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When you understand your learning style, it gives you the power to understand what works best for you. There are several assessments available and I will be sharing some of them in here.

We can rise.

We are warriors.

We just need some tools to understand what works best for us.

We are not alone.

We are some of the 1 in 5 people in the US that have a disability.

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Instructions:

Click on the appropriate circle after each statement. You must give an answer for ALL statements.
Once you have given a response for all statements, click on the "Tell Me My Learning Style" button below.

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What Is My Learning Style - Learning Style Test 1

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Instructions: Click on the appropriate circle after each statement. You must give an answer for ALL statements. Once you have given a response for all statements, click on the "Tell Me My Learning Style" button below.

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LEARNING STYLE (AUDITORY, VISUAL & KINESTHETIC) & DYSLEXICS

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LEARNING STYLE (AUDITORY, VISUAL & KINESTHETIC) & DYSLEXICS

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If you are an adult student struggling with dyslexia, do not let the word "children" discourage you.

There are a lot of discoveries that have been used to help children and we can explore those tools for ourselves as adults.

We do what we have to in order to rise. We can do this. We can achieve the goals we want to achieve.

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Do you have a hard time explaining to someone what it is like to be dyslexic? This is an excellent demonstration of it.

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Do you have a hard time explaining to someone what it is like to be dyslexic? This is an excellent demonstration of it.

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A friend who has dyslexia described to me how she experiences reading. She can read, but it takes a lot of concentration, and the letters seems to "jump around".

I remembered reading about typoglycemia. Wouldn't it be possible to do it interactively on a website with Javascript? Sure it would.

Feel like making a bookmarklet of this or something? Fork it on github.

Dyslexia is characterized by difficulty with learning to read fluently and with accurate comprehension despite normal intelligence. This includes difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, processing speed, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, language skills/verbal comprehension, and/or rapid naming.

Developmental reading disorder (DRD) is the most common learning disability. Dyslexia is the most recognized of reading disorders, however not all reading disorders are linked to dyslexia.

Some see dyslexia as distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as a non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or poor or inadequate reading instruction. There are three proposed cognitive subtypes of dyslexia (auditory, visual and attentional), although individual cases of dyslexia are better explained by specific underlying neuropsychological deficits and co-occurring learning disabilities (e.g. attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, math disability, etc.). Although it is considered to be a receptive language-based learning disability in the research literature, dyslexia also affects one's expressive language skills. Researchers at MIT found that people with dyslexia exhibited impaired voice-recognition abilities.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. blog comments powered by

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A friend who has dyslexia described to me how she experiences reading. She can read, but it takes a lot of concentration, and the letters seems to "jump around". I remembered reading about typoglycemia. Wouldn't it be possible to do it interactively on a website with Javascript? Sure it would.

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Since the YCDC website began in 2007, we have received many requests about how best to help dyslexic students struggling with math. We reached out to Chris Woodin, the head of the Math Department at Landmark School, a respected school that specializes in teaching students with language-based learning issues, to help us find alternative methods for mitigating common math struggles that seem to accompany dyslexia. Woodin offered many helpful strategies to help address them, and we hope that it will help other teachers and parents who are looking for ways to support dyslexic children with math. We also hope that if you are a math specialist or a parent of a child who has struggled in math, you will share what has worked for you.

Breaking Down Math

Excelling at math, or just even being able to pass the requirements, draws on many different skills and ways of thinking-it calls on conceptual, logical, and spatial reasoning, but it also often requires neatness, exactness, and computational skills. There are many areas in which to shine in mathematics, but unfortunately, there are also many areas in which to struggle. These tasks change over time, demanding increased refinement or elaboration of skill sets, or the addition of new ones as a student progresses through school. Woodin encourages teachers to treat math problems with the same kind of thoughtful and targeted strategies that are applied to reading instruction.

In the classroom, we break down the complex processing tasks of reading and spelling into various subskills that can be tested and analyzed. As a result, students' strengths and weaknesses may be acknowledged and an effective course of action can be planned and implemented. Math skills, however, are not routinely evaluated in this manner. Math is usually assessed in terms of achievement: a student's ability to perform a set of increasingly sophisticated computations or word problems. Resulting scores define students as being "good, average, or bad" at math. The problem with these labels is that, much like reading and writing, math is made up of subskills, and it may be that a deficiency in just one of these subskills makes the student "bad" at math. A student who is a poor speller or has bad handwriting wouldn't necessarily be considered a poor writer. Specific weaknesses are not defined within the context of math, therefore specific therapies are not prescribed to treat them. In the math sphere, the "bad" math student who has been defined in very general terms is usually afforded an equally general course of remediation, and a repetition of previously introduced material ensues, or perhaps an enhanced sensory diet of "slower and louder" is dispensed.

The Relationship Between Math and Language Struggles

We often define dyslexia as an "unexpected difficulty in reading"; however, a dyslexic student may also have difficulty with math facts although they are often able to understand and do higher level math quite well. The specific skills that an educational evaluation measures to determine where language glitches, both written and verbal, occur can also be helpful in predicting where math breakdowns might occur. Using this knowledge, we can also develop strategies to address an individual student's struggles in math.

