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.

if someone with no legs, learns to walk on their hands, are they still disabled? They are still doing what the rest of us are doing but just in a differnt way.....

Dear goingmadinthecountry does your son have a statement how easy was his challenge taken into consideration when doing 11+?

I have read this thread with great sadness
I have just this morning started a thread in the 'development' thread due to my concern over my DD maybe being dyslexic.
Im not sure if Id call it a disability myself but like others have said it can depend on the indivual person & how severe their dyslexia is.
Ive witnessed (12yrs) my DH's embarrassment that he has lived with since being at school due to his dyslexia & how hard it has affected him in life, with jobs & application forms etc. He has relied on me a great deal to help him through his worry of & not understanding of it, as he, like alot also slipped throught the net as did his mum who cant write & can barely read who have both tried to hide their inability to this. Both of who have grown up feeling they are thick as no matter how aware people are of dyslexia there is alot of ignorance & stigma to it.
I feel for anyone that has it inc my dd. What I am now going to become is a pushy parent as I dont ever want my DD to go through what her dad & nana have been through. Its discusting & ignornant.
There are lots of celebrity's with dyslexia who have overcome it &not let it control their lives. Look at Richard Branson......need I say more?

This is the thread i started in the 'behaviour/development' thread......sorry to hijack this thread btw

My DD is nearly 9 & Ive had my concerns since she started school as she struggled from day one. She found the phonics really hard & no matter how many times I tried to teach her ways to learn it, it never sank in. By the time, she was getting into yr 2 I decided to go online to see if I could help her that way. I went on a great site called ?Easyread? which helped her so much but I couldn?t afford to keep it up but for 3 or 4 months it helped her at least get to grips with phonics.
Anyway, the older she has got the more concerned I?ve become. I have mentioned my concerns to her previous teachers who informed me that she will catch up?blah blah! When DD started in Yr4 last Sep I spoke to her teacher about it on parents eve to which she told me?. ?a lot of parents want to label their children, the trouble these days is that they do too much for their kids therefore making the kids lazy & not wanting to do anything for themselves?! I was livid & firmly told her that I have never done everything for either of my children as I have always encouraged them to be independent from an early age!
Since then I have moved DD to another school, but only because ?cut backs? caused the school bus to be discontinued!
DD mentioned to me last week that the words in her book were jumping around on the page which finally made me realise that she may have dyslexia. So I went to the Library to read up on it & try & help her myself as much as possible.
My DH is dyslexic (not diagnosed) & his DD & DS from previous relationship have both been diagnosed with Dyslexia.
My DD is a very happy go lucky girl with a wicked sense of humour, she is very placid with a gentle nature & my worry is that she is now getting embarrassed that she is in the low groups of literacy & numeracy, she won?t read out aloud. She doesn?t read so bad really, its getting it down on paper that she struggles. She will spell ?Girl? as ?Gril? etc...
DD also is very forgetful, Klutzy, still dresses back to front, has poor concentration & memory. She really struggles to take in information & has to be constantly reminded about things. She forgets to bring home her lunch bag & jumper nearly everyday. She forgets to hand in letters that I write for teachers etc too.
Anyway I?ve booked her in for an eye test at an opticians that also tests for dyslexia, although she is not having the dyslexia test that day, her test wil be an hour long & with the lady that does the dyslexia test.
All I want is a little help for my DD so she doesn?t struggle with her work & become embarrassed that she isn?t at the same level as her piers. I don?t want her to get to high school & try to hide it like my DH did.
Do you think Im over reacting or do the teachers just have a way of making you feel that you are?

I think I get where OP is coming from. The term 'disabled' has been so badly used hasn't it? Full of stereotypes and in fact, its a lazy word used to group people with far reaching disabilities together. Sort of a herding word.

Think how may times you've had to read today...

Looking what time it is to know when to get up or get out?
Looked at a computer? a book? a newspaper? passed an advert?
Think how much text is on a TV - what if you can't read that?
Taken a pill and read the label?
Try cooking without reading - not even sell-by dates.
Got on a bus, a train?
Driven a car? Parked a car and looked at the parking regulations?
In a shop - looked at the prices, the small print?
I could go on...

