Tip 1: Learning to Read

Overview:

I learned to read by associating words with pictures and also remembering each word as a picture on it's own. After all, each word is also seen visually and can be considered a picture in itself. Each word picture is also accompanied by a sound. 

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How it is done:

This is done most easily when young and still learning the language. I did this when I was seven years old. To begin, take words that are concrete such as flower, run, walk and so on. In the Peter and Jane series I used to learn to read, there would be a picture of the said word beside it. After reading the word, you can then see the picture and link the word to the picture.

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Another method is using sensations. For instance, touch a cold cup and call it cold. The word cold is then linked to a sensation of coldness. This often happens in daily life when commenting about the weather.

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In both instances, this association has to be repeated many times. The words have to be read out loud so that the association can be made between the word, it's meaning as a picture or it's sensation, and the way it's pronounced. Over time, the image of the word would be sufficient to recall the meaning of the word as a picture/sensation and also its pronunciation. In this way, I learned to both read and comprehend what I was reading.

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I would recommend reading sentences together with the word; simple sentences such as 'Jane is running' so as to enable the syntax of the English language to be caught naturally. 

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Disadvantages:

Using this method requires words to be seen in order to be understood. Alas, there is one category of words that cannot be seen and that is words that describe words. Examples would be nouns, verbs, adverbs, participles and so on. In other words, English grammar. Since I could not see the word no matter how hard I tried, I could not understand it. It took me about twenty years to learn what a noun was and to this day I have no clue what a participle is. ​These words are simply and purely memorized.

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Occasionally, it is also possible that the sound of the word and the picture of the word are learned separately, especially as the dyslexic grows older and reading is no longer done out loud. This can have rather hilarious consequences. For instance, I never really knew the pronunciation of the word 'bouquet'. I pronounced it as 'bon-quet' by taking the 'quet' from 'banquet' and seeing an 'o' and so I figured it was 'bon'. However, I was also aware the word 'boo cay' existed but I didn't know how to spell it. I had only ever heard it. I also knew both 'words' had the same meaning which, given the English language, did not raise any questions in me. I finally learned the two words were one and the same when I was sixteen. An issue I had after that was remembering which pronunciation was the correct one. I still call 'bouquet' 'bon-quet'.

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Additionally, since words are memorized as pictures, I have to recognize the word in order to read it. This has made it near impossible for me to read certain cursive handwriting. The squiggles do not look familiar to me and so I cannot read it. 

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Side effects:​

Since I have learned to associate everything I read and everything I hear with a picture, I often find myself seeing things I would rather not in my mind's eye. For instance, the word 'lightning' would conjure the flash of a lightning and the rumbling of thunder. It often lasts for only a very brief moment and I hardly notice it unless I concentrate. However, it has given me an aversion to toilet humor. Particularly during meal times.

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Tip 2: Learning Spelling

Overview: ​

​Spelling is done by breaking words into parts and remembering the spelling of each part rather than by sounding out the words.

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For short words, it's possible to use the rhythm of the letters when the word is spelled out loud to memorize the word.

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How it's done:

For words with only one syllable, the spelling will have to be memorized. For very simple words of only a couple of letters, this can be done quite easily. However, for longer words, it may help to say the word out loud. Language has a natural rhythm and, when spoken out loud, the letters will take on a rhythm. If you wish, the rhythm can even be chosen on purpose. Like the ABC song, this helps to remember the order of the letters and so the spelling of the word. I learned this in pre-school for spelling the word 'apple'. To this day, I say the letters in a rush when I spell apple.

 

However, for words with more than one syllable, it is possible to split the word up and remember the spelling in parts, sometimes by using words already memorized.

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For example, take the word 'teacher'. When I learned it, my father split it into 'tea - cher'. This was fortunate for me because I knew how to spell tea and 'cher' is part of my father's name and so I had learned how to spell it as well. Put them together and it's teacher. This can be done for other words too such as 'to - get - her' and so we are 'together'.

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Advantages:

Many words share similar parts. For instance, '-ing' is in many words. So, once you learn how to spell this component, it makes it easier to learn how to spell other words with the same '-ing'. Over time, your improvement in spelling becomes exponential.​

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This also helps with pronouncing words.

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Disadvantages:

It is possible to accidentally offend people when using this technique. In primary school I offended a classmate whose name was 'Isabelle' by breaking her name into 'Is - a - belle'. She was never fond of me after.​

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Additionally, this method requires memorizing words and not all words can be broken neatly into parts. This means there are sometimes random 'e's or other letters that need to be remembered together with the rest of the spelling. Often, these words end up being repeatedly misspelled. For instance, I continually forget that there is an 'n' in environment. I spell it as 'en - vi - ro - ment'.

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Also, since the spelling of words are memorized, there are times when I have entirely forgotten it or wrote the wrong word. Since the sound is memorized apart from the word spelling, I often pull a similar sounding word instead of the word I want. 

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Tip 3: Pronouncing without phonics

Overview: ​

A common problem for dyslexics is problems blending the sounds of letters together to form the sounds of words. However, that is not the only way to pronounce words. Rather than forcing myself to blend the sounds of letters together, I simply remember how each group of words is pronounced.​​

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Also, in this internet age, we can just ask Google how to pronounce a word we don't know. I use it for my character names all the time. 

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How it's done:

English is a difficult language. The same letter can be pronounced three different ways (I'm looking at you 'd'​) and sometimes they are just pronounced a, b, c. Given this, rather than remembering how each letter is pronounced, I remember how a group of letters are pronounced. For instance, 'ment' is always pronounced the same whether it's 'engagement', 'endearment', or 'impeachment'. So, seeing this group of words, you know they always sound the same and can use it to pronounce the word.

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Words are also often made up of other words. Such as engagement is made up of 'engage' and 'ment' and 'en' begins both 'engage' and 'endear'. In this way, by memorizing the sounds of blocks of letters that repeat often in the English language, it is possible to pronounce novel words which contain these 'blocks of letters'

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Advantages:

As these blocks of letters have consistent sounds and spellings, by remembering their sound and spelling, it is possible to improve your spelling even for novel words. For instance, I may have never heard of 'enriching'​ but I do know how to spell 'en' from 'engagement', rich, and '-ing'. Over time, as more and more of these letter blocks are learned, your ability to both spell and pronounce will increase exponentially. 

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This is also an advantage for rhyming. All the words ending in '-ing' are going to sound similar and hence rhyme. Ironically, since I have memorized all my words and the letter block sounds, I can find rhyming words quickly and practice has made it possible for me to write rhyming poetry on the fly.

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Disadvantages:

If you learn to pronounce these blocks of letters wrongly from the start, they will cause trouble for many years ahead and so it's important to learn how to pronounce them correctly. Also, sometimes the block of letters may sound different in the word which would lead to incorrect pronunciation.

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Alas, English also has many loan words and when these loan words are being used, this method falls apart entirely. On the other hand, non-dyslexics also have issues with this and so we are in good company. ​

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Tip 4: Believing

For nothing can be done without belief. Though on hindsight, all I've written above seems easy to do, having lived through it, I know it is very difficult, frustrating, and often painful. As such, if one does not believe overcoming dyslexia can be done, they will never put in the work required to do just that. ​This is my reason for sharing my story and my tips. So that you who come here may also believe. It can be done. I've done it and I believe you can too. Our dyslexia might be different and so you may have your own way to do it but I'm certain it can be done. After all, what we are doing is just becoming as good as normal or even better than normal. We just need to run, we don't need to have legs. In that case, why can't we do it? Of course we can! Just in our own way.​​​

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