DEMOS Project - Dyslexic students FAQ

Does it affect all dyslexic students in the same way?

It is likely that dyslexic students may be affected in different ways because there may be a constellation of indicators, any or all of which might be present in a dyslexic person. These indicators might include:

surprising lapses in literacy and lack of confidence with the written or printed word;
evidence of stress where reading and writing are needed under pressure;
misreading and misunderstanding of questions;
difficulty in meeting deadlines;
short term memory problems which might affect note-taking, reading, writing and organisation;
difficulties with sequencing information;
handwriting which is often difficult to read;
an erratic standard of writing;
lack of coherence in writing;
lapses in punctuation;
inappropriate choice of words;
evidence that proof reading skills are not working well;
letter transpositions;
phonetic spellings;
endings/plurals, past tense '-ed' tense endings omitted;
difficulties with note-taking, essay planning and general organisation and time-keeping.

Most often ignored are the difficulties with planning and personal organisation. Because of this dyslexic people are sometimes judged as being lazy, unmotivated, sloppy or careless. In fact nothing could be further from the truth; the final product (usually word processed work for assessment) is very unlikely to reflect the amount of time and effort that has gone into it.

Finally some, but not all, dyslexics do have excellent skills in other areas. For example they can have strong visual-spatial awareness or outstanding spoken language and oral presentation skills. Some famous people who have these skills and who are thought to be dyslexic include: Thomas Eddison, Michael Faraday, Leonardo da Vinci, AA Gill, Eddie Izzard.

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