Think about it before you say dyslexics aren't disabled

Dyslexia is a man made problem, about having problems with a man made communication system, the visual notation of speech, or having problems decoding and recoding the graphic symbols society chooses to represent the sounds of speech. As such Dyslexia is a Social Construct.
There are two types of dyslexia. Alexia, acquired dyslexia, which is the result of brain injury, substance abuse, stroke, dementia, or a progressive illness. And Developmental Dyslexia which has a genetic origin. Developmental Dyslexia has three cognitive subtypes auditory, visual, and attentional. Which means that an auditory processing disorder (listening disability), a visual processing disorder, an attention deficit, or any combination of the three can cause the dyslexic symptom.
So dyslexia in itself is not a disability, but the symptom of one or more potential disabilities, which in turn means each dyslexic needs to identify the underlying cause of their dyslexic symptom.
I am dyslexic, and auditory processing disorder (APD) is the cause of my dyslexic symptom, but also causes many more serious communication issues.

If you look up the word 'disability' in the dictionary it says....something that disables someone. Which in hindsite can be true to dyslexics.
But maybe people think of the word 'disability' & think of someone in a wheelchair etc but that is a physical disability.
Sometimes its how the word is used in todays day of age.
Its how each individual feels abt the word being used to describe them.
The word inability could be used in the same way but some may not see it that way either.
I work with adults with learning disabilities & the scales from person to person vary greatly as they do with dyslexia.
But dolfrog you explained it so well-thankyou, I'm learning more each day about dyslexia now which can only be a plus for my DD.

MusicLover

you might like to have a look at a some related online research paper libraries
CiteULike Alexia (acquired dyslexia)
CiteULike Developmental Dyslexia
and CiteULike Reading: Acquiring and Developing the Skills and Abilities
which may be of some interest.

It's certainly not made my life easy, it's hard to organise myself and work sometimes and oh so when I can't spell the word I want to use. I am by no means think!!

I would be careful OP, autism is a processing and wired brain type thing and is very much a disability.

I think it is an Impairment rather than a disability.

lisad123

you might like to have a look at the Wikipedia Auditory processing disorder which has recently been edited by Prof. Dorothy Bishop, which indicates some possible links between dyslexia and autism.
and I may as well include a link to the Wikipedia Dyslexia article as that is the topic of this thread.

thanks dolfrog will check them out tomorrow when I've had some shut eye, must get to bed. much appreciated.

Dyslexia is very often listed as a co morbid with ASD.

Still believe that a Dx of Dyslexia alone is an impairment rather than a disability

ValarMorghulis

Dyslexia is described as a reading disability, and reading is a man made task, much like driving a car, and so having problems reading or more specifically dyslexia is more an impairment. But the issues which cause that impairment are disabilities, similar to many of the issues which make driving a car difficult or impossible.
The problem with defining dyslexia has been the time taken by international research to identify and define the underlying disabilities which can cause the dyslexic symptom. If you like when we invented text etc we forgot to write a corresponding owners manual, and this is having to be done thousands of years later retrospectively, and they are still researching how the brain really works, and how we learn to read lol.

I think the biggest problem faced by people with dyslexia is that the general public assume it just makes reading a bit more difficult.

It is far more wide reaching than that and affects memory, organisation and even things like putting names to faces.

It can vary in severity and the impact it has on the sufferers.

It is far more than "just" a problem with reading.

But to consider it a disability would be wrong

ValarMorghulis

Dyslexia can only be about having problems with reading, writing and spelling.
The other issues you have mentioned are related to the underlying disabilities which can cause the dyslexic symptom.
So you would need to be able to explain the auditory, visual, and attention issues that can cause dyslexia, and how coping with these problems can cause problems with self organisation and memory (working memory).

ValarMorghulis

I forgot to mention you could have a look at my web site which includes links to my online PubMed Dyslexia research paper collections which may help explain some of the issues.

ValarMorghulis

Explain your difference between an impairment and disability.

I think impairment is completely the wrong word IMHO
As thats means that something is weakened or damaged which is not dyslexia.

www.easyreadsystem.com/index/62.html?gclid=CPjun8CFka4CFQYKfAodIinhyQ/
its ages since I did a link so hope this works
The link is easyread system for dyslexia, I did this for my DD about 2 half yrs ago. It costs to do it daily but it was worth it for the 2/3 months that i did it for.

can someone help me how to do a link please??????

www.easyreadsystem.com/index/62.html?gclid=CPjun8CFka4CFQYKfAodIinhyQ