Young Writers Society

Hey! I kind of want to write a dyslexic character but don't want to portray them wrong. I know a tiny bit after reading Percy Jackson, but not enough for my taste. Help please? c:

What exactly are you looking to get help on? There's a lot that dyslexia influences.

@Rosendorn That's the thing, I don't know what it influences.

Percy Jackson is not the most accurate portrayal of dyslexia, just to put that out there.

With that said, every person with dyslexia experiences it a bit differently, and each person copes very differently as a result. If you want details, you'll need to be more specific about what aspects of dyslexia you're wondering about because right now, the answer to the question "What does dyslexia influence?" is "What doesn't dyslexia influence?"

@Kale Yeah, I had the feeling. So how to put this, well, what is dyslexia? I'm pretty sure it has to do with(correct me if I'm wrong) reading and reading comprehension, but how might you describe that in writing? I just want to learn so that I'm not being rude to people with dyslexia by portraying it wrong.

Reading and reading comprehension are two different beasts. Dyslexia is nasty because it messes with your ability to read and write, but NOT with your ability to comprehend the language.

Basically, if someone read the passage aloud to a dyslexic person, the dyslexic person would have no issue understanding what was going on in the passage (comprehension). The dyslexic person would struggle with reading the passage unassisted, because writing just doesn't make sense as a form of language.

One analogy I can think of off the top of my head is someone tossing you a pretty advanced mathematical equation and expecting you to easily get the correct answer without assistance. If you have a solid understanding of math, you could get that answer with enough time and a lot of work. If, on the other hand, you don't have enough experience to recognize all the symbols and how they're used in sequence, you're in a lot of trouble.

Math is a language in its own right, and learning to read mathematical notation and use it correctly is, in my experience, as difficult as learning how to read and spell words correctly.

Only there are a lot more words than there are mathematical notations and methods.

@Kale So what I'm getting is that it is it is hard to read written things, correct?(Maybe like trying to read another language that you barely know?) Would it have an affect on a person's ability to spell? I am just trying to find out how it would affect a character and my writing? I'm going to try to do a little of my own research, but I know the internet is not always the most reliable.

It definitely can have an impact on spelling. HOWEVER, and this is a big HOWEVER, just because someone has dyslexia, it does NOT mean that they constantly misspell words or will be incredibly slow at reading.

Dyslexia makes learning how to read and write difficult, BUT with the proper types of instruction, dyslexic people are fully capable of learning how to read and write as well as anyone else. I was taught how to read with a primarily phonics-based system that also emphasized the etymology of words so that I would be able to guess at the sounds of words I hadn't encountered in writing before and figure out based on those extrapolations what the word actually was. A lot of words I just straight-up memorized how they looked because I'm a very visual person (and so really weird fonts and taht lteetr slcmarbe tinhg seriously mess me up).

I also am a so-called speed reader, and I can easily read 400+ page novels in a single afternoon sitting. Most people would never suspect I'm dyslexic unless I straight-up told them. I'm also not the only one on YWS.

Honestly, some research is better than no research at this point, even if you do get some wrong info in there, because it will give you a better baseline for what aspects of dyslexia you really need more perspectives on rather than the massive "entirety of the dyslexic experience", and it'll also give us a better focus for our answers so that they stand a chance of actually being helpful and applicable.

It's interesting reading what Kale said, because it makes me feel like perhaps I don't have dyslexia, when before I sorta thought I may have had some- due to a speech therapist thinking/saying she thought I had dyslexia. But my reading issues weren't just due to having trouble learning to read/write because of the symbols (though that was a HUGE part of it growing up) but what I still struggle with is reading comprehension- but that also effects me in other aspects of life, like talking with people and absorbing what they're saying. Also like one of the things that pops up when I'm talking in groups and not having the best day speaking, is I'll almost literally spew gibberish- but it's usually me saying words fast and mubling them at the same time and trying and failing to get my point across and simply giving up really soon because I don't think people care about what I'm saying- so that normally happens in groups that I'm either not comfortable/confident in, or something like that.

Though again, I'm not dyslexic. I just was interested in the topic because I have been thinking about it for awhile, and I have been "compared" or "rumoured" XP as dyslexic in the past, by my speech therapist that didn't do ANYTHING speech related with me really, and instead helped me with story and character development. O.o

Anyway, TheBlueCat, my advice is find a youtube channel, a blog, or SOMETHING that gives you information, straight from the mouth of people struggling with dyslexia, and see what you discover! Also remember to check out multiple blogs/channels/etc so that you can get a wider idea and such.

I FORGOT

There's a bunch of disabilities related to dyslexia that often occur with dyslexia, and a lot of stereotypically dyslexic things (like not being able to spell correctly) are not actually part of dyslexia. Inability to spell is actually dysgraphia, and there's also difficulty with math which is dyscalculia.

My favourite bit of information re: what do learning disabilities impact is these infographics. They break down the multiple "dys" learning disabilities Kyll mentioned.

I personally am dysgraphic, which is the "struggles to spell" part so often associated with dyslexia but isn't necessarily part of dyslexia— they're just so often found together people think they're part and parcel. It also comes with difficulty in handwriting, keeping track of multiple tasks in a row, and makes it I really hate getting words out for ideas.

I also probably have dyscalculia, which is a struggle with math. And math based concepts. Like time. And distance. And knowing when deadlines are. I couldn't understand algebra to save my life, but chemistry was decent, physics makes some semblance of sense to me, finances are easy enough so long as there aren't too many moving parts (I would often calculate the taxes on a book purchase in my head), and statistics are fairly straightforward.

So one thing you'll have to figure out about your character is which learning disabilities they have, because it could just be one— but far more likely, it's two or more, especially within the "dys" series.

My mom is a bit dyslexic and I see on a daily basis a few things that she struggles with.

I notice that she reads slower and sometimes confuses words together, which is very common for those with any degree of dyslexia.
She also can only read when there is no noise so she can concentrate. And she can't read words upside down, sideways or even a little tilted. She has to see words straight on.

When she was younger no one helped her to improve or overcome her struggles with dyslexia, she was just taught just how and just as fast as other students.
But at the time she was a kid, I guess less people were as aware of these things as they are today, with more thorough research and our technology,
which I imagine must have been hard.

Of course I'm no expert on the subject, I just observe my mom and ask her questions about it from time to time because I find it quite interesting,
and I think its cool when people make their characters more involved and interesting by giving them small difficulties to deal with. It really makes the character seem real.

I suggest that you just do a little more research on it. Maybe try wikipedia for starters.

Thanks all! Definitely more complex than I originally thought!