Today's topic dyslexia.  Dyslexia runs in my family, you could say it practically gallops (bod a bing).  I have never been formally diagnosed, but if it looks like a kcud and quacks like a duck it is probably a duck.  My mom's side of the family has the dyslexia.  She had an uncle who was never able to learn to read.  He had an amazing memory though.  He was the manager of a very large warehouse and knew where every item could be found simply from memory. Several of my siblings and I have dyslexic traits.

I never had trouble reading.  I didn't write backwards.  One of my brothers would write his name backwards, XER.  When my mom realized he was dyslexic she took steps to ensure he wouldn't have the same problems she had in school.  My mom was told she was stupid, by her teachers, because it took her so long to learn the alphabet.  She reads and writes fine now, but still is fearful of reading in public.  I have never heard her refuse to read anything out loud.  Just recently while at church she was asked to read a scripture in our women's meeting.  I realized that my mom was reading and rereading the scripture to make sure she wouldn't mess up.  I didn't realize what a challenge it was for her until she indicated that she was trying not to make a mistake.

My mom researched dyslexia and taught my brother to read and write.  In doing research she discovered, poor hand eye coordination, poor sense of direction, poor organizational skills and some other things are all dyslexic traits.  I have all of these.  I could never learn to play an instrument and though my typing speed and accuracy has improved through the necessity I am still slower than most.  I can't really play video games, my poor nieces and nephews have tried over the years to teach me something, but in futility. Oh and forget teaching me dance moves, it ain't gonna happen.  

My sense of direction is bad.  To help you understand how bad I will give you an example.  I lived in a town home for 5 years.  In 5 years I came and went hundreds and hundreds of times.  In the 5th year I bought a house and moved out.  A year and a half later, I asked someone who lived on the same street in the complex to teach my Sunday school lesson.  I took the lesson manual over to the street I had lived on for 5 years and took a wrong turn.  That is right after a year and a half I couldn't make it back to my same short street.  Oh, and it wasn't a large and complicate complex.  To my knowledge my mother has never had trouble with direction.  In fact when she was around 2 her grandfather would drive around Tarboro and say "OK, Ginny Sue, tell me how to get home." and she would.  It tickled him to no end.  And to top that off my mom, my younger sister, Celeste and I went to visit the city in Idaho we had lived in about 20 years prior, only to have my mom remember exactly how to get anywhere she wanted to go.  I just drove, she did all the navigation because even though that is where I learned to drive I couldn't remember a thing. 

Organization.  My nemesis.  I will be honest I have learned some minor skills.  At work I am very organized, but it took a long time for me to get that way.  However, when it comes to organization I am at a loss.  I admit that now that I have struggled through so much of my life without having real skills at organization I have learned a few things.  If I see a situation that is similar to one I have faced in the past then I can organize.  Because I don't usually forget the agony of learning how to organize something.  I remember when I volunteered for a school here in my home town.  I did this for several years and enjoyed it very much.  I was supposed to organize and put away the files for the rising 6th graders.  The first year I did it took me more than one visit.  I must of have picked the slowest way possible without actually not doing it at all to get the task accomplished.  I don't remember how I was doing it.  The next year the secretary of the office, pointed out a way which only took me a couple of hours.  Oh, how sad is that!  I took probably 8 hours or so to do a 2 hour job.  You will find stuff like that all over my life.  Oh, and to rub it in my sister, Ginna, is so highly organized every employer she has points it out in her reviews.  I am thinking of a word that starts with B.

I just recently was reading up on dyslexia and found that a cardinal sign of the disorder is to leave letters out of words.  I do that all the time.  I thought I was just sloppy, which I may be, but at least sometimes it is the dyslexia.  I have been working harder spelling the word mentally as I write, only to still leave a letter out pretty consistently.  I think of it as a mental hiccup, I am spelling away and somewhere in the process I just skip something.  I still get frustrated with myself when I do it but at least I know why. 

I blame my dyslexia for a lot,  I tell people all the time that some stupid thing I did or didn't do is related to my dyslexia. Usually, they laugh and are meant to, but sometimes I am serious.  Dyslexia has many facets.  You can have some and not others.   But it has given my things too.  I don't know if it is a part of the disorder or a coping mechanism but I have a good memory and I am fairly quick to memorize things I need.  That is helpful.  I will never be a great speller, or a math whiz but I have a mental Rolodex.  I am able to remember things well.  People ask me to recall information of some sort all the time.  And I generally have that little piece of information tucked away waiting to be pulled forth and used.  I have a joke. Did you hear about the agnostic, insomniac, dyslexic?   She was up all night wondering if there really was a DOG.

I have to thank Eboni. After all the years of not being able to use the less than or greater than symbols which people have tried to teach me over and over she did it!  I can now remember which is which. People have use the alligator method, the here we will show you etc.  But  Eboni used her left hand to make the symbol and told me left is less.  So simple and effective!  I could never remember from one time to the next.  In my field of work we use the symbols a lot.  Usually, the symbols would make sense only one way so I would know what was meant.  I would ask someone and explain that I couldn't use them if I wasn't easily able to discern what was wanted.  I got some strange looks and then they would try to teach me, to no avail.  Whenever I wanted to use them I would either get help or right out greater than or less than.

 I almost forgot, that's right I don't remember all.  I knew a girl around 25 years ago who confessed a deep dark secret.  She was dyslexic.  She had such shame about it.  She told me her parents and said she never tell anyone.  She was terrified to read or do much in public because of her dyslexia.  How sad her parents decided to make her a dirty little family secret.  That was the real shame.

They say dyslexics aren't mentally slow.  That could be argued in my case I am sure.  I am not complaining, I have stumbled through life OK.  I make a living, own my home and with a GPS get lost less than ever and thank goodness for spell check!  Holy Cow, you have no idea what you would be reading if not.  That is right math and spelling can also be an issue for dyslexics.  It is a learning disability that doesn't mean you aren't smart but you learn differently.  Oh, how I love being different!  It is way fun.