Math-specific skills, including the ability to recognize and relate quantities, should also be assessed and factored into the production of an effective program for students whose atypical learning profiles suggest the need for special attention.

Why and how should teachers use what they know about language remediation to address math problems?

Mutlistep tasks can be difficult for students who have trouble organizing, naming, or sequencing; however, experience has shown that these students can be helped by using instructional methods that forge meaning and context through physically organizing objects, naming the action, and writing the process down.

Students' learning styles must be acknowledged through the development of strategies that compensate for their individual difficulties. Woodin has found that using activities that involve visualizing, walking, and talking out problems are effective in developing vocabulary, organizational skills, and oral and written output.

Overview: Importance of Integrating Visual and Language Systems

Like reading, math involves many cognitive processes or systems. Ideally, teachers should diagnose and treat math breakdowns with the same specificity and strategies they apply to language-based instruction. When math remediation is most effective and efficient, it employs the same best practices that are used to address reading struggles. We know that using hand motions when teaching songs or poems may be helpful since it provides cues and context clues that reinforce learning of the content. Likewise, the best math instruction utilizes student strengths to mitigate weaknesses, and uses context and the integration of multisensory techniques to help the student create meaning and improve memory.
About Chris Woodin:
Christopher Woodin is a specialist in the field of mathematics and learning disabilities. A graduate of Middlebury College and Harvard Graduate School of Education, he has taught extensively at Landmark School in Massachusetts. At Landmark School's Elementary/Middle School Campus, he holds the Ammerman Chair of Mathematics. Christopher served on the Massachusetts Department of Education's Mathematics 2011 Curriculum Framework Panel, and teaches graduate-level professional development courses during the summer through Landmark's Outreach Program. Chris was the 1997 Massachusetts Learning Disabilities Association (LDA) Samuel Kirk Educator of the Year. He has presented at numerous international LDA and International Dyslexia Association (IDA) conferences, and has led math workshops to audiences across the country.

Christopher has published The Landmark Method of Teaching Arithmetic ©1995 and several journal articles. His latest project, Multiplication and Division Facts for the Whole-to-Part, Visual Learner: An Activity-Based Guide to Developing Fluency with Math Facts, is currently in press and due to be released in 2012. This comprehensive text features the methodologies and many of the activities that are described on The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity's website. To learn more about Mr. Woodin and his work, please visit his page on the Landmark School website and his own website.

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Since the YCDC website began in 2007, we have received many requests about how best to help dyslexic students struggling with math. We reached out to Chris Woodin, the head of the Math Department at Landmark School, a respected school that specializes in teaching students with language-based learning issues, to help us find alternative methods for mitigating common math struggles that seem to accompany dyslexia.

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Is your dyslexic child struggling with math? Here are some tips to help you teach math to your students with dyslexia - so it sticks.

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According to the NIH, 17% of our nation's children have trouble learning to read. More than 2.9 million school-age children in the United States - approximately five percent of the student population - are diagnosed with learning disabilities. When we first realized that our otherwise bright oldest child was not learning to read as he should, we began looking for answers. That was 15 years ago. He learned to read, graduated from high school with honors {not necessarily academic} and has gone on to do amazing things with his life. Our journey to discover what held him back in reading and how to help him had a steep learning curve. Since then, we have 7 more children - 6 who have struggled in some way to learn to read.

Best Books on Dyslexia

There are many well-written books on the subject of learning differences. The books I have listed here are books that I own and have read and reread. (All images link to Amazon and are affiliate links meaning I make a very small percentage of the purchase price if you buy the book through my site. It does not affect your cost.)

Right Brained Children in a Left Brained World by Jeffery Freed and Laurie Parsons

Written by a former teacher and educational therapist, this book explains the unique differences that predominantly right-brained thinkers possess. Contains a checklist to determine whether you and your child are right-brained thinkers and a simple step-by-step program to help these kids learn and excel utilizing their unique strengths.

Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz

When this book came out in 2005, it turned the world of understanding dyslexia upside down. Written by neuroscientist Dr. Sally Shaywitz of Yale University, it chronicles the ground-breaking research using the results from Functional MRIs to trace the cause of dyslexia to a weakness in the language system at the phonological level. Don't let the terminology scare you. This book is written for the lay person and is a treasure of information well-grounded in science. Includes exercises and techniques for working effectively with your dyslexic child.

The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan by Ben Foss

After years of battling with a school system that did not understand his dyslexia and the shame that accompanied it, renowned activist and entrepreneur Ben Foss is not only open about his dyslexia, he is proud of it. In The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan he shares his personal triumphs and failures so that you can learn from his experiences, and provides a three-step approach for success:

* Identify your child's profile: By mapping your child's strengths and weaknesses and assisting her to better understand who she is, you can help your child move away from shame and feelings of inadequacy and move toward creating a powerful program for learning.
* Help your child help himself: Coach your child to become his own best advocate by developing resiliency, confidence, and self-awareness, and focusing on achievable goals in areas that matter most to him.
* Create community: Dyslexic children are not broken, but too often the system designed to educate them is. Dare to change your school so that your child has the resources to thrive. Understanding your rights and finding allies will make you and your child feel connected and no longer alone.

