I feel so fake bc I can read fine like idk I just feel like I shouldn’t try and pretend to be dyslexic or anything bc like,,, I can read if I try and I used to read a lot as a kid but like it’s been getting harder and I haven’t read in eight years I’ve been in honors English all my life (even if I never read a single book) so I feel like I can’t claim to be dyslexic especially since it usually gets jumbled in my head or I read it wrong like shouldn’t the words look like they’re moving??
This includes a lot of misconceptions/myths of dyslexia so let me break it down for you, then throw in my person experience!
Can't read/Can't enjoy reading
A lot of dyslexics actually love reading, especially at a younger age (either when reading books that were less advanced, or having a lot more energy to put towards it). There's a lot of things that people find difficult in general, but they still do anyway (like I have a condition that makes my joints dislocate easily, but I also play instruments even though it's difficult).
Always bad at reading and writing
With the right coping skills and accommodations (either through the school and therapy, or just figured out on your own), it is possible to do well in English! It may be extremely difficult for some, but not impossible.
Letter always move on pages when reading
Actually, this is a lot less common than popular media shows dyslexia. There's a lot of different ways that dyslexia effects language (sometimes it's mostly verbal language, sometimes it's coming up with ways to write, sometimes it's reading). When letters are moving, that's generally actually a comorbid (occurs that the same time and is related to other disorder(s)) condition knows as Irlen's Syndrome (I should make a post on this some time). In sum, a good chunk of dyslexics don't experience this.
In my experience, I actually have been in the same position! I was generally in honors/higher level English classes when I was in public school before uni/college, and even without reading the books, I was able to do well in those classes (class discussions on books saved my ass tbh). I also used to be a super avid reader. I do get letters moving around on the page and getting jumbled, but my bigger issue is misreading words or misspelling them because my brain mixes up letters when writing. Usually the jumbling happens internally for most instead of visibly (I have Irlen's syndrome, so I have both the visible jumbling and the internal jumbling). Also, if it's evidence enough, I was able to write up this post despite my dyslexia (which I am professionally diagnosed with). You can still have dyslexia, even if it's not the classic stereotypes.
I hope this helped! Feel free to send more asks if you have anymore questions 🖤 (I'm writing this at like 7:30 in the morning while getting ready to head to campus for a class so hopefully this made a bit of sense)
