thing - I haven't worked out how to use the creative element properly which bugs me.
I find that jobs where a 'visual thinker' is needed is where I excel. Examples on a livestock farm include seeing how a hedge is going to be laid, a stone wall is going to be built, how a fence is going to go up, how to work out a field on tractor work. Maybe even having a 'stockman's eye' better than some non-dyslexics. Generally 'seeing' how a job is going to go.

I get around the poor memory by always carrying a small note pad and pen, making list after list, using the voice recorder on my phone and taking photos as reminders. The way to get around my dyspraxia is practice at those hand eye co-ordination. Being brought up on a farm and having early introduction to throttles, levers, triggers, tools has helped. Never really found a way to get around the poor spacial awareness.
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
Yep fellow Dyslexic here. Not too bad but spelling leaves a lot to be desired, spell checkers work ok, but not for things like there and their! I used to get the Russian girl in the office to check important emails. 😊

Mind you I can nail the missing vowels bit on Only Connect.

If you struggle with reading documents try covering them in a coloured plastic sleeve, blue works for me, takes the glare off the page.

Matt
My other half is a specialist teacher in this field hired by schools for doing the testing, teaching and reports for both dyslexia and dispraxia. One of the key tools she uses to help people is the right coloured plastic sleeve mentioned above.
 

valtraman

Member
My son (7) has dyslexia and he gets really frustrated trying to read . Going through process with school to help him but it’s took a while . He has a tremendous memory which I think is to do with dyslexia like remembering words for a play or a story out a book.
 

Will Wilson

Member
Location
Essex
My son (7) has dyslexia and he gets really frustrated trying to read . Going through process with school to help him but it’s took a while . He has a tremendous memory which I think is to do with dyslexia like remembering words for a play or a story out a book.
You might also find he has an amazing imagination and the memory is because he remembers the story, not quite the same as remembering a list of things.

The only thing I have realized is how important hard exercise is in helping as well, it's something about clearing the mind and working off the frustration.
 

Henarar

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Somerset
I may well be but never been diagnosed, when I was at school I was largely passed off as thick and in the end I mostly stopped going,
maths is fine but my righting and spelling are terrible, I could always make up stories though which came in useful when I did go to school.

I find that jobs where a 'visual thinker' is needed is where I excel. Examples on a livestock farm include seeing how a hedge is going to be laid, a stone wall is going to be built, how a fence is going to go up, how to work out a field on tractor work.
yep me to
Mrs O is dyslexic but is unfortunately of a certain age, so that back in her school days dyslexia was unknown and she was just treated as ‘thick’ and put in the back of the classroom. Some of the grandchildren have inherited it, but the modern education system has helped them.
I remember at my village primary school in the fifties there was a girl of 7 or so who with hindsight was clearly dyslexic and really struggled with ‘sums’. The teacher was very cruel to her. No-one from that school ever passed 11+ & happily my parents sent me for private education when I was 8.
Yep can remember some of this sort of treatment, still get it from time to time, even would you believe on TFF though I fight back now as I know I am just as good as anyone else.
 

Pennine Ploughing

Member
Mixed Farmer
Aye, I am dyslexic, trouble writing and spelling, use laptop or phone for spell check,
Yet very good with figures (specially size 8), so know if been under paid, and good memory so remember not to go back, can work vat out quicker than most on a calculator
 

Netherfield

Member
Location
West Yorkshire
I've a friend who is dyslexic, I hadn't really noticed too much for few years, he can't read , but can write, he used to have a fruit and veg business in the market, he was super quick at working out what price to sell things at, I would have needed a calculator.

When I really noticed a struggle for him, we'd gone out for a meal and he got seperated from his wife, menus came round and he just pointed at an item and said I'll have that, but when the meal came to the table and the waiter said who's having xxxxx, he'd sort of wait until nobody claimed it and then 'me'. I then swapped places with his Mrs to get him back to his usual routine where they both stuck their head in one menu and discussed things.

Unfortunately he got shafted by his business partner who'd managed to go home with more of the profits and bled the business dry.
 

Wolds Beef

Member
our daughter is Dyslexic and we have found that you are either very lucky in the education system here or you are not. We were not :banghead:.
Some children get all the help that is going and others are frankly pretty much left to get on with it.
Some teachers are fabulous and, in our experience, few and far between. Others should, frankly, not be let near our children.
When a child says they can't understand a question and their response is to repeat themselves, but louder, it beggars belief!
To say we feel bitter is an understatement, when a child has an IQ in the top 3% and leaves the education system with one GCSE, there is something severely wrong with the system.

Suggest some of you Google Dyslexia Dismantled, its quite enlightening. ( we found out about it from one of the New Zealand ploughmen at York a few years back.

As my wife says, bitter about? Who Me?
 

Tractorstant

Member
Location
Monaco.
our daughter is Dyslexic and we have found that you are either very lucky in the education system here or you are not. We were not :banghead:.
Some children get all the help that is going and others are frankly pretty much left to get on with it.
Some teachers are fabulous and, in our experience, few and far between. Others should, frankly, not be let near our children.
When a child says they can't understand a question and their response is to repeat themselves, but louder, it beggars belief!
To say we feel bitter is an understatement, when a child has an IQ in the top 3% and leaves the education system with one GCSE, there is something severely wrong with the system.

Suggest some of you Google Dyslexia Dismantled, its quite enlightening. ( we found out about it from one of the New Zealand ploughmen at York a few years back.

As my wife says, bitter about? Who Me?

I was tested and I was in the top 9% IQ ( not sure how that worked out....) but dyslexic so school was not the best place in the world for me.

Interestingly there is quite a bit about it on Linkedin ( not really a fan of the site ) but HSBC had a workshop.

Most important thing is that it doesn't get your daughter down, I know you are bitter and twisted about the education system and rightly so, but you are big and ugly enough ( no offence ) to look after yourself. Just make sure she's ok.
 

Dairyfarmerswife

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Shropshire
My son (7) has dyslexia and he gets really frustrated trying to read . Going through process with school to help him but it’s took a while . He has a tremendous memory which I think is to do with dyslexia like remembering words for a play or a story out a book.
Our daughter is dyslexic and having an assessment for visual stress made a big difference to her reading. They will test different colour overlays to see which is most beneficial. Apparently the letters 'move around' without which makes it hard to concentrate. She now has orange lenses in her glasses and at 11 actually enjoys reading which I never thought would happen. Definitely worth exploring if you haven't already.
 

Dairyfarmerswife

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Shropshire
I find that jobs where a 'visual thinker' is needed is where I excel. Examples on a livestock farm include seeing how a hedge is going to be laid, a stone wall is going to be built, how a fence is going to go up, how to work out a field on tractor work. Maybe even having a 'stockman's eye' better than some non-dyslexics. Generally 'seeing' how a job is going to go.

I get around the poor memory by always carrying a small note pad and pen, making list after list, using the voice recorder on my phone and taking photos as reminders.
My husband is dyslexic and his ability to visualise solutions to a problem or come up with plans to do things is a massive asset. I'm educated to a higher level than he is but he is far cleverer!

He does have a rubbish memory though and relies on me for all that stuff!
 

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