Are you dyslexic? Take this simple test and find out
What is dyslexia ?
Dyslexia is a brain-based condition that causes difficulty with learning, reading, writing and speaking. People with dyslexia have difficulty recognizing or processing certain types of information. So much so that they have trouble decoding words or letters in the right order. Therefore, it is hard for people with dyslexia to read effortlessly, causing reading to trigger stress and anxiety.
The time that dyslexics spend trying to decode and figure out words and sentences may cause them to lag behind or read information more slowly than peers. People with dyslexia are most likely to spell words phonetically. For instance, they might spell the word stick as ‘Stik’.
These difficulties are more widespread and common than originally expected. Statistics show that dyslexia affects up to one in five people, the severity of which can range. One person might have mild symptoms of dyslexia while another person’s case could be more profound.
Dyslexia is also known to run in families. It is common to come across a family member who has trouble with spelling words, while another might have issues with decoding.
However, it’s not a lost cause or even a cause for alarm. The human brain is divided into two hemispheres with the left side being tied to language, reading, logic and math. The right side of the brain handles spatial activities like holistic thoughts, intuition, art and music… creativity in general.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) research shows that people with dyslexia tend to make more use of the right hemisphere of the brain, and its frontal lobe. Because they shy away from written words and editing, they can become deeply talented in right brain activities (like storytelling, social skill, music etc.) and generally anything that involves creativity.
Some of the world’s most talented and successful people have dyslexia. People like :
Mohammed Ali, Picasso, Whoopi Goldberg, Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill, Einstein, Stephen Spielberg, Walt Disney, Leonardo Da Vinci amongst many others.
Simple Test for Dyslexia
If you weren’t totally familiar with what dyslexia was before reading this, then you might be curious about whether you or someone you know might have it. Take this quiz and write a yes or no answer to each question:
1 - Do you read slowly?
2 - Did you have trouble learning how to read in school?
3 - Do you often have to read something twice or thrice before understanding it?
4 - Are you uncomfortable with reading out loud?
5 - Do you omit, transpose, or add letters when you are reading or writing?
6 - Do you see recurring spelling mistakes in your write-ups even after several spell checks?
7 - Do you have difficulty with pronouncing uncommon multi-syllable words when reading?
8 - Did/do you find it difficult reading or learning a foreign language, especially during your school years?
9 - Do you choose to read magazines or short articles as opposed to reading lengthy books or novels?
10 - Do you avoid work projects or courses that involve extensive reading?
If you answered yes to the majority of these questions, then you are likely to have dyslexia. You may also benefit from auditory learning practices.
How to Help Reduce the Impact of Dyslexia
People with dyslexia can physically change their brain and see to it that their reading improves greatly. This can be done through intensive multi-sensory intervention that breaks down language and teaches the reader to decode based on syllable types and spelling rules. The process helps the dyslexic brain to begin to use more of the left hemisphere a lot more efficiently causing their reading ability to improve. This intervention works because it recognizes dyslexia appropriately as a functional variation in the brain which manifests differently from one person to the next.
An efficient way to combat dyslexia is to work with it instead of against it. It is likely that auditory learning is far more effective than reading and text to speech apps like elocance can make life much easier. Convert all your documents, emails, articles or any reading to audio by adding it to elocance and hitting play. elocance will read all the text that you need to read out loud to you. It uses text to speech voice technology to make life easier for anyone with learning disabilities.
elocance is available on iOS and Android. Try it for free and tell us what you think.
Happy listening!
The elocance Team
elocance is a productivity app and your audio superpower. Build productive habits and save time by listening. Save articles and PDFs etc., turn them to audio and learn on the go.