Such a large title isn’t it? Technology is such a big word for something that we use everyday. For me it is necessary, you see I have Dyslexia. Not only that but I also have Attention Deficit Disorder and Executive Function Disorder…Sounds like a lot right? Not really, they all kinda blend together but the Doctors have to have a label. People love to label others. So when I was younger, in grade school I was labeled a slow learner, I had a hard time following what was happening in class. I don’t remember all the specifics but I do recall my parents being very concerned.
Apparently it started when I was very young, I didn’t use words like most kids. I made up my own words for specific items and used them every time. As I got older I learned the correct words. But I could not rhyme or spell simple words. This got me in trouble in first grade. There was no technology back then, no one even thought of maybe this kid is dyslexic, no they thought I was dumb. My parents didn’t though. They pushed and pushed and found places for me to go to school and a secondary school for learning how to read when you have dyslexia. It wasn’t easy at all, did things the hard way. There were no apps, no programs that you could use to assist you in getting out your thoughts. My app, or program was my Mom. She helped me find the words and use them properly. She pushed and supported me throughout my grade school and high school years. Even today in College I still have her help me out, though she says its over her head, I think she just wants me to do more of it — and its hard.
I first learned about a software program called Dragon, which is a program that you download into your computer that you can speak to and it writes what you say. Takes a little time for it to understand you and it doesn’t correct your grammar or phrasing. still need help with those. At first I was resistant to Dragon, I felt I was cheating by using something that did the writing for me. Plus I had to ask for permission from my teachers to hand in a type written paper instead of handwritten and that caused me anxiety. So I did not use it til much later in high school.
Dragon is a very useful program. Once you get the hang of it you can just speak and it types for you. You have to remember to tell it to punctuate, that takes some getting used to. No one walks around saying : period, parentheses or quote. But it is so much more convenient than trying to remember how to spell the word and what you want to say.
You see when I write, I have to think very hard of HOW the word is spelt, HOW it is used in a sentence and HOW to write the letters in the proper order. So much of my handwriting is small, tense and sloppy. Not counting the misspellings and lack of punctuation. It’s not easy being me.. I have a lot going on and sometimes it gets too busy in my head so I shut down.
ADD is another co- disorder, I’m so lucky.. ADD is with out the hyper activity part. so I wander in my thoughts and when I’m doing homework I have a tendency to ramble in my writings. I eventually come back to the point. I lose my place and forget my thoughts in the process. So lets talk about the last one Executive Function, which is another co- disorder to Dyslexia. It’s the one that makes sure you know what time it is and when something is due and how to get where you want to go. so I have a tendency to forget to turn projects in on time- no matter how many notes I write to myself, I forget I wrote them. Time has no real meaning, so I struggle reading analog clock, thank goodness there are digital clocks and alarm function on my phone to tell me when something is due or when I have my next appointment/class. It also causes me to think that if I thought of it, that I did it. So lets say I have a project due and I have really given it a lot of thought, so as I put the papers away, I think I turned it in.. I will find them after the turn in date and then its too late. I struggle to keep on task with all that is going on in my brain.
So I have a severe case of dyslexia , there are 8 different types and I have 7. Everyday is a struggle.I just want to be normal and be like everyone else who seems to understand what is going on. I have to figure everything out by what people are doing around me. So needless to say I run behind the crowd, though I am a not afraid to lead if I have the support of the group. In college, everyone seems to understand what the professors are saying, me, well I sit there hoping no one asks me a question because the class is moving too fast. I have a note taker but some times reading the notes is hard. Not sure there is a technology for understanding classroom lectures, sure wish there was. I have found that if I can at least get the gist of the class, I can do most of the work. And it helps that I can use Dragon to write down my thoughts, instead of explaining to my Mom what I want and her writing it down and me trying to read it to make sure she got everything I wanted in it. It makes me feel more independent.
There is a pen that people use now that allows you to record as you write. You have to use special paper for it to work and I go through a lot of paper with all the mistakes I make, but this pen is a pretty neat idea for those who are not as severely affected by dyslexia as I am. It is called Livescribe, it came out a few years ago and was very expensive. My mom found it online and wanted to buy it but the cost of the pen and the paper I would have to use was a bit more than we could afford. I found out that the pen is available here at the college I go to, which is pretty cool but again you have to supply your own paper and I’m on a limited income so I just continue to use Dragon to help me out.
Technology is really coming along, one of the best things ever is spell check. I know you think, really? But spellcheck is a life saver for me. I can hear the word but I will still miss spell the word. It’s like I can phonetically spell a word but I will miss maybe a double lettered word or put a F for a PH. It really helps that spell check will give me a choice of words for me to pick from when I miss spell a word, even when I change up the order of the letters it usually gets the word that I want. There is even a App for Dragon for use on my phone. Not that I use my phone to do major work but it sure comes in handy when I’m trying to look something up or want to jot down a reminder.
There are also the voice recognition that is in just about every phone and computer made today. Again you have to train it so that it recognizes your voice and speech pattern but once you have done that, it really helps out a lot when your talking your notes out loud. Now if there was only technology that can give presentations to large groups. That has yet to be figured out, maybe once artificial intelligence is perfected we will have that—wishful thinking.
There are days that it is even harder to human,with all the outside coming in at me and all the conversations that are snippets because they are moving too fast. What helps with that is to be able to pick up on key words. Sometimes I use the voice recognition to search Google for the meaning of words, sure helps that I don’t have to spell them just say them out loud, once I understand what the word means I can follow the conversation. Its not easy being a severe dyslexic in a fast paced world. That technology is beginning to be used more is a huge plus for those of us who are Dyslexic/ADD , it really comes in handy when your struggling to keep up with either conversation or classwork. It does seem though, that people think you are cheating when you use technology but it isn’t cheating, its using the tools that help you, just like a carpenter uses a hammer, I use a calculator or online word check or even a voice to text program that helps me put my thoughts into the written word.
I have struggled with the written word for years and even struggled to get my point across to others, because I sometimes will say the opposite of what I wanted to say.This makes being sarcastic really hard. I take just about everything literal so I have to double check on a lot of things that other people just do once. One note in Microsoft really helps with this. I can jot down a note or speak a note into my phone and it will keep it there for me to use later. Again its hard to do in the middle of class at college because it can be disrupting to other students and can get the Professor ticked off so I usually will wait till after the class- if I remember.
Technology helps keep me organized which is a large part of the battle when you have Dyslexia/ADD/Exec Function issues. It helps keep you on task, so calendars, reminders and a schedule really work. You just have to learn to pay attention to them when they notify you. That’s when you use another notifier to notify you that you have to do something…. and hopefully you remember what that notifier was for. See its not easy being me but technology can sure make it a bit smoother.
technologyanddyslexiablog 