Am I Dyslexic?

[MusicalBear]

Hello Mums,

This is my first post, I just thought this might be the right place to ask the question.

I’m 29, male, and I think I can objectively say I’m a relatively switched on, intelligent person.. but I have ALWAYS found some things very hard. I don’t mind, it’s just part of who I am and I’m good at other things.. but I was never tested for dyslexia while lots of other people my age were and I think there was pressure from either my parents or even myself, to just try harder - and never considered this might be a real problem for me. In the end I’ve always sort of just muscled on with it.

Specifically I find: maths, reading and remembering things VERY difficult. I can normally get there in the end but I’m slow, and it feels physically taxing, like an almost painful sensation in my head. I’ll also mention that I’ve dealt with clinical depression since my early teens and even more so as I get older, a heavy amount of stress and anxiety.. (Last year I would occasionally come out in hives etc). I wonder if my mental block might be caused by that, but then at the same time I’m very articulate and good at problem solving and creative things, and often I react very quickly to things. (I’m a composer, I write music for Film and TV).

Anyway, thank you for reading mums! I really appreciate your time. Any insight or advice, I’d be immensely grateful.

Jack

Can you be a bit more specific about the problems you have with reading? What happens exactly that makes it hard?

Than you for replying ShortAndAnnoying!

Well, I think Ican get through about 7/8 pages of a standard novel before I get a headache. And I don’t know exactly how long that would take, but it feels like a long time. I sometimes get distracted from the story for trying to focus on the words on the page..

It sounds like you may have processing issues which underlie many different Specific Learning Difficulties including, but not exclusively, dyslexia . However if you are outside an educational setting you may find it difficult to progress any assessment and diagnosis unless you can pay privately.

Dyslexia is NOT a mental health issue.

If you want an assessment, see your GP with your reasons for thinking you have it, and ask for a referral. they can take 18 months to 2 years, the demand is huge.

Otherwise, have a private assessment, some details here www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/

Good Luck.

It sounds to me as though there probably is some issue, but you need a proper Ed Psych to assess you. That's a really interesting process, as they give you a report on how your brain works and where your strengths and weaknesses are. I think you'd find that fascinating. Could you afford a private assessment? They're not cheap though.

ObscuredbyFog, saying that dyslexia's not a mental health issue's a bit of an odd thing to say. If undiagnosed, dyslexia can be causal, so create low self worth and anxiety, just as Jack describes. A very good friend of mine had a nervous breakdown in his early 20's and the root of that was undiagnosed dyslexia. His childhood sounded very similar, so a bright kid just being told to work harder all the time. It made him feel inadequate and a failure and in the end that tipped him into depression and breakdown. Logical really, but very sad.

Jack, find out, get assessed. Honestly knowledge is power! My son's dyslexic and honestly just finding out has been the best thing for him, as now he knows why he finds some things hard and also how to manages those differences. Good luck!

Jack do you drive at night? How do you find lights?
Google Irlens syndrome

Thank you everyone! Touched by your concern and kind words.

I’m now feeling able to see there might be a diagnosable problem, but perhaps a less broad and maybe a ‘specific one’.. so best first step is get to the doctor. I’m already 29, another 18 months is a short wait! : )

Traalaa, that was immensely helpful, thank you for sharing your story. I’m being a little kinder to myself already.

Babipotjam, thank you! I looked at irlens syndrome. It all sounds very familiar, bar perhaps a few points.. so i’ll look carefully at this too, although o wonder if this is me.. i’ll read up some more... albeit slowly!! ; )

Any further input most welcome, but I have a good staring pint. Thank you again everyone.

Jack x

*Starting!! All spelling and grammar mistakes duly noted, and not part of my thing I don’t think..

Hi,
I'm dyslexic, only got my diagnosis at uni, as like you I felt I was switched on and intelligent and didn't struggle enough with schoolwork to seek a diagnosis as I didn't want the sigma of being special needs, even though my mum kept trying. I did struggle with having enough time to complete exams, esspesally essay writing ones but quite enjoyed exams, didn't find them stressful, got into a 'flow state'.

