If you have dyslexia, the most common type of learning disability, you might feel all alone. You may believe that you’re different from everyone else, and that there’s nothing you can do – but that isn’t the case at all.
This month on HBO, tune into “Journey into Dyslexia”, a documentary that takes an honest look at the reality of dyslexia, as well as the highs and lows of living with it.
What is dyslexia?
The exact cause of dyslexia is unknown; even the symptoms can change from one person to another. While it may be best known for causing people to mix up letters and numbers, dyslexia is a disability that can take a few different forms:
- Motor – when you find it hard to remember how to physically write
- Auditory – when you have difficulty sounding out, pronouncing or distinguishing unfamiliar words
- Visual – when you have problems recognizing what a word looks like and matching it with the right sound.
Some people wrongly believe that being dyslexic means you’re not smart, but experts say there’s no relation between dyslexia and your intelligence. In fact, Walt Disney and John Lennon were both dyslexic, as is Steven Spielberg, Keira Knightley, and Ingvar Kamprad – the entrepreneur who founded IKEA.
However, there’s no question that without help, dyslexia can be frustrating. And until you have a diagnosis, you won’t have access to the right type of help.
Who can get dyslexia?
While anybody can be dyslexic, it is a hereditary disease so it often impacts more than one person in a family. It starts when you’re a child and doesn’t go away as you get older, and it’s anything but rare: the Canadian Dyslexia Association says it affects almost 1 in 4 Canadians.
So what can you do?
One of the main themes of Journey into Dyslexia is that access to information leads to independence.
“Every single person with a learning disability or difference – whatever you want to call it – who goes on a journey of change will do so because they figured out not what was wrong with them, but what was right with them,” says Jonathan Mooney – author, public speaker and dyslexic – in this documentary review.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/rj7d7rFllG8
If you think you or your child might have dyslexia, Stevenson, Waplak & Associates can help through a formal assessment.
You can also find more information online
Journey into Dyslexia will show on HBO Canada on Tuesday, May 24 and again on Friday, June 10 – please check your local listings for show times.