What's it like being Dyslexic?

Dyslexia is a word used rather frequently now, in schools, work, life in general. However the problem arises when people get the wrong misconception of what it really means to be Dyslexic. The question that people ask me the most is "So your Dyslexic, so you write letters backwards then and can't read very well?" I'm sorry, but it honestly couldn't be further from the truth. Many Dyslexics will tell you that they do not write letters backwards and that they love reading, very much like myself. I can easily go through a book within 2-3 days, sometimes less, depending on what else I'm doing.

I've never found anything easy, not because I'm stupid, because I see things differently. There is a reason Dyslexics joke that they feel they have been dropped off on the wrong planet, because you quite literally do feel like you have. Nothing makes sense. Why do they want me to write a written method in Maths when I can work it out in my head? Why does it take me a day to read a book written on yellow paper but a month to read a book written on white paper? Why can I remember all the numbers for my bank details off the top of my head but forget my dentist appointment, despite having it written down somewhere? Every Dyslexic is different, but most will tell you they remember the most obscure things.

Most Dyslexics will also tell you that they struggle to concentrate properly most of the time. Personally it's a big issue! I'm the annoying person in front of you at the cinema who can't sit still, the movie is awesome...I just can't sit still. I'm the driver out of my group of friends that apparently looks tense when driving, you would be too if you were driving and all your brain is telling you is "Ooooh look a helicopter, pretty sunset, I like this song...crap what's the speed limit down here again, I've missed the sign" at the same time, all i'm desperately trying to  do is concentrate on the road and make sure I'm doing the correct speed, I couldn't care less about a helicopter, or whether the sun is setting, but my brain thinks otherwise.

Dyslexia seems to get picked up on very late in schools, even now. The longer you leave a diagnosis the harder it gets for that child, because they are not getting the correct help that they need, they aren't being encouraged to work things out their way, instead they are being shown a way that is alien to them. Things need to change, A student may well do better in their exams, because you've noticed Dyslexia at a young age and had a diagnosis done. Please don't assume someone isn't Dyslexic because they don't write back to front or the words don't jump about, we're all different, in your class, your Dyslexic student might be the shyest girl/boy in the room, they also might be the brightest person in the room. Dyslexia does not mean stupid/unintelligent/dumb/retarded. Please don't pigeon hole us, we're just like everyone else, all we do is see things a bit differently.