Dyslexia is NOT a disability, really it isn't!

[carocaro]

I really don't think it is, it's not a negative thing, just a different thing. It sounds as if it dis-ables you in some way, but it does not. I get what being disabled is, my step Dad has MS and is disabled as he needs a wheelchair and other things to get around. It's not a mental dis-ablement either, it's just the way the brain is wired and how it processes things, it is not a disability. Just because it's different from the norm does not make it a disability.

I just get fed up of the negativity to dyslexia and the presumption you are thick.

I think my DH would disagree with you. He finds the inability to retain information very frustrating, and he'd love to be able to read a paragraph only once to read what it means.

Under the socail model of disability it is, and it's useful to think about in those terms I find. You have access to the DDS and to things like disabled students allowance becasue dyslexia itself is a gift but the world puts barriers in the way that must be removed in order to allow the fact it is a gift to show.

PS I speak as a dyslexic wheelchair user :P

It is a disability when you are trying to write - actually I thinnk the PC brigade picked the wrong word and handicap would be better - you can o things, it's just harder for you in the same way as a handicap works in golf or horse racing.

If you are trying to program a computer it is probably an advantage

I think it depends on the severity. A very bright, creative kid who has little problems with reading and has mild dyslexia won't have a disability and may use the creative side of his dyslexia to his advantage. But, a not so bright kid with very severe dyslexia who struggles to read and write at all may well have a disability.

Just my thoughts.

MrNC ended up in tears the last time he was asked to find a number in a telephone directory. He can't deal with lots of words close together. He didn't learn to read until he was 12 (thankfully, his new comp school meant he could still take maths and science O-levels).
He loves reading now but gets through about one paperback a year, a couple paragraphs each night, so I look for books which will have something happening or a funny line in every para.

I know a woman who is so dyslexic it took 10 years to pass a driving test simply because she couldn't read the road signs at all. Intelligent woman, if not confronted with the written word.

Dyslexia can definitely be a disability.
People assuming you are thick because you have dyslexia or any other disability is different and real problem

(has bunch of disabilities, but not dyslexia)

But the very bright one can still fell utterly stupid and worthless and fail to reach their full potential if not given any additional help. Is it fair to get all C's when you could have had A* and to end up struggling at A-level and Uni when they could have been a high flyer?

Dyslexia is such a stupid term though. It means very little. What you are actually referring to are cogntive impairments that make language processing, reading & writing much more difficult.

OP is right though, it absolutely does not mean you are thick.

I'm not sure if it is a disability or not. In society as it stands, it is a significant learning impairment - but it can be addressed, minimised and in some cases with early intervention almost overcome.

Like said it depends on the severity, I am dyslexic and I view it as a disability. A disability is something that affects your everyday living and means it is harder or you may need help to the same things other people do. Disability does not mean wheelchair that is only one type.
What do you think of Austism because that is also due to the way the brain is wired?
A few years ago I was studying social sciences I remember the text book arguing on a view that disabilities do not exist, it is society that imposes it. It stated that if we lived in a world with no stairs that people in wheelchairs could get around freely they would not be any different so therefore not disabled. Not quite sure I agree with it but its some peoples views. It also suggested that people who have autism may possibly have their brain wired in the right way and people without autism it is actually them whose brains are wired in the way wrong but society has labelled non austisic people as 'normal' and those with 'not normal'.

You see I'm not sure about ASD either though. My DS is ASD with multiple cognitive impairments, meaning that he has learning difficulties - most commonly lumped together under the term dyslexia. He is also dyspraxic too.

However, I don't see him as disabled. He is very bright & I just see that he has to learn some things for longer & in a different way.

I was crap at maths, so it took me much longer to learn and I had to have alot of extra lessons to get an o level. DS is brilliant at Maths, science & music - but he is crap at quite alot of social stuff & reading & writing. So he is having lots of extra help with reading & writing and lots & lots of tuition from me & DD about social stuff. The way I see it, he has to work ALOT harder and learn social skills that come to other people intuitively.

So, in his case I do not see him as disabled. He has learning challenges that are far greater than other people - but to my mind that is not a disability.

I am not saying that this applies to everyone on the spectrum, for clearly there are some with severe Autism, for whom the challenges will always be insurmountable. Equally, there will be some people with such severe cognitive impairments that there learning difficulties will disable them in every day life.

Under the social model (which is where he may be abel to use the DDA in future if he needs to - because trust me there is massive discrimination in the workplace for anyone who is a little slower at reading or writing) he has barriers put in place by the way our society works. If we weren't such a text based society he wouldn't have these barriers, a little extra help and a lot of hard work on his part is what removes these barriers and levels the playing field.

I have huge working memory issues, which I have to work very hard at, in a job it can be something as simple as a diary and a phone with an alarm that can help me to overcome my 'barrier'. Without being abel to say I was dylexic, there have been times where I would have been under a diciplinary instead of being allowed a few reasnoble adjustments.

Fortunately the Disability discrimination act disagrees with you. It is a disability when you can't used chip and pin machines (because you can't remember numbers like that); or when you can't use some websites with those letter things. When it takes you longer to read/process information, and much longer to produce something in writing that the general public can understand (or it may need proof reading however much time you get). Then there are those who can't remember simple directions, or instructions.

My ds is very dyslexic and holding his own in Y10 in a selective school - middle maths group, on track for As/Bs at GCSEs - because the DDA makes sure he gets the extra time for written/reading tasks. Without it he would have given up on school long before now.

However, his "disability" was made clear yet again last night while we were playing a board game after dinner. Reading the quotations out loud was hard for him to do quickly. It makes me sad he'll always have social issues like this (though his reading age is above his actual age - great given the severity of his dyslexia - his processing is slow) but I'm thrilled with how well he's doing. We would have had to fight for support at non-selective school as his attainment was above average at Y7. That's not fair - the classification as a disability means there's grounds for getting the help children need and deserve.

Dyslexia affects people in so many different ways. I don't think it's one size fits all. My son does not have a problem reading out loud and he can improvise if needed. His spelling and punctuation are his main problems and his attainment in school, although roughly average, is way below what you would expect from his intelligence. I am not sure I would go so far as to call it a disability. His friend is struggling to read and write and needs a reader and a scribe so I guess you would say that he does have a disability.

Yes but they don't call it a disability in primary school, because it generally means fuck all if you are dyslexic, you are certainly not called disabled and put on some scheme with help and funding, because it does not exist.

Help as a disabled person with dyslexia only comes as an adult, which is fucked up to start with as you need the help early on.

What I am saying is that the fact it's classed as a disability means nothing, it might as well be called 'moodbumyellow' and it does not mean you get any automatic help, you still have to fight, shout and scream and fill in endless fucking forms for some tit in an office to say no. So it's either a disability that needs help and support or it is not, there cannot be in-betweens iyswim.

And I can't add up to save my life, but it does not sadden me, it just is what it is and I get on with life without a whacking big label on me. A friend is dyslexic and never texts, she calls and that is totally fine, so you don't have to always choose the written route.

I much prefer specified learning difficulty - makes more sense

www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/09/dyslexic-advantage/

an article well worth reading.

Yes, I prefer specific learning difficulty - that does apply to my son. I feel that to say he has a disability is disingenuous to those with greater difficulties.

Thanks for the article. My son is very bright and creative but the education system, particularly junior school, has had problems accommodating him as there is so much emphasis on the 3 Rs and no emphasis on creativity, originality or content!

Secondary school is much better!

Yes, secondary school is better, but dyslexic children still have to write and read otherwise if they don't jump through the hoops of specific GCSEs etc, so many career opportunities are closed to them.

Hi again,

I totally agree that dyslexic children need to read and write but there are many teachers who are critical of there being too much emphasis on SATS with a cost to creativity etc. Children at junior school could be writing incredibly original and creative pieces of work but receiving no recognition for it because of their dyslexic difficulties.

I would see it as a disability - but what's negative about that?
And a learning disability doesn't make someone 'thick'
It is an Educational Special Need - and with the right help and support and learning method, can be addressed.

Your dad needs a wheelchair to get around, a dyslexic person needs a particular method of support to manage learning to read and write.

POstbellum - I definitely regard my boys with ASD as disabled. They cannot lead a "normal" life or access education without extreme adaptations.

I guess because ds is doing OK at grammar school he doesn't seem to have a problem. Watch him make 26 attempts to write a birthday card to a girl!

I do appreciate that there are far worse problems out there by the way, but having been told his verbal reasoning and understanding of language is in the top 2% by a psychologist, it doesn't seem fair not to let him have a chance to achieve his potential. You have to be a pushy mum!

I think it is a disability if it disables you. The spectrum is so wide though that not everyone with dyslexia will be disabled. I teach a woman who is dyslexic and it disables her. She is a very intelligent woman and does lots in her community, vocally. She lives in a socially deprived area of London, has 2 children with dyslexia. She slipped through the net at school and can't even write the names of her children. She has absolutely no sound/symbol recognition. If I ask her to write 'dog' she can't. She can't access the written word. Letters from the council, letters from school, letters from utility companies.

She is a lovely, lovely woman who wants to work and help her children.She often comes tome in tears because she has had a letter she cant read or because her son is struggling at school and she can't help him with his homework. In spite of her severe dyslexia she fought for her son to be statemented and to get him into her first choice of school. It took her a long time but she did it.

So, in her case I think it is a disability. Except she gets no DLA. If she could get a grant for a text to speech gadget it would greatly improve her ability to connect with the written word and help her to manage her life in a more 'functional' way.

ElbowFan that article is really interesting, it's basically what the educational psychologist said about me, my brain was so used to working around things rather than going straigh from A-B like normal that I got quite good at it and still achieved well with some extra skills from my "wiring". I never had any support but by the time I was identified as a candidate I was mitigating too well (left exams after an hour and got As etc, so no need for extra time,
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