A Day in the Life of a Dyslexic

8am - A day off work, so an O.U study day, for me.

9am - Get books out.  Can't remember where I got to yesterday, a typical dyslexic problem.  I need to also organize an exam study schedule.  Can't organize my thoughts though;  having a 'bad' dyslexia day, today.

10am - I have re-read the same three unit pages in the last hour.  As I get to the end of one subsection, I can't remember what I read at the beginning.  The words move and swirl on the page as I try to make out the proof.
11am - Reading with dyslexia, is exhausting.  I put the books down.  Quick cup of Nespresso (Indrya) and I settle down in front of the computer to do some more work on TMA05.

12pm - So I can see the screen without the text swirling around, I have changed the background to Turquoise colour and the text to dark purple in font 28.  It still moves about on the page, but I can now see what symbols I am getting out of Mathtype.  I have also shut all the curtains, as the light enters my eye and causes pains in my head (like when you eat ice-cream too fast). This symptom is courtesy of Irlen Syndrome, a condition which accompanies my Dyslexia and Dyspraxia.

1pm - Dinner time.  I dare not read the newspaper whilst I am eating, as reading saps my study energy for later.

2pm - Back to the grind.  Writing out flash cards with Theorems from the handbook - the cards are small and my lack of dexterity in the hands (Dyspraxia), means that it is a slow process.  As I try and fix my glance between the flash card I am writing and Handbook, I continually loose my place as the writing swirls and vibrates on the page.

3pm - I need a break.  I have another caffeine hit and I sit down to read (Hardy's - A Mathematicians Apology), but as I read on the Iphone, it hurts my eyes.  I remember I have a 'Text to Speech' app on my Iphone, so I open it, only to discover that the essay isn't read properly by the app and it is almost unintelligible (think - Steven Hawkins computerised voice - and you are near to what it is like).

3:30pm - I give up with the app and add the essay to my growing pile of - want to read, but can't - pile.

4pm - Try and gain some inspiration from a book called 'The Dyslexic Advantage'.  I get to page two and put it down.  The text is too small and it swirls so much that I get motion sickness.  How Ironic, considering the title of the book!

5pm - Teatime - Fish and Chips.

9pm - I pick up the books again and try to make progress through the unit.  Because it is now almost dark outside, I can reduce the light in the room I am in to complete darkness and use a desk lamp and coloured overlays on the pages.  This reduces the swirl of text and lets me gain some ground.

1am - Bed - exhausted.  15 pages studied, all but forgotten, and a draft question for TMA05, pencilled out.


Most people think that dyslexia is just problems with spelling or grammar.  This couldn't be further from the truth.

Dyslexia can cause:

Visual disturbances
Memory loss
Organization difficulties
Distracting thought patterns
Overwhelm if more than one or two tasks are in hand
Spelling problems
Loss of confidence / feeling ashamed.

Dyslexia is a spectrum of symptoms and difficulties, with each dyslexic having often a unique set of difficulties.  Dyslexia is often accompanied by Dyspraxia or Irlen /  Mears-Irlen Syndrome, ADD and other specific learning difficulties.

This was a typical day, in the life of a typical Dyslexic.

Thank you.

[For more info - check out these links:  ADD/ADHD association/ Dyslexia association / Dyspraxia association / Irlen association]