Packed with practical ideas and strategies dyslexic children need for excelling in school and in life.

Homeschooling the Challenging Child by Christine Field

Written by a former lawyer turned homeschool mother. Chapters address how to deal with issues stemming from various learning disabilities, attention disorders, personality clashes, learning styles, discipline problems, managing stress and discouragement, how to plan a program, and the importance of keeping in mind the tenets of God's love and forgiveness. Hands-on tips for managing a successful home education program, as well as how to find professional help from support groups.

Unicorns Are Real: A Right-Brained Approach to Learning by Barbara Meister Vitale

Don't let the title of this book put you off. "Unicorns are real" was a statement made by a young student of the author that was the catalyst for leading her to begin to better understand the differences between her right-brained students and left-brained students.

Written in an easy to understand style and full of real life practical strategies for teaching the predominantly right-brained learner. The book begins with an easily understood, yet surprisingly in-depth description of brain structure and function as it pertains to learning. The book also contains simple, do-at-home procedures for testing your child for brain dominance.

Your Child's Growing Mind by Dr. Jane Healy

Considered the classic guide to understanding children's mental development. She explains the building blocks of reading, writing, spelling, and mathematics and shows how to help kids of all ages develop motivation, attention, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. She also looks at learning issues, ADHD, and the influences of electronic media - all through the lens of the science of childhood development.

Brain-Integration Therapy Manual by Dianne Craft

Brain Integration Therapy is a method to enhance brain function are by performing simple physical movements that cross the midline. It has been found to profoundly improve ADD/ADHD/Dyslexic conditions as well as other learning struggles. In a few minutes a day, you can vastly improve your child's focus, reduce stress and improve school performance. Yes, this works!

Parenting the Struggling Reader by Susan Hall and Dr. Louis Moats

A very comprehensive, practical guide for recognizing, diagnosing and overcoming any childhood reading difficulty. Written by a mother of a struggling reader (who is also on the board of directors of the International Dyslexia Association) and an educational researcher, this book contains both the clinical information a parent needs but also the practical, everyday solutions and tips needed to successfully help your struggling reader.

Contains an extensive explanation of our role as advocate for our children. Sections are as follows:

Identify

Testing

Accurate diagnosis

Determining what instructional approach will be most effective for your child

The Dyslexic Advantage by Brock Eide and Fernette Eide

With inspiring testimonials, this paradigm-shifting book proves that dyslexia doesn't have to be a detriment, but can often become an asset for success. The struggles as parents of struggling readers are often immense as we work to advocate for them in a society that, more often than not, discards a dyslexic intellect as inferior and unlikely to succeed in life. This wonderful book explains through example after example how the complete opposite is the case. Dyslexic minds may have troubles with conventional ways of "doing things" but it is for that reason that they have been the pivotal forces behind discoveries and innovations that have led our culture forward for centuries. Includes extensive coverage of accommodations (like speech-to-text software and digital books).

Best Web Sites for Dyslexia: For Parents

A wealth of information and tools to educate parents on how younger kids (ages 3-5) learn, the stages of reading readiness and tips, webinars and links to more excellent resources than I can name here. Includes a free online screening tool that you can do with your emergent reader right at home to asses the skills of your child. The screening results let a parent know whether or not to take specific actions such as introducing new skills, offer additional instruction, practice or support or if further assessment is needed.

LD Online One of the best informational sites on learning disabilities and ADHD. The site features hundreds of helpful articles, multimedia, a comprehensive resource guide, discussion forums, and a referral directory of professionals, schools and products. Also offers information and resources for the transition from high school to college and from college to the workplace for adults with learning disabilities.

From the writers of the book of the same name. This site is full of information, current research and forums to start and contribute to discussions of issues important to you.

The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity Concise site full of information for parents, educators and policy-makers.

Susan Barton is the developer of the Barton Reading & Spelling System. This is a science-based program that you can easily do from home. Be sure to have your child tested before beginning any treatment program to know for sure what your child's specific areas of weakness are. Her site is full of information on everything from defining dyslexia to finding a tester or tutor in your area.

Best Learn-to-Read Web Sites: For Children

Starfall A free public service to teach kids to read with phonics. Starfall combines phonemic awareness practice with a systematic phonics instruction and highly engaging visuals. My kids love this program. Check out the Starfall iPad app too.

Reading Eggs For children from 4-7 who are learning to read. Focuses on a core reading curriculum of phonics and sight words using skills and strategies essential for sustained reading success. Free 14-day trial and then costs about $10/month.

Best Computerized Reading Instruction For the Older Struggling Reader

Older struggling readers have the same problems as younger readers and need to learn and master the same skills. The good news is that all kids {and adults} can learn to read. The key is to find a program that is not 'babyish' and that systematically teaches at an intense enough pace to keep progress steady thus motivating the student. Reading Horizons is all of these things. Click for more information, my review and purchase options.

Best Blogs on Dyslexia

From the writers of The Dyslexic Advantage book, their blog is full of news and current topics about dyslexia. Focus on successful dyslexics and how they 'made it'.

Written by educational therapist Carleen Paul, this blog is full of practical, do-it-yourself activities to help your struggling reader.

Parent and educator, Joan Brennan, has lots of ideas for parents and teachers of struggling readers.

Best iPad Apps for Dyslexia

Web Reader HD Text-to-speech app that can read web page content. Super easy to use and mostly effective.

Dragon Go! (FREE) Allows you to speak what you are searching for on the web so Google, Wikipedia and YouTube are defaults.

Dragon Dictation (FREE) This is a voice recognition app that allows the user to see the text generated through speaking instead of typing. Can be used with some popular social networking sites.

Soundnote ($4.99) A note-taking app that basically turns your iPad into a Livescribe pen. (See above under Compensation Tech) Records lectures and then syncs the audio to what you type or scribble in. The audio recording is time-locked to your typing and drawing. You may want to use a keyboard or stylus for this app to be more functional.

PaperDesk ($2.99) Another note-taking app like Soundnote but that has more options like inserting photos, importing pdfs, organizing pages into notebooks, and an option to export. More complicated to use than Soundnote.

Speller (FREE) Allows you to type in a word phonetically (based on how it sounds) and it will come up with the actual spelling of the word. It also provides definitions to help you understand the meaning of the word.

Reading Trainer ($1.99) Helps improve reading speed with fun exercises.

Read Say ($1.99) Teaches grade appropriate Dolch sight words (the 220 words that appear most frequently in reading) by showing each word, speaking it aloud and tracking your progress. We LOVE flashcard apps!

Sound Literacy ($24.99) Open-ended design for teaching phonemic awareness, phonological processing, and more sound awareness activities - all weaknesses in struggling readers. App features phoneme tiles for hands-on manipulating. See their web site to see if this is a good fit for your family www.soundliteracy.com

Idea Sketch (FREE) lets you draw a diagram (mind map, concept map, or flow chart) convert it to a text outline and vice versa/ It can be used to brainstorm ideas, illustrate concepts, make lists and outlines, and more. Great for visual thinkers.

Best Compensation Technology for Dyslexics
(Click images for more information or to purchase - contains affiliate links) Livescribe Smartpen
An amazing device, this is a pen that captures everything you hear and write while linking your audio recordings to your notes. Great for a student sitting in a lecture hall. Later, playback the recording or tap your notes with the pen to go back to just one particular area. Our daughter used this in her first college classes and loved it.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking
This is a speech-recognition program that can be used to, among other things, dictate everything from answers to schoolwork, to a five-paragraph essay. You can even dictate emails, surf the web with voice commands or dictate on your smartphone.

Best Sources for Audiobooks

Free public domain audio books and ebooks for use with iPhone, Kindle and mp3 players.

Free audiobooks from iTunes

An online library of digital books for people with print disabilities. It operates under exception to US Copywright law which allows copyrighted digital books (not just public domain) to be made available to people with qualifying disabilities. To become a member you must prove that you have a need for their service by completing a proof of disability form (available on their web site).

Best Nation-wide Dyslexia Treatment Program

Many treatment/tutoring services for the struggling reader are focused on teaching systematic phonics instruction. There is nothing necessarily wrong with this approach. However, a program that enhances and strengthens the struggling reader's weak auditory and visual memory and other specific weaknesses (determined by accurate testing) improve in their reading ability much faster. Check out the for more information and to find a tutor near you.

Best Reading Curriculum

All About Reading We began using the All About Reading curriculum this year with our dyslexic kindergartner. Now this is a fun program! While Reading Horizons is intense phonics instruction and practice geared for the older struggling reader, All About Reading is hands on, simultaneously multisensory introduction into the written word. Every lesson comes with an engaging phonemic awareness activity that is so fun, my son doesn't know he is learning one of the most foundational skills of reading success. Lessons are completely scripted so there is little prep time for mom. The customer service at All About Learning Press is top notch. Specifically designed for the homeschooled student that struggles with reading. This program has all of the elements of a research-based reading program. For more information, click the image below.

For an updated list of dyslexia resources, please visit the Resources Page.

What are your favorite dyslexia resources?

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The Ultimate List of Dyslexia Resources | Homeschooling with Dyslexia

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According to the NIH, 17% of our nation's children have trouble learning to read. More than 2.9 million school-age children in the United States - approximately five percent of the student population - are diagnosed with learning disabilities. When we first realized that our otherwise bright oldest child was not learning to read as he should, we began looking for answers.

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Mastery of negative affect: A hierarchical model of emotional self-efficacy beliefs.

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Mastery of negative affect: A hierarchical model of emotional self-efficacy beliefs.

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Many programmers, including some of the brightest and best, are dyslexic - how does that work!?

I want to make a confession.

I'm slightly dyslexic and being a programmer this is a worrying condition!

It is even more worrying that quite a few of the "good" programmers I have had the privilege and frustration of working with over the years have also been dyslexic, some very much so.

First I need to explain why dyslexia is a strange defect to find in a programmer, just in case some of you don't know what dyslexia is or what programming involves.

KO rules

Firstly, dyslexia is a complicated collection of symptoms and problems that often goes unnoticed in the school system.

Here are seven thing you need to know about dyslexia courtesy of help4dyslexia:
Click for larger poster
The major problem is that dyslexics find it difficult to read.

This isn't their only problem but it is the one that surfaces as soon as they encounter formal education with its set stages of learning to read.

When all the other pupils are zooming ahead onto Dick and Jane book 12, a typical dyslexic is still wondering what the black blobs on the paper might be.

That is, if they are lucky - many know all too well that the black blobs are important, and probably the key to the universe, only they can't quite grasp it. The frustration often leads to other more antisocial problems and eventually a proportion of dyslexics end up being classified as "bad" and "lazy" rather than having a problem not of their making.

A Range of Problems

Being one of their number, I would like to claim at this point that dyslexics are in fact fine people with huge IQs and wonderful abilities given to them to make up for the problem - but I can't.

Dyslexics I've known have a range of abilities, IQs and failings.

Just because you have dyslexia it doesn't mean that you are gifted with many compensating factors. Usually it's just that dyslexia makes it more difficult to show off what you do have, because people focus on what you cannot do rather than on what you can do.

Once they have managed to decode the blobs, if they manage to decode the blobs,dyslexics usually show other problems - reversal of letters and figures e.g. d/b and p/q, 5 and 2, difficulty with sequences of all sorts, terrible spelling, very short short term memory for learning lists etc.

One odd symptom that is very rarely discussed, but a number of dyslexics I have known recognise it when it is mentioned, is a strange symmetric transposition of whole character or figure groups.

For example, one person I work with always confuses the numbers 12 and 20 to the point where if I find a 12 or a 20 in a program there is a 50% probability it should have been the other one!

Why 12 and why 20?

A good question, but you can see, or rather hear, that there is similarity in the way that they sound - yes the problems are complicated and sometimes comical!

The Big Fail

The big problem is that the formal education makes a fetish out of being able to read. It doesn't much matter that a dyslexic might be able to do difficult algebra or master scientific ideas - if they can't read they they are a failure.

The same is true but to a slightly lesser extent for arithmetic. Many dyslexics are also "discalculic". The problem with this is that mastering arithmetic is also another barrier that formal education sets up. If you can't do arithmetic then you can't do math so there is no point in progressing to anything more difficult. The important point is that many dyslexics can tell you how to solve a problem in arithmetic but they can't do it without a calculator.

It is time the distinction was made between spelling and creating works of great literature and begin able to add up and doing real math. Arithmetic is what a cheap calculator can do, math is something else again.

Dyslexics often have the ability to master the algorithms if not the machinary to execute them and this quickly becomes a barrier to making any further progress in formal education.

If you can't read and you can't do arithmetic then you can't move on to do literature, algebra, the whole world or mathematics and science or anything else for that matter. And yet in many cases if reading and arithmetic are simply ignored then dyslexics can do more difficult things.

I am always amazed when I encounter a young dyslexic failing at school, perhaps taken out an put into a special education program that drills them for as many hours as possible in reading and arithmetic and discover they they are an expert astronomer, programmer, engineer, maker, electronics expert, photographer, mathematican, etc.

Remedal programs sometimes help but simply ignoring the difficulites an moving on works much better.

Programming connection

Now we come to the programming connection.

Dyslexics often can't read long flowing paragraphs or do arithmetic but they do have algorithms in their heads. They often are very know how to do things and find it possible to express the dynamics of a process as a static text - which is what programming is all about.

Of course there is a the small problem of having to write it all down and read it. There are also problems of spelling, seriation and short term symbolic memory deficits.

What is more programs use lots of symbolic names which need to be spelled 100% accurately and even capitalised in the correct way.

This is the spelling problem on steroids.

Oddly this doesn't seem to be a huge problem for most of the dyslexic programmers I have worked with.

They seem to be able to keep to a single spelling of a symbol.

In the early days this was probably due to the fact that compilers would spit out error messages when variables were spelt incorrectly - yes compilers were early spell checkers!

It isn't always the spelling of a symbol that most of us would have picked but it is often consistent.

The real problem occurs when they have to "interface" with another programmer's code. For example, two programmers are working together on a project to build an application for managing a production line which makes automatic measurements. One works to build a class library for the other to use in building the application.

Fine until the first programmer writes a call to the "height" method of the "widget" object only to find that is actually the "hieght" method of the "wiget" object!

Such things are usually easy to notice with spelling and intellisense autoprompting and relatively easy to put right with modern refactoring tools, apart that is from the shame of it all!

To be serious for a moment many dyslexics are very loath to admit that they have a problem at all and become hostile and or embarrassed at any attempt to notice let alone discuss the problem. This unwillingness to even admit that there is a problem is perhaps the only intractable problem!

Most dyslexic programmers do a good job and may even do a better job for having to battle with their problem - but this isn't the important point. If you know that a particular programming language has a tendency to a particular type of error then you do something to guard against it. The same should be true of the programmer's tendency to make particular types of error.

When I was first learning to program I kept a notebook of the errors I made and very quickly learned what to look out for. Today my errors are much more diverse and subtle for the approach to be of much use but it was helpful in getting the bugs out of me!

