Here’s a common scene: A man who has always struggled with reading, hiding the problem from family, friends and coworkers, finally comes in for an evaluation. This person is smart (really smart) and has all the signs of dyslexia—including difficulties with reading that are unexpected given the person’s intelligence and education.
All his life, he has been treated as if he wasn’t bright, and he believed it. But then the heartbreaking realizations kick in…
Many times, I’ve been the one to figure out a solution to a problem.
I can always do the job—I just can’t fill out the job application.
How much different my life would be if I had known.
Some of these people are in their 40s, 50s, 60s or beyond. But we tell them it’s not too late to improve their reading skills, be more successful at work and find new tools to make their lives much easier. And welcome to the crowd.
The condition affects up to one in five children and adults. Other key facts you should know…
It’s brain-based. Brain-imaging shows differences in the brains of people with dyslexia compared with those without it.
It has nothing to do with intelligence. Indeed, one clue to the condition is that a person may score higher on an IQ test than you’d expect from his/her reading level.
It’s often familial. Not surprisingly, dyslexia runs in families.
It’s a lifelong disorder. If you are dyslexic at five, you will be dyslexic at 95. You can learn to read accurately and with understanding, but it will never be as automatic as it is for most people.
It affects people in all walks of life. While dyslexia can interfere with school and work success, it’s also striking how successful some people with the condition have become. Examples: Famous performers (Henry Winkler, Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno), authors (John Irving, Octavia Butler) and surgeon Toby Cosgrove, MD, CEO of Cleveland Clinic.
It’s accompanied by strengths as well as weaknesses. People with dyslexia often show…
Long ago, the most common theory was that dyslexia arose from visual-processing problems. Many people still believe that having dyslexia means you see letters and words backwards. That’s wrong.
People with dyslexia have a brain-based problem processing the distinctive sounds that make up words. The person sees the letter just fine but has trouble naming it, making its sound and blending the sounds of multiple letters into words. The brain systems involved in skilled, automatic reading also do not function efficiently.
The first step to getting help is to recognize that you may have the condition (see box on next page). A thorough evaluation from a professional—such as a psychologist or neuropsychologist who specializes in dyslexia—can help you find out for sure. Costs can vary from several hundred to several thousand dollars and are rarely covered by insurance.
While there is no medical or pharmaceutical treatment for the underlying brain glitch, effective training systems can help you read and process information better. Start with an adult literacy program that can match you to the right instruction. (Check your local library, state department of education or the Davis Dyslexia Association International website, Dyslexia.com.)
One good program is the Wilson Reading System. This program must be done with an instructor and teaches decoding, fluency and vocabulary and helps students read connected text. While not usually covered by insurance, some employers may agree to cover the expense.
“Assistive technologies” also help. Consider “reading pens,” such as Voice Dream Reader (about $20), which turn written text into spoken words…and speech-recognition systems for computers, tablets and phones that turn voice into written text. Note: The Americans with Disabilities Act grants you the right to request “reasonable accommodations” to help you do your job well, although your employer may not be required to pay for certain technologies.
If you learn that you’re dyslexic, the good news is that while you may be a slow reader, you can be a fast thinker! Prominent lawyer David Boies—he represented Al Gore before the US Supreme Court in 2000—was diagnosed as a child. He still reads about half as fast as the average person but has developed strategies for getting through large volumes of written material—and says that, in the end, he will have learned a lot and absorbed much more than others.
Finally, if you do discover that you have adult dyslexia, tell your family! There’s a good chance that your child, niece or nephew might be struggling with it—and not know it.
While there’s no definitive “test” for dyslexia, there are many signs. Ask yourself…
From Overcoming Dyslexia (Knopf), by Sally E. Shaywitz, MD.
