Waldorf News

This is what reading is like when you have dyslexia. And as a dyslexic, I know.

By Alle Connell

Hello, world. My name is Alle. I’m a writer and an editor, and I’m dyslexic.

When people find out that I have dyslexia, the first question they ask is always, “What is that LIKE?” And up until now, I’ve never had an answer for that. I’ve always been dyslexic; how do you explain what the world looks like when you have nothing to compare it to? I usually fall back on explaining what it IS.

My usual spiel: dyslexia is a learning disability that generally involves problems reading, writing, spelling, and pronouncing words, as well as understanding the things you read. It’s a cognitive difference, not a deficiency in intelligence. I was diagnosed when I was five; my dyslexia was (and remains) in the moderate-to-severe range.

As for what it’s like, dyslexia is kind of like “The Matrix” — you can’t be told what it is…

That just got easier to do — at least a little. Victor Widell (no relation to Taylor, I assume) created a dyslexia simulator on his blog to show people who don’t have the “disorder” what reading is like for people who do…

Click here to see the simulated page full size.
From revelist.com. Read the rest of the article here.