September 12th, 2009 | 
Author: I am in college. I really struggle to understand a topic from a book. I mainly depend on my teacher’s help. I need 3-4 days to understand something from a book that my friends can understand in 5 minutes. My doctor says that I can’t have dyslexia as people get it at 3-4 years instead of 20. But I am not convinced.
hah hah!
Dyslexia is something your born with; it’s like a special wiring in your brain. Dyslexic is a word to describe difficulties with written language, organization and short term memory, and is usually diagnosed within a childhood – although for me, it took until I was 11 for my school to finally get there act together. You cannot stop and start dyslexia, it’s for life.
I think that maybe you struggle to understand things from a book because you are auditory learner, meaning that you learn best through listening to the teacher.
Posted in dyslexia
hah hah!
Dyslexia is something your born with; it’s like a special wiring in your brain. Dyslexic is a word to describe difficulties with written language, organization and short term memory, and is usually diagnosed within a childhood – although for me, it took until I was 11 for my school to finally get there act together. You cannot stop and start dyslexia, it’s for life.
I think that maybe you struggle to understand things from a book because you are auditory learner, meaning that you learn best through listening to the teacher.
References :
I’m dyslexic ;]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_learning
While it’s true that you can’t "get" a learning disability like dyslexia since they are something you are born with, it is possible that you were never diagnosed. I would say the chances of this are even higher if you went to a public school, since they may not have a large enough learning services staff to find minor cases. All US colleges have a learning services department that should be able to evaluate you and get an accurate diagnosis if you do have a learning disability, and if you do have one, offer you tips to manage it, and any accomodations that the school may offer. While I don’t have dyslexia I have been through the various systems due to ADHD which was never diagnosed since I got good grades in grade/high school, so I know from experience that this kind of thing can be missed, even if it has an impact on you. Good Luck!
References :
The causes for Dyslexia are neurobiological and genetic. Hence, people can inherit the genetic links for Dyslexia from their ancestors. As mentioned by Adavis, you probably have never been diagnosed. Many people are living with undiagnosed dyslexia. Take a test to find out if you really have dyslexia.
The real question is has your reading ability changed. While dyslexia ( other than from brain injuries ) is a condition you are born with , dyslexia can be diagnosed at any age.
Many times parents of dyslexic children only discover that they are dyslexic when their children or grandchildren are diagnosed and they are exposed to the information about dyslexia.
If all of what you write is true ,then it is hard to understand how you ever made it to college. I suspect you exaggerate. Since your friends are ( or should be) spending hours studying every day at the rate you mention it would take you months to learn what they learn in a day.
You talk about difficulty with a topic in a book. Is that what you mean? Is your problem with a single topic that is in a single book? That would not reflect usual dyslexia symptoms which would generally affect more subject matter.
If you did have a sudden change in your ability to read and comprehend what you read then it is possible you have had something physical change in your brain. The possibility of a stroke comes to mind as an example .
Have you had any medication changes recently. Many drugs cause mental impairment.
There is another possibility and that is that you are just not as prepared educationally for college as you thought. Maybe your friends have had a better background in the subject you find difficult.
If the subject you are talking about is math or science subjects where you need to use math to understand the subject matter, then maybe you really just need help in math.
Chemistry and physics would be 2 subjects that are very difficult to learn without the needed math background. I have seen several people struggle with those subjects and take days to understand material that people with a proper math background do understand in 5 minutes.
After consideration of everything you write I am leaning towards a poor understanding of math as your problem in another subject.
I can’t believe that teachers in other subjects would spend all that time trying to help you with the subjects they teach.
The proper response would be to send you to get help for your dyslexia if reading is your problem.
Chemistry and Physics teachers are known to give extra help to those with inadequate math background to bring them up to speed so that they can solve the problems.
My niche is visual dyslexia which can appear suddenly when print size decreases about third grade. You gave no indication that your problem is visual.
I have collected links to free dyslexia products that you may find helpful. Text to speech , free audio book download sites etc. There is even a link to a free math help site if that is part of your problem.
The address is http://www.dyslexiaglasses.com/links.html
interesting blog. It would be great if you can provide more details about it. I thought that ADHD showed up first in childhood. Just goes to show… Thanks you!