Dyslexia IS a gift, It is NOT a disability

[Frosty]

Meh. I was diagnosed with dyslexia but if I remember correctly there was something sketchy about that diagnosis- so mild that really was just on the borderline-and could have potentially been caused by something else-because I believe my performance was just sort of atypical in general. Can't particularly remember really. All I know is... I DO tend to have difficulty with... Seeing the trees in the forest with text. I just sort of read things as one big block. One picture really, and whatever sticks out to me in that picture is where I start... And then I tend to try to build some sort of context around that starting point-skimming again to make my idea of the piece clearer-and I mean this is not always linear skimming-Ill look at the end-the beginning-it doesnt matter really, it just makes almost NO difference. So I would skim a passage, and then I would have SOME sort of idea of what went on-really after reading only a key sentance or two... But the accuracy of this 'idea'... And my ability to pull specifics... Was questionable. It has gotten better progressively though, didn't CHANGE my style- but got better at adapting it. I wouldn't exactly call it a gift-it directly and practically caused me a bit of grief- it sucks to well completely misinterpret something YOU KNOW you could have understood 'correctly'-spent quite a bit of time hating myself and thinking that I was just dumb and stuff. Not always 'fun' or a 'positive' feeling-but sure, I am sure that indirectly, whatever caused this in me- has benefitted me in other ways.

Oh and another part of this- it gave me(and STILL gives me sometimes) PAINFUL spelling skills. Some fun things have come from that.

Now... My brother... Is the REAL deal-no question with him. And he HAS struggled. Sure, me and him... Well we have always been able to have... Discussions... That I don't really(and have been told) think other people our age or otherwise... Tend to have often-others around us just being totally confused-and us, for the longest time, not really understanding at all why. And I have been told by teachers and professors on multiple occasions... That I THINK oddly- I think in ways that make things that are easy for most others challenging for me, and things that are challenging for others easy peasy for me.

But/so... If I am dyslexic, well whatever I am... Advantage, I don't know. Positives and negatives to it I suppose. The negatives being much more pronounced in my brother. Id have to ask him more about it though.