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Original post by mevidek
that's an idiotic thing to say. Dyslexics such as Einstein achieved great things, as did many others. My sister for example, is dyslexic, although she's not stupid at all. In fact she's very intelligent.


Einstein was not dyslexic, it's a myth.

Original post by screenager2004
No seriously they are exempt from fines. I found out at a disability awareness training seminar so I couldn't exactly protest about it, it might look odd!

Some of the suggestions were just stupid though "Let's have a colour co-ordinated system where all of the maths books have a red sticker, all sociology books have a green sticker" What about Mathematical Sociology books? What about the fact that all the Maths books are in the Maths section, and all books about sociology have the word 'Sociology' written on the cover?


Stripes?

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As for the OP: I take the middle ground and would say that dyslexia is a real condition which is massively being over given as a diagnosis to cover the failings of teacher's, student's or parent's (either that or to get benefits).
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 41
Original post by sil3nt_cha0s
Yeah, and look at Tom from the Apprentice and what he's achieved :france:


Oh yeah, I forgot him... Yeah, basically the fact is that this thread is pointless, and Dyslexia is not "a middle-class way to hide stupidity". It's a preposterous suggestion, and very insulting to those with Dyslexia.
Reply 42
I don't understand dyslexia what does it do exactly they all claim it prevents them seeing numbers and letters properly so surely none of them can read number plates, road signs etc so we should prevent them from driving also why would it only affect numbers and letters surely it will affect everything?
I still don't understand why dyslexics get extra time in exams. Exams should be assessed on your ability to do them within the assessed time; dyslexia is very easy to fake.
Reply 44
computing requires reading and writing though?
Reply 45
Original post by PendulumBoB
Einstein was not dyslexic, it's a myth.



Stripes?

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As for the OP: I take the middle ground and would say that dyslexia is a real condition which is massively being over given as a diagnosis to cover the failings of teacher's, student's or parent's (either that or to get benefits).


http://dyslexia.learninginfo.org/famous-people.htm

Erm yes, he was.
I want to point out the following fact. English is a schizophrenic language in that there is a huge discrepancy between how words are written and how words are pronounced, and when facing a new written word, there is usually no rule to know how it should be pronounced. That can confuse the brain.

Some personal anecdotes. My first language is not English. I've been living in the UK for years though, and I can tell that the more fluent I've become in English, somehow the more 'dyslexic' I've become (especially when writing). I know two properly bilingual people who have no problem of any kind in my native language, but are classified as dyslexic when it comes to English. And they're both quite intelligent and cultivated.

I suspect that dyslexia has something to do with the English language, not the people. (How many non-english speaking dyslexics are there? Does anyone have any numbers/figures?)
(edited 12 years ago)
i think i must have the opposite of dyslexia, where words are too clear to me and any kind of spelling error just jumps out of the screen at me.
Original post by mevidek
Oh yeah, I forgot him... Yeah, basically the fact is that this thread is pointless, and Dyslexia is not "a middle-class way to hide stupidity". It's a preposterous suggestion, and very insulting to those with Dyslexia.


very insulting to the 6,000,000 people in Britain who apparently all have dyslexia?


http://dyslexia.learninginfo.org/einstein.htm :teehee:

It's all too convenient when people make such claims about dead people who can't speak out for themselves.
Reply 50
Original post by Dialetheism
I want to point out the following fact. English is a schizophrenic language in that there is a huge discrepancy between how words are written and how words are pronounced, and when facing a new written word, there is usually no rule to know how it should be pronounced. My first language is not English. I've been living in the UK for years though, and I can tell that the more fluent I've become in English, somehow the more 'dyslexic' I've become. I know two properly bilingual people who have no problem of any kind in my native language, but are classified as dyslexic when it comes to English. And they're both quite intelligent and cultivated. I suspect that dyslexia has something to do with the language, not the people. (How many non-english speaking dyslexics are there? Does anyone have any numbers/figures?)


Screw language rules memorise each word individually that is the English way.
Original post by M.Duggan
Tongue or fingers?


D'you honestly think I'd answer that? :rolleyes:
Reply 52
Original post by PendulumBoB
http://dyslexia.learninginfo.org/einstein.htm :teehee:

It's all too convenient when people make such claims about dead people who can't speak out for themselves.


How do you explain that he had all of the 'symptoms' of dyslexia?
Reply 53
Original post by dnumberwang
very insulting to the 6,000,000 people in Britain who apparently all have dyslexia?


What?
It is, and in a lot of cases it stunts peoples progress from day one.

There is no point medicalisating stupidity and laziness.
Reply 55
Original post by Marsha2112
A girl at my school said her sister got given a Macbook Pro by her uni just because she was dyslexic :eek:

While I think that it is legitimate condition, I can't help thinking way too many people are milking it. Some are just slower at reading than others, some are dim and some are plain lazy. Some guy at my school labelled his "dyslexia" as a flag to mess around and not do any work, and now pretty much smokes pot for a living. The fact that hundreds or thousands have it is ridiculous; it's like the huge increase in ADHD - I can't help thinking many of these are just naughty children.

The fact they get extra help I also disagree with - if you're bad at maths or generally not very clever, you get a D in the exam, realise it's not for you and move on. If you have dyslexia, you get help, resources, extra time and extra marks thrown at you. It's not really fair.


Indeed. However, children with dyscalculia get similar help. Dyslexia is not synonymous to being bad at maths. Dyslexia is not diagnosed based on being a slow reader, dimness or laziness. Dyslexia has specific medical diagnosis not based on large scale symptoms and is gaining a neuroscientific explanation.

Schools pick out kids to be tested based on having excessive weaknesses in certain areas on intelligence tests when compared to the rest of their results. A kid who is bad at everything would be considered dim, not dyslexic. A child who is substantially lower in literacy indicators than their others would be considered possibly dyslexic.
Original post by Jacktri
Screw language rules memorise each word individually that is the English way.


That might be a huge part of the problem.
Original post by mevidek
What?


there's no way so many people are dyslexic (1 in 10 in the UK)
Original post by mevidek
How do you explain that he had all of the 'symptoms' of dyslexia?


One sysmptom, talking late, and that has been explained by his relationship with his father (as stated in the article). There is no more evidence to suggest the he had dyslexia than there is to suggest that Theodoric the Great was black.
(edited 12 years ago)
I'm dyslexic, but you don't see me using it as an excuse to get discounts on my exams.

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