Why do people group "thick" and "dyslexic" together?

[puddingsforsandy]

Not just on this forum as have seen it on other forums. Someone will say "that person is thick" and another person will say "maybe they're dyslexic". I have just seen someone comment on another forum "is it so hard to understand me? You must be dyslexic". On the Joey Essex thread on mumsnet, Joey is accused of being thick but someone has said he could be dyslexic! It's as if the two could be mistaken for one another.
As a dyslexic person, it doesn't give me much hope. One of the most painful thing for a dyslexic person is the thought that others think they're of low intelligence. Totally untrue.

It's an absolute disgrace that people are judging others on intelligence anyway.
Sad acts with nothing better to do.

I don't know about on other forums, but on here it's generally the case that if someone picks apart another person's spelling, someone else will rightly point out that they may actually be dyslexic.

With the Joey Essex thing it was similar - and people were saying that he had/has SN.

In other words, not "thick" at all.

All the dyslexic people I know are very intelligent. I know a lot of children with dyslexia through work.

I hate the word 'thick'.

It's like the rude = Autistic comments.

As a mother with an ASD child and a dyslexic child I just laugh at these comments. My ASD child is incredibly polite, and my dyslexic DD could verbally give such idiots a tongue thrashing they'd never forget if they dared call her thick.

The OP called him thick.

He apparently had some SEN.

I think that in years gone by people were labelled as "thick". Nowadays we know about dyslexia, discalcula etc and these words go some way to explain people's difficulty with reading, writing, times tables etc. they are not interchangeable with thick, though.

It is odd, maybe it's about dyslexia being a socially acceptable learning difficulty? I'm a SENCO and had parents phone me very upset I wanted to screen their kids for dyslexia because 'they're one of the brightest children in their class' it surprised me that with so many high profile dyslexics it is still seen as such a negative thing.

Sometimes I see people on telly and think they're dyslexic, that bloke who set up the bank in burnley, he is I reckon.

You can be 'thick' and dyslexic btw, though the longer I work with SEN the more I question what 'intelligence' is.

Dyslexics typically have higher than average IQ's, my dh is dyslexic and can't spell to save his life but is one of the cleverest people I have ever met.

Being dyslexic definitely does not equal being thick so yadnbu.

These people think they are being kind and understanding but they are actually so irritating!

Refusing to accept that some people just can't be arsed to learn proper spelling and grammar or at least acknowledge the spell check means that dyslexic people or those with special needs get lumped in together.

The same as the autistic/naughty child argument as another poster mentioned, MAYBE they are autistic or MAYBE they have special needs lumps autistic/special needs children in with the horrible little toe rags and bullies and the parents who just can't be bothered with discipline.

It is usually hard to distinguish or make a judgement however maybe just keep quiet and let the person in question defend themselves rather than wading in with words like 'judgemental' and 'narrow minded'. All humans are judgemental, some are just more vocal about it.

Sorry to hijack with a rant just triggered one of my pet hates!

I think it is an age thing when I was at school I never heard of any of these terms some kids coped and some kids didn't.

My spelling isn't all that great and my grammar can be awful. That doesn't mean that i can't be arsed to learn it.
I really struggle with it and that's not my fault.

Now give me a maths problem and i would beat you hands down.

Some things i'm good at, others i'm rubbish but if someone called me thick they better run.

I find it difficult to imagine anyone wanting to be uneducated or antisocial, I do think that most children who struggle at school have some problem, that might be neurological or it might be environmental, but understanding is important.

Anyone who describes another person as "thick" is BVU. That is all.

I hadn't noticed that people did lump together thick and dyslexic anymore. There it's a misconception though, that all people with dyslexia would be at the higher end of an intelligence scale. People with dyslexia can be on any part of an intelligence scale.

DD1 and I don't mind how many jokes you make because we are cleverer than you!

Yes it's very irritating... I am dyslexic and its slightly irritating how many people are surprised when they find out because I hold a senior position with a global business.

Someone actually once said to me "wow, I didn't realise you are dyslexic. God you have done well". I felt like saying "what you don't think I would have done well holding this position had I not been dyslexic?" ignorant twitt

My dh would have been diagnosed with dyslexia nowadays, he couldnt read until the age of 10 and was considered too "thick" to do computer studies back in the 70s. He ended up getting top marks in the country for a diploma in engineering management and builds his own computers
DS has similar problems although reads well because he was taught phonics and has a completely different experience ie top sets and encouraged all the way to reach for the top.
Euphemia
My ds is the opposite he is getting this tshirt

Bruffin loving that T-Shirt.

having grown up in a family with 2 severely dyslexic little brothers, people equate thick and dyslexic because in the past access to education just DID NOT EXIST for the dyslexic....

my brothers left school at 15 UNABLE to read or write - everything you did at school was based on the primary premise that reading and writing was there - EVERYTHING... so they "appeared" to be thick because they never passed any tests, they were simply abandoned as "thick" by a so called teaching profession in the 70s.

One is now a chef at a world renowned hotel.... the other is a sewing machine repair mechanic.... both still feel aggrieved, the chef has been to adult learning and can now read to a rudimentary level - he still cannot write...

Isn't it just that nobody should be calling anyone else thick?

It's all neurological whether your particular difficulties have been bundled into a named package or not.

YANBU but it's symptomatic of the dumbed-down medicalization of various common problems that infests everyday speech

Unhappy = depressed
Thin = Anorexic
Tidy = OCD
Untidy = depressed
Aggressive = ADHD

The list gets longer every year

I'm probably going to be flamed for this but can people just be a bit thick without having any SEN? I mean we can't all be highly intelligent rocket scientists!
There are people around with all sorts of levels of intelligence, but is it because they can't be bothered to learn stuff? Is the act of being clever just being able to remember things?
I think about this sort of stuff all the time. My dd is supposed to be very clever, in the G&T group at school etc but she can't do anything practical at all.
I have a friend whose husband can't even use the internet or text on his phone, is he 'stupid' or a technophobe?
I can remember all sorts of useless information that one day will come in very handy like in a pub quiz or something. My dh is clever and he is interested enough to read and learn all sorts of things whereas I can't be bothered. Does that make him cleverer than me or more educated?

I have a friend that has a very good job and she reads a lot of books and yet she spells things incorrectly all the time. Things like carnt, proad, peases, seams, ment, afread, tearm are in every sentence she writes and yet she isn't dyslexic.

I'd suggest becuase not being able to spell can be assoicated with lower than average intelligence, or dyslexia.
Not being able to remember a phone number in sequence, same.
I was labelled thick at school as I could write / draw neatly, and really struggled to remember spellings and times tables.
Oh how I'd love to go back now.

And yes, yes, yes to whoever said its the clever dyslexics who get spotted because of the gap between different subjects. If your struggling with everything its harder to spot the processing / reading / memory issues often associated with dyslexia

But then, do the really clever dyslexics learn to get round their weaknesses? Can't spell engineering, re-write the sentance to use a word you can spell (LUV the t-shirt bruffin )

tolittletoolate
How do you know your friend isn't dyslexic. DS1 can read well but he is still dyslexic but he has had a very good systematic gounding in phonics. His spelling is years behind his reading ability.

DS1's problem is that it is harder to demonstrate his abilities because of his dyslexia so people assumed he wasn't quite as able as he is. Luckily the Education Pyschologists report has helped with that. I have some sympathy for his teachers (they did recognise he had possible SpLD) but it is hard to judge what a child is fully capable of until you know the extent of the difficulties they are facing. Was DS1 slow in a maths test because he struggles with maths or was he slow because he struggles with reading the questions? (they found the answer when they gave him unlimited time and he got the maths right)