Over time I have also had to admit to the errors caused by my own dyslexia which, no matter how mild I claim it to be, still causes me much embarrassment.

The good news is that research reveals some interesting things about dyslexia. First off it seems to be a real physiological problem and not just an "attitude of mind". This is important because so often children, and programmers, are treated as lazy rather than dyslexic!

Recent research has even identified structural differences in the connectivity patterns in the left occipito-temporal region of the brain between dyslexics and developing readers. The developing readers showed greater connectivity to linguistic regions than the dyslexic group. Those with dyslexia showed greater connectivity to visual and parahippocampal (memory encoding and retrieval) regions.

Second it seems, whatever the deeper neurology is about, to be a perceptual problem rather than a deeper problem in language processing. Hence dyslexics understand well enough but have I/O problems not IQ problems.

In particular it seems to be a problem with particular types of visual and auditory perception - dyslexics just don't see or hear in quite the same way as the rest of the population.

The final question I have is why is it that so many people who find coping with text difficult take to programming - the most text based of all the technologies? Again research has come up with possible answers.

If you think you might be dyslexic the Adult Dyslexia Organisation has a diagnostic checklist.

Einstein - dyslexic? Well it was very nearly E=cm²

Adult Dyslexia Organisation British Dylexsia Association International Dyslexia Association
And if you discover you are a likely dyslexic, bear in mind two things. It probably makes you a better programmer and you are in prestigious company as this list of famous dyslexics indicates.
Programming - A Life Long Challenge In Praise of Top-Down Teach Concepts Not Just Code What makes a programmer
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Many programmers, including some of the brightest and best, are dyslexic - how does that work!? I want to make a confession. I'm slightly dyslexic and being a programmer this is a worrying condition!

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"Many programmers, including some of the brightest and best, are dyslexic..." Mike James, programmer extraordinaire, author of over 50 books, PhD MS - still admits to feeling embarrassed about his dyslexia.

In our practice, it seems as if we've found a high incidence of dyslexia or dyslexia traits among parents, and within this cluster, an unusually high number who are in the Internet Security field.

The strengths associated in these areas seem to be in the areas of visualization, analytical and strategic reasoning, and hands-on problem solving. Dynamic reasoning (working in a complex and continually changing environment) is also important - for the security folks, knowing where the bad guys are going to attack the system next is the critical talent.

Read more about it here.

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"Many programmers, including some of the brightest and best, are dyslexic..." Mike James, programmer extraordinaire, author of over 50 books, PhD MS - still admits to feeling embarrassed about his dyslexia. In our practice, it seems as if we've found a high incidence of dyslexia or dyslexia traits among parents, and within this cluster, an [...]

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I have been interested in learning to code and i have dyslexia. Do you guys thing it will be any harder? Any tips would be highly appreciated. I have tried a bit but i haven't come far. Dont know if it is because i suck or dyslexia. Might even be both. Thanks!

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I have been interested in learning to code and i have dyslexia. Do you guys thing it will be any harder? Any tips would be highly appreciated. I have tried a bit but i haven't come far. Dont know if it is because i suck or dyslexia. Might even be both.

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"Data Carpentry" is non-profit organization that develops and provides data skills training to researchers.

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I have very severe Dyslexia which was only truly diagnoses when I went to university. The examiner was extremely surprised I had managed to get into university based on the lack of support I experienced during high school and 6th form. I got my support and I managed to get a good 2:1 in web development at the University of South Wales.

The good news is this have not effected the progression of my professional career in anyway. I am currently the Lead Software Engineer at Hot Snapper Ltd, a web development shop based in the UK that writes software for funded startups. I also run Smooth PHP a open source event souring and CQRS package and a startup called Auto Deploy.

The Down Sides

Yes its not just plain sailing been dyslexic in the work place. It takes me longer to communicate my thoughts to the team though written communications. When I write to clients I have to take my time and when I write documents I need to get someone to check. When I joined I was worried this would be an issue. Feeling anxious during the recruitment process asking if been dyslexic would be an issue. Lucky it not and the team understand.

The Best Bits

You may worry that you have to read and write code all day, but its not the same as documents its simple code. If your dyslexic mind works anything like mine you process words as pictures and patterns. This works great for code you can easily visualise systems and processes.

Code is the best grammar and spell checker you can have. Programming languages require correct syntax, you can't get it to work unless its right and you easily learn to solve the issue. Much like dyslexics can learn new words by been forced to use it over and over again. It then registers as a new picture in your mind.

Once you have a good IDE your set to program where I actually feel it gives me an advantage and because of the way I visualise systems I can program away from the computer in my mind. Solving complex issues with a bit of thought.

Final Thoughts

If your dyslexic and reading this don't panic, get out there and program. The possible lack in your qualifications is not because you're stupid, it's because your dyslexic and getting your thoughts on paper is hard. But programming does not have to be. Some of the best coders I know are so get out there and code!

Ps

If there are spelling and grammar issues please let me know :).

