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Finding my own solutions |
Thelma Good reports on
techniques which have heped her as an adult Dyslexic writer.
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I was musing the other day on how I have managed to become a writer whilst continuing of course to be Dyslexic. Computers have helped, spell checkers have helped, talking has helped. I too get words wrong, sideways and back to front. Ms Malaprop I can be! Voice dictation software helps too. But the breakthrough for me was when I learned to relax around words: I noticed I made far more mistakes when I was uptight and worked on being relaxed rather than tense when writing, etc. were involved. This was not easy - years of teachers and my mother had made me very tense. The other thing which I did was I invented my own solutions to my problems. I realised I taught myself left and right by learning 'wristwatch' means left, 'no watch' means right. I still have to look to see watch or not and I point rather than say the words. Over the years I have found my own solutions to the wonderful errors Dyslexia has led me into and my sense of achievement is fostered. I file by color and style of folder. Though I sort of know my alphabet, I find it is much easier for me to remember that "Words go Wonky" is in with all my other articles in the blue files and as it's a Dyslexic one it will be in the dark blue box file. Stationery stores love me and I have brightly coloured files in open shelves - much easier than a nasty filing cabine!. My short term memory may be bad but my long term memory is good now I've trained it to be, and I use it. I learned to write in italics because I liked the way it looked. Now, though I spell words wrongly, few people notice in italic printing, and fewer comment, as attractive writing blinds them to my literal mistakes. I learned to do this when 17 and my early clumsiness was lessened. It probably also enforced multi-sensory learning as I spoke the letters at the same time. I had to have a large vocabulary to write as often I couldn't spell the first word that came to mind. I read large dictionaries and I learn to remember how words were made up: it helped to understand how they might be spelt. I never found a thesaurus useful - I needed definitions. I listened to the words people used in speech and used them myself at first orally then in writing. I learnt to take breaks. Dyslexics can't write for hours on end so I avoid doing so whenever possible. I break tasks down into short bursts, and since doing this I find I can work for longer than before. I may have built up stamina. Certainly the lower rate of mistakes when doing things in short bursts increased my confidence. I use a split keyboard. I think this is easier to use as I have a greater sense of which hand is which. I was taught to type ten-fingered and I think that helps to keep the sense of where the letters are on the keyboard. I still would find it very hard to be taught anything about words, writing, or spelling by a teacher. It sets off dreadful tension. But I have discovered that I can find solutions to a lot of problems, though sometimes it has taken me some time to find them. We know our own Dyslexia very well and in my opinion are the best people to analyse the difficulty . We ourselves can come up with solutions when we are adult Dyslexics who have had years of trying to survive in a world which isn't quite designed for us. I also think we vary a lot in how Dyslexia affects us individually. At quite an early age I decided that most ways of doing things didn't work for me. I responded by exploring to find ways that did. Often the solutions have a visual and three-dimensional basis. In the past I have thought often I must be mad to try and be a writer but recently with the advent of high speed computers and other aids it has become great deal easier. I still need a non-Dyslexic person to proof-read though. Thank goodness for husbands! Thelma Good E-mail: thelma@good1.demon.co.uk
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