Great minds don't think alike - How does dyslexia influence the reading and writing strategies you use?

Dyslexia differs from person to person and what one individual may consider to be their strength; another may believe is their weakness.

One area in which a number of people may experience difficulty is reading and writing. 

Some adults with dyslexia may be highly sensitive to glare, or to the colour of the paper or words. Others may frequently lose their place, or feel like the words are moving or jumbled. This can all contribute to make reading feel very stressful.

When writing, some adults with dyslexia may struggle to follow a train of thought, or put their ideas into words in a logical and structured way. Some may have difficulties with spelling and grammar, and all of this can become harder to manage when it is difficult to spot the mistakes in written work. 

How would your life be better if reading and writing was easier? At Lexxic, we have developed our Neurotalent Unlocked eLearning modules to help you master the different kinds of reading and writing you may encounter in your work or studies. Why not have a look at our modules Improving Your Reading, and Improving Your Writing?

Lexxic also provide one-to one coaching to help you develop strategies and techniques which can support you in these areas. This includes practical reading strategies, for example:

• Customising the font size to 12 point;

• Displaying text in a “Sans Serif” font (e.g. Arial or Tahoma);

• Allowing a line spacing of 1.5.

It can also be helpful to take into account your learning style when developing support strategies, for example, if you are a kinaesthetic (practical) learner why not try using flashcards to read and remember information?

When writing, tools such as the STAR technique can be a great way to add structure to a shorter document, such as an email:

Situation - Describe the current situation - how things stand right now. For example, give some background information, or a summary of what you have done.

Task - Describe the task. What is it that you are trying to do?

Action - Describe the actions that have been done, or need to be done to complete the task. For example, this may be something that you are asking of the recipient.

Results – Describe the result, or the outcome that is expected, and any tasks that may follow on.

What strategies and techniques have you tried or developed to support yourself with reading or writing, and which have you found to be the most beneficial?

If you have any questions or would like any more information on the services we offer, such as our coaching, we would love to hear from you! Get in touch with us here, or have a look at our website for further details.

By Sarah Short, Assistant Psychologist at Lexxic