Do you think that I'm dyslexic?

Question

I've always kept up with my school work and have always done very well in school... I'm kinda a perfectionist, so I've really had to learn how to cope with whatever I have... First of all, I can't spell to save my life. I spell most often by sounding out a word, and I generally have to memorize every larger word that I might use. Friends have seriously told me that I spell just about as well as a 3rd grader. On the internet, I have spell check, but when I have to hand write an actual essay in school, I always feel like I have to use a very limited vocabulary so I can be sure I'm not misspelling things. When I'm writing, I always get letters like p's and d's mixed up, just to give an example, and I don't even notice. Earlier today I had to write a page long essay in school as fast and as well as I could, and as I was writing fast, I didn't even realize that I kept spelling word like "beople", "bencil", "pasic", etc, and I had no clue. That actually happens all the time...

I also heard that the way one "thinks" can show if they are dyslexic or not.. I don't typically think with words, but with feelings. Everyone thinks that is so weird, but I don't generally use words in my thoughts unless I have to. I don't like reading because it just gives me this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, even though I find the actual stories in the books themselves quite entertaining... I'm a slow reader, and I generally have a pretty hard time reading out loud without messing up, pausing, and generally just being confused about every 5 seconds.

I've tried to look at a few websites for "symptoms" of dyslexia, but they all were pretty confusing, so can you help me? I am at a very challenging and academically-based high school, so for the past 3 years here I've had to push myself extremely hard to keep up and stay on top of things, so whether I am dyslexic or just odd, it doesn't seem to affect my grades more than it should.

Do you think I am? Do you think I might be even mildly dyslexic? Who do I see to find out if I am?

Thanks for any help you can give me...

Answer 1

I think you should look outside of the box, instead of pinpointing a disease and self diagnosing.

Perhaps there is a greater problem then meets the surface?

Concentrate when you are reading aloud, and practice, practice, practice. As for the p and d mixup, that sounds like you again need to concentrate more.

I wouldn't be so quick to diagnose yourself with a disease; perhaps go to a doctor anyways?

Answer 2

You may be dyslexic.  Get tested, it's easy to diagnose.  Find a specialist in learning disabilities...a psychologist can test.  There are exercises you can do to retrain your brain how to intake info....It will relieve your anxiety to know, and if so to get some help to increase your reading speed.  Good luck!  (psychologist/college prof)