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Dyslexia does not stop you coding. - Simon Bennett - Medium

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I have very severe Dyslexia which was only truly diagnoses when I went to university. The examiner was extremely surprised I had managed to get into university based on the lack of support I experienced during high school and 6th form.

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I have very severe Dyslexia along with Dysnomia and Dysgraphia. I have known about it since I was a child. My reading and writing skills are pretty crippled, but I have learned to deal with it.

However, with today's IDEs, I find it very easy to stay focused and in the zone when I code. But when I write text (like this post) I find it much harder to stay focused.

In general, do dyslexics find it easier to read and write code compared to general reading and writing? What types of tricks and tools do dyslexics use to help them master programming better than normal reading and writing?

closed as too broad by MichaelT, gnat, Ixrec, Snowman, GlenH7 Feb 13 '16 at 23:37

Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once. See the If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. help center, please edit the question.

I've recently discovered that I'm dyslexic (at age 26) and am starting out in programming, studying a software engineering degree at university (after previously dropping out of a civil engineering degree at the same university in the final year when the course became assignment/report heavy - I now understand why).

I've been reading a lot (at my slow pace) as to what dyslexia is and why/how/where it affects us and I believe I can explain why we can still program well, despite how text heavy it is.

Dyslexic process their thoughts in pictures (well not pictures like on the wall, more like 3d video where you can move the camera and thus it's point of view around, I think of it as an internal world where I have the powers of 'god' (geez that sounds egotistical but I don't mean it that way) ie; I can instantly change everything about it with my thoughts.

Anyway, we can process words just fine, so long as we can firmly anchor/tether those words to an 'image', words like cat, hat, hit, run, jump, vertical, fluffy, hard etc are no problem at all, we can easily 'picture' what that is, the words we trip over are things like 'are' 'to' 'the' 'a' things where if someone asked you to draw that word (not write the word, actually draw a picture of it) you wouldn't know where to start.

In programming there are no such words, they all refer to either a process or an object, once we've learnt what the object or process is and our minds have formed a visualisation of it we're away. This site does a good job of explaining what I'm on about:
http://www.davisdyslexia.com/disorientation.html#tricky

BTW if trying to read the bold text in the middle of the page BEFORE running the mouse over it makes you dizzy or feel weird and you have trouble getting threw it, you might well be dyslexic. I've gotta push forwards threw the sentences to their end before i can make any sense of what's being described, i feel dizzy when reading it too.

One thing I'm struggling with is explaining to my math lecturer that I need real examples and not general solutions to learn, when he talks about a n by n matrix I can't picture a thing, I need to work with a 3x3 or 4x4 and then I can transfer the learnings/processes to all sizes of matrices. He remains adamant that general solutions are the only way for what he calls 'true' learning sigh.

I have a severely dyslexic friend who reads quite well when she's reading through a sheet of yellow plastic. Or when she highlights the hell out of each page. For some reason, coloring the text somehow helps her brain grok the glyphs it's seeing.

So maybe syntax-highlighting and code coloring helps?

"I've tutored a number of dyslexic programmers and it has always surprised me that they find it easier to write/type when using an IDE as opposed to say a text doc."

I'm dyslexic and have been programming since 1972: I was surprised that it was impossible for me to learn python without an IDE. I didn't have difficulty using Visual Studio for .Net etc.

The problems with all print:

dyslexics find it extremely difficult to follow a long line of text all the way to the end and to easily follow the next line in sequence. Their eye movements while reading make it harder to scan the text smoothly (saccade) http://www.optomotorik.de/dyslex/index-e.htm

The errors that result from not being able to scan a page as accurately as most others do have to be noticed, understood, thought about in the context used, and finally corrected. Dyslexics are not aware of mis reading. Programming languages require syntax that is correct.

IDE's provide a visual structure that assists the dyslexic to read and code with fewer errors. A single window with sub windows for different tasks prevents the dyslexic coder from becoming lost on the page. It reduces visual stress, like having rails on a bridge does for drivers.

Similar symbols that appear to be the same to a dyslexic are difficult to find and fix. Automatic syntax highlighting saves a ton of time looking over the error codes.

Code completion is a workaround for typing in the wrong character, looking up functions is a great help.

I don't know how people can code in an environment that allows the eye to wander and does not mark wrong syntax. Having the right IDE allows a dyslexic to program without losing time. A familiar IDE is comfortable to work in, similar to using a tool that feels right in your hand.

Dyslexic programmers tend to think visually in design blocks of code function rather than in lines of characters. Each functional block has to be translated into code. The benefit of thinking in functional blocks rather than code is that one does not become confused by large systems because a visual of the system can be used to map the code.

I feel that coding provides a wider context than general reading/writing so it doesn't rely so heavily on text parsing alone. [Speaking mainly mechanics here, not the intellectual merits.] Another point is that it's possible to be dyslexic in one language and not in another. Significantly different languages are processed in different areas of the brain and dyslexia in Chinese is quite different physiologically. May sound silly but maybe some other people are "dyslexic" in programming.

My own dyslexia is rather mild but I still avoid variable names like "bdp". I also prefer fairly short chunks of code, even if the constructs are more complex or less "readable". Of course, I try to keep the code maintainable but I lean towards terse end of the spectrum.

