Today Puddingtang helped me spot a spelling error I missed. It was one of those silly things where the auto-correct and spellchecker took one of my scrambled words and replaced with one that was spelled right, but it still wasn't the right one.
It was suggested I turn off that function. However, I'm dyslexic and without it, ... well, it's not pretty!
I received this reply. "Dyslexics tend to be both clever and creative."
Of course I had to do a search and I found this site.
http://www.dyslexia.com/qagift.htm#980831
Strange as it maybe, that is new to me. Then again maybe not. I'm old enough that when I was first diagnosed that only the negative aspects were bought to my attention. I suppose you can say that I've been so busy dealing with the problems, I never became aware of the positives. :) I can definitely see where some of those gift like aspects apply to me. I've always lived inside my head. The stories I read and tell myself are always in 3D Technic Color complete with smells, temperature, ... well everything. The hard part is putting all of that in words.
If I'm alert I can generally spot my mistakes before they cause a problem due to double checks and other little tricks I've learned. However, if I'm tired or if I'm mostly inside my head 'seeing' the story, then my grammar/spelling goes to hell in a hand-basket.
It's a serious pain fixing all of that and I would be so lost without a spellchecker. I'm currently using Open Office which along with being free, also seems to work fairly well for me. Of course they all have their limitations and at times I go half crazy trying to figure out how a word is spelled. I know the word, and I can hear it, but the damn thing comes out as gobbly gook when I try and write/type it. Some times Goggle does better than the spellchecker at helping puzzle it out.
Of course all of the above means that I write with the speed of a snail. That's along with being subject to fickle muses and all other difficulties other writers have.
Are there others here at BC with similar traits? I remember reading somewhere where being creative comes with its own problems. It was talking about doