Friday, January 16, 2009
Just a myth?
Is dyslexia real? An MP has suggested that it isn't, and it is just an excuse used by educationalists to cover up poor teaching. I am not qualified to comment on whether the condition exists or not, but it seems to me that the problem is that it's a bit like the "bad back" syndrome - because if it is there, it is there solely in the mind of the sufferer and is therefore impossible to gainsay. Nobody can know whether I'm in discomfort or not but me, and equally nobody can know whether I see words as jumbled up or not but me. And just as I'm sure there are those who use "bad back" as an excuse for not doing things they don't want to do, I'm equally sure there are those who use dyslexia in the same way.
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Standardized tests and people coming to me to spell things tell me I'm a pretty good speller. Yet, I only realized in my 40s that my first drafts very often contain dyslexia-like reversals of homophones like their/there, due/do, two/to/too, bear/bare, to name the main culprits. I've never studied it in a disciplined fashion yet it seems that I do this quite often unless I'm really paying attention to not doing it (like right now). These are usually common words so it happens frequently. Dyslexia? Maybe? I once had a co-worker ask me if I was kidding because I made all of those reversals in a very short email. All I know is it happens. Being "in my mind" has no real meaning to me as it can't happen anywhere else but in my mind.
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