Having an IDE for color-coding, auto-indent and other visual cues is of course wonderful (I use emacs). Best I having for writing normal text is spell-checking and the occasional use of outline mode.

When I was younger I had dyslexia (or at least that is what they said - I essentially couldn't spell worth anything and typically wrote letters or words backwards, although I was able to read and everything else just fine - or so I thought). I have always enjoyed working with computers. We had a Commodore Vic20 when I was in grade school and I programmed on it all the time. My mom once commented that she would have thought that my dyslexia would make it more difficult for me to work on the computer, but the opposite seemed to be the case. I could spell and read much pretty much without incident when working with the computer.

I don't recall it being a matter of interest (i.e. that I was able to work with the computer because it was interesting.) I worked really hard to be able to do well with spelling and writing at other times too, but I just never really had any trouble working with the computer.

Of course at the time I did not work with an IDE or anything on the Commodore

I can see many benefits to programming for dyslexia over other careers.

The rules of programming have fewer exceptions than spelling. You can rely on repeated patterns; prose is just all over the place.

Intellisense has to be a huge benefit. Nice to know a variable you just declared has not been used when you 'think' you just did. Other than spell & some grammar check, writing applications can provide the checks a compiler will.

Short-term memory is an issuer for me. Doing almost everything on a computer comes pretty frickin' handy.

Motivation is a factor as well. It's easier for me to read about subjects I enjoy; that doesn't make me lazy which many students get labeled as if a learning problem has not been identified.

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Software Engineering Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professionals, academics, and students working within the systems development life cycle. Join them; it only takes a minute: Sign up Here's how it works: Anybody can ask a question Anybody can answer The best answers are voted up and rise to the top I have very severe Dyslexia along with Dysnomia and Dysgraphia.

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Dyslexia symptoms and PTSD- is there a connection?

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Dyslexia symptoms and PTSD- is there a connection?

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Dyslexia and PTSD- the left brain connection Rape Crisis Information Pathfinder

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"Studies show that individuals with dyslexia process information in a different area of the brain than do non-dyslexics." International Dyslexia Association "Neurological research suggests that there may be some abnormality in the function of the left side of the brain which controls the lexical system"The Dyslexia Institute

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When most people think about Dyslexia, they think of a childhood disorder. The truth is that many adults have dyslexia since it is not something you grow out of. Most adults have learned to cope with the symptoms, but they still have the disorder.

Dyslexia causes the brain to have trouble processing symbols and recognizing that they have meaning. This can cause severe disruption in the reading, or learning to read, process. It can also cause major issues with math. This is just one type of learning disability. There are several others that the physician should rule out before diagnosing a child to be Dyslexic.

Dyslexia is not connected to mental retardation or low IQ.

Many people who are Dyslexic have average, above average, or even exceptional intelligence. This disorder relates to processing one type of information. Dyslexic people still have the functionality to process complex ideas, think rationally, and learn high-level concepts.

A child may have trouble viewing the alphabet, and verbalizing the sound that goes with each letter. Many times this is the first signal that there may be a problem.

They may also have problems understanding a simple sentence and cannot explain the meaning.

Rhyming words can be especially difficult, since the words may be very similar.

Frustration learning to recognize "sight" words or other symbols in school can result in behavior problems.

The dyslexic child may also have trouble in math since symbols are the main processing problem.

Dyslexic children may have trouble writing on a line, or words may be scattered throughout the page.

Dyslexia may be visual or auditory. A patient who has visual dyslexia reverses numbers or letters in words. Symbols just don't end up in the right order. Auditory Dyslexia causes sounds to be interpreted incorrectly. This patient has trouble identifying letters or groups of letters by sound. The spoken sounds sometimes are described as jumbled.

Alphabet or numbers that are written backwards or out of order may be an early sign that a teacher may alert you to. However, this is very common in young children, and they should not be allowed to tag your child at this stage.

A major problem with dyslexic children is anxiety and depression. They may become disruptive in class and at home. They may turn in incomplete work or refuse to work at all to cover up the problems they are having understanding the work. The child may also become withdrawn. Parent intervention is crucial at this stage. The parent needs to keep the lines of communication open, and the child needs to feel like they can tell their parent anything.

The school can help parents understand what testing should be done, and what help is available. To overcome Dyslexia, it is critical to do whatever it takes to protect the child's self-esteem and confidence.

The causes of Dyslexia are not completely understood, and there are a lot researchers working on the issue. It is believed to have some genetic links. Though a dyslexic child will need to work hard to overcome the disorder, it is important to not push them to the point of adding to their stress. The increased stress just makes their problem worse.

There are new ways being developed of teaching these kids so that they progress, and at the same time preserves their dignity. If you suspect that your child has Dyslexia, look into the more successful teaching methods and make sure your child's school utilizes them.

As a parent, make it a point to keep up with all of the new research being done. If your child is Dyslexic, they have the ability to grow up as happy and intelligent as any other child does.

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When most people think about Dyslexia, they think of a childhood disorder. The truth is that many adults have dyslexia since it is not something you grow out of. Most adults have learned to cope with the symptoms, but they still have the disorder.