My handwriting was the main issue which was fine for school exams (with professional handwriting interpreters) but at uni they said if your writing is illegible it won't be marked. They screened us for dyslexia and said if you think your dyslexic, get assessed, so I did. I my adult life my main struggles have been short term memory and organisation. Turned out I'm very dyslexic and possibly slightly dyspraxic. I'm in the top 95 percentile for iq, bottom 3rd for audio processing, and everything else in between, with a surprisingly low reading score as I enjoy reading and have thought I'm good at it. I also get headaches when Im too tired to read. Or try to do too much organising, remembering or filling out forms which is mentally straining and frustrating. I've recently struggled with anxiety and depression, esspesally now I'm pregnant and extremely anxious at my inability to organise.

My advice is think carefully about getting a diagnosis. Will it help you in your situation? There are pros and cons. For me it made me overanalyse and overthink my own mind which was not very good. It also gave me extra time and a laptop in exams and loads of free stuff. And the choice to get adjustments made in interverviews (which I've never used but get very anxious in interviews so probably will ask for adjustments next time). It takes a lot to come to terms with and only now I'm pregnant, with added baby brain would I concider it a disability. My parents also pushed me to work hard. However, being male you won't ever have to worry about extra pregnancy anxiety.

Deborah543, thank you.

Sounds tough.. not knowing much about this yet I’m clearly not in a position to comment, but sounds to me like you’re a very thoughtful and kind person which automatically is going to make you a fabulous Mum and trumps all that other stuff - so while you worry, there’s one more person here who knows you’ll be fine.. for what it’s worth! : )

Not getting a diagnosis will probably only leave me wondering, and if I can get an answer either way I think it will give me some peace of mind.. and no, I don’t think HMRC are going to give a tiny rats ass if I have thinky-problems, but i’ll know, and I might not be so hard on myself!

But very valuable input, so once again, thank you so much. I appreciate you taking the time : )

Thank you musical bear for the support. I'm feeling much more positive in the past couple of weeks in my own competency. I found it was quite expensive and a lot of hassle to get an appointment and I don't find labels for the sake of labels helpful. People don't tend to fit in boxes very well. I've done a few online courses on dyslexia and autism and I've found the American definition of combining autism, adhd, dyslexia, dyspraxia and all other definitions into one unbrella term of specific learning difficulties rather than getting bogged down about which box do I fit into? Which is so anxiety inducing, for me anyway. Best to be aware of your weeknesses and work out how to improve those skills, get support from them. The boxes and labels are always changing anyway.

Saying that, the assessment helped me be more self aware but I'm not sure adult assessments are always that helpful. If you're anything like me, it won't make you any less hard on yourself, that's well ingrained.

Although the high iq was an ego boost.

My mother in law said that she thinks intelligence is inversely proportionate to happiness, which I've thought about and I think is only true if you don't use your gift to make a positive impact on the world. And in many ways I see dyslexia as a gift, I'm more creative and can see things frow different perspectives well. There is my Christian upbringing inspired thought for the day.

Most prospective parents would love to have an intelligent child but I'm here worrying about the behavioural challenges they could bring.

Glad to hear that you're feeling a bit more positive. Just with the Irlen's, that's definitely worth investigating. My son has that too, though you don't have to be dyslexic to be affected.

When you look at a page of text, do the words move, distort or blur? They did for him and as it was for normal for him, he had no idea it wasn't normal. He now wears dark tinted glasses, which correct it for him. It's made a huge difference, as obviously who can read something when the words are moving or out of focus. Word of warning though, normal eye tests won't pick it up, you'd need a specialist. We take our son to the Institute of Optometry in London. They're really good, so would recommend if you are London based.

These days it would be so easy to make adjustments for dyslexic people with voice recognition software to read and write for you and so on. So if your reading and writing is holding you back at all at work I would go for the diagnosis. It might also help if you ever decide to take further qualifications at college or whatever as pp said they are very helpful.

Avoid irlens syndrome. Snake oil trade mark out of the USA, anyone reading the list of symptoms would conclude they have it. Opthalmic and medical bodies in USA/UK have written formal statements saying it isn't real because in more than 30 years of research neither the supposed cause nor cure have been found to exist or actually work as claimed!

For clarity, Irlens and Visual Stress are not the same thing, although sales people awarded the right to use the Irlens trade mark do a very good job mixing them together to take advantage of vulnerable parents who are looking for answers.