Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dyslexia

Dyslexic friend + change of career x (What options are available + how can I help) = happier friend

Mrevilbreakfast — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:53:04 -0800

Dyslexic friend + change of career x (What options are available + how can I help) = happier friend! How can I help a friend find and get a new job and career? An old friend and I have just got back in touch, after five years of losing contact, through the current Social Networking site of choice. Life has been fairly good to her however she's getting increasingly frustrated by the lack of (apparently) suitable jobs out there.

She's hard working, sociable, honest and trustworthy but the one factor that she's been told stands in her way is her dyslexia for the jobs that she's applying for. This results in her getting through to the interview stage and - despite being a suitable candidate, being experienced in the fields that she's applying for, better presented, etc. - she gets knocked back; as a result her confidence is taking a bit of a pounding.

I've tried the obvious - advising her to look for jobs for things that she's interested in, has skills in, etc. but... no joy so far.

You are not a careers advisor, fully understood up front. That said, any advice that you can swing in my direction as to potential careers for people with dyslexia - one who's in her early thirties with a passion for cookery, theatre and a 13 year history working for a large retailer - and advice as to how I can help her achieve said goals will be much appreciated.

At-home literacy and spelling help for seniors?

CKmtl — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 11:19:40 -0800

One of my neighbours has asked me for some advice and I'm pretty dumbfounded. A senior (~80yo) that she knows has said that he'd like to learn to write and spell, but she has no clue where to start. So, what resources are out there that could be of help? Some more info about the situation:

- The problem is mostly with the writing side of literacy (he can read and comprehend newspapers). He's more bothered by stuff like not being able to write words and sentences properly, not being able to tell if something he wrote is spelled incorrectly, etc.

- Undiagnosed dyslexia is a likely factor.

- He probably would not want to attend classes, because of bad experiences with teachers in the past.

- He has access to a computer and the internet, but he is not terribly computer/net-savvy. His keyboarding would be very hunt-and-peck. Software could be installed for him and he could be helped with learning how to use the programs, though.

- Nothing too childish, as he'd be a bit humiliated by that sort of thing.

- Freeware or free websites are preferable. Paying for software or books isn't completely out of the question, but they'd have to be on the inexpensive side. Fixed income and all that.

How to work with someone who may have an auditory processing disorder?

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:31:26 -0800

I work with someone who I believe has an auditory processing disorder. Help me figure out how to work more efficiently and effectively with her. (Anonymous because my username and workplace are connected, and I want to protect my coworker's privacy.)

My colleague works in a crucial capacity on our team; for as long as I've worked with her (5+ years) she has created a pattern of problems through more or less ongoing communication breakdowns. This has been noticed by virtually everyone who's worked with her for any length of time (supervisors, peers, and subordinates alike): she seemingly lacks the ability to communicate effectively, follow instructions, understand multi-step tasks (and the cause and effect of each step), and organize large amounts of information; all of this is coupled with a marked tendency to be very literal, highly sensitive, and an inclination for secrecy (which I've only recently realized is to cover up the work she says she's done, but often hasn't -- until the last minute, which inevitably creates a crisis, at which point we all pitch in to get the job done).

It suddenly hit me today that some of this was strikingly similar to a child in my family who has been diagnosed with dyslexia and an auditory processing disorder. In googling it a little, I found this description of the disorder; the integration and prosodic subtypes fit her to a T.

No one is interested in getting her fired or demoted (including her supervisors); she is a dear, lovely woman on a personal level and highly committed, hardworking, and knowledgeable within her specialty on a professional level. But it has reached the point where entire projects are breaking down (we're now having to hire freelancers to take on part of her workload in order to meet our deadlines), and all of us on the team are pretty much at our wits' end. How can we work with her more effectively and efficiently? Obviously, it seems that giving her written instructions is better than verbal; are there other things to be considered? Almost everything I've seen online so far has been along the lines of "how to help your child in school," which obviously isn't relevant under the circumstances.

"We would love to hire you, except you mispelled your name."

OrangeDrink — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:07:31 -0800

Should I get tested for Dyslexia? I've exhibited traits of dyslexia for years, and I work around it just fine, mostly by triple and quadruple checking. But are there any (dis)advantages to having this officially diagnosed when it comes to applying for jobs or various graduate school programs? Or would having this 'syndrome' on my records dog me in unforeseen ways? I'm not particularly interested in 'treating' dyslexia, since I've worked around it for years, and it's almost an advantage to think differently now.

I should note I work in fields that are very writing/editing heavy, so it's not really an advantage to tell them I only learned the difference between 'does' and 'dose' when I was eighteen.

6-year-old nephew has severe dyslexia - how can I help?

scody — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 20:03:34 -0800

In the past week, my 6-year-old nephew has been diagnosed with severe dyslexia and significant auditory processing problems. I'd like some information from others -- dyslexics, teachers, parents, sibs, etc. -- in terms of how I can help support my family as much as possible. After a lot of testing and assessments, it appears that the problems are very severe -- his scores are in the bottom fifth percentile in several key areas -- while scoring above average in generalized intelligence, math skills, etc. My sis and brother-in-law are arranging for tutoring, starting to do phonics-based exercises/games/reading with him, and are communicating the findings to his teachers (he's in private school, not public). They've also started reading this book, which I'm planning on picking up too and I expect will answer a lot of my more "technical" questions about dyslexia itself.

So for now I guess I'd like to hear suggestions as to how can I best help my nephew not feel like a "dummy," which he already calls himself (especially now that his 3-year-old brother is actually starting to surpass him in certain verbal/reading skills) -- besides just being the doting aunt who says "oh, you're not a dummy, sweetheart!" (My sis's family and I all live in the same city, so I'm very close to all three nephews and see them frequently.) If you have dyslexia, what type of support/feedback/help have you found you most appreciate from family members? What are the things that aren't helpful? And if you have kids (or have taught students, worked with families, etc.) with dyslexia, what do you suggest is most helpful for me in supporting my sis and BIL during all this, too? (And of course, I'm worried myself -- Will other kids make fun of him? Will he always struggle with this? What does this mean for college?)

Resources for Dyslexic Students

chr1sb0y — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 04:50:39 -0800

I tutor a 6th grader (at an inner city homework help center, once a week, not paid) who was just diagnosed with dyslexia. I'm kind of relieved, because I knew there was some sort of larger problem than just being a little behind. He's pretty distraught, as he's going to have to switch schools for the rest of 6th grade, so he can get into a small special ed class. He feels like a 'dummy', since his teacher did a crappy job of informing him - including telling him first about the test results, instead of talking to his mom first. I know I can search out simple stuff like lists of celebs/successful folks who overcame dyslexia, but I'd love to hear any advice or book/resource recommendations from people who might have some experience with dyslexia.