Dyslexic or just slow&clumsy?

Question

(bear with the long story)

im 21. when i was at about 18 i was tested for dyslexia and found that i had a mild form, my parents didnt belive the report and said that the college was just trying to make up the figures and that im just lazy.

i have real problems with spelling, writing& grammer &always have.

im now in my secong year at uni and am finding things increasingly difficult - when i try to read long bits of work the whole thing jsut kinda blurrs infront of me and i have a constant headache,i have poor concentration, i also bump into things a lot & hit my head, i dont know my left from right and i use the wrong key words in sentances eg.

il say; 'the mat sat on the cat' rather than 'the cat sat on the mat' I have someone who checks my written work for me but im scared it is geeting worse - can dyslexia get worse when im in my 20's? is clumsyness a symptom? is there anything i can do?

my parents dont understand they think im lazy and clumsy, am i or do i realy have a problem?

Answer 1

I may be way offline here but I remember a son of a friend of mine was thought to be dyslexic.  On further testing they discovered it was dyspraxia.  I am only mentioning this as I remember he was rather clumsy too.

Answer 2

Do you wear glasses?  Have you had your vision checked?  I used to get headaches and things would blur when I'd read also.  I got my eyes checked and found I had an astigmatism.  Nothing major.  Since I got glasses, no more headaches and I can concentrate a lot easier when reading now.

That would explain your running into things as well...get your eyes checked out, eh?

Oh and as for the other comment, don't just believe everything a doctor says just because they're wearing the white lab coat.  They're really not as smart as we want to think they are.

Edit: Go ahead and have your eyes checked again...you may need a new Rx for your glasses/contacts.

Answer 3

I have been dyslexic all my life.  I will see written things backward before foward, but it is not a learning diability unless you make it one. If you are bumping into things, it might be you need glasses , if you're unable to concentrate, it might be ADD, no matter, the best thing you can do is eat right, get enough rest &exercise. Take breaks from studying, but remember, handicapped is a mental thing.  My dad had one-leg yet he taught himself to drive a car, ride a horse, and could do anything a two-legged person could.  Don't let this be a crutch for not succeeding.

Answer 4

Consider investing in disability testing with a reputable psychologist.  Also, go to the eye doctor.  Those two professionals will rule-in or rule-out the top two on your differential diagnosis:  learning disability and vision impairment.

Answer 5

No dyslexia does not get worse as you get older. I think the reading you do gets more complex and and the activities in which you engage also are more varied.

Yes, you really do have a problem. You could be ADHD, neurologically impaired or vision impaired.

If I were you, I would go for some neurological testing to see if there is an underlying problem there. The clumsiness can be related to neurological issues. You may have a visual motor integration problem. If your handwriting is bad, then this can be the case. Another issue for the neurologist to check for is sensory integration dysfunction. This causes many of the problems you are experiencing.

Vision impairments are not always being blind. There are several kinds of ocular impairments that cause your symptoms. These include:

oculomotor disorders

Visual spatial disorders

peripheral vision disorder

convergence insufficiency

visual tracking disorder

figure ground disorder

These can all be helped by vision therapy. Many people who have the above vision problems are misdiagnosed as ADHD or considered lazy or clumsy. Ring a bell?

Some of your symptoms are actually ADHD symptoms. You may want to go to your doctor and talk to him or her about it. There are medications that really help with ADHD. I have been taking them for years because without them, I can't concentrate on anything.

I know this can be frustrating, but you need to get to the root of the problem. I really believe you have vision issues or central processing deficits. See a neurologist and vision specialist first!

Answer 6

Obviously if the doctors say you're dyslexic, then you are. Knock some sence into your parents.

Btw, I don't know my left from right either :)

Answer 7

I'm not too sure whether dyslexia exists.  Intellectuals like to label everything these days, and I do wonder if it's simply that some people find reading and writing difficult to grasp, just as some people find it hard to work with figures.

I can see from your typing that you have a great deal of difficulty, but your main issues appear to be spelling errors and problems with punctuation.

I have worked with several children diagnosed as so-called dyslexics, and they mainly leave out vowels and/or write their letters in the incorrect order.  You appear to not do either of these.

I doubt that you are lazy or clumsy.  Your "story" is very intelligently worded, and you appear to be very articulate; lazy and clumsy people are not as literate as you, so I disagree with your parents entirely.  Dare I say, perhaps a little understanding from them might help you grow in confidence, which would go a long way towards resolving your difficulties.

Answer 8

Although a lot of people use the word dyslexia, it is usually another term for a specific learning disability; in your case, reading.  It may also be a language processing difficulty, in which case a speech and language pathologist may be the one to contact.  I'm not really sure how being clumsy and the reading problem would correlate unless you have a medical problem of a physical nature (like a neurological difficulty).  Definately start with your general doctor, explain your symptoms, and go with their guidance.  Something is wrong, and your general physician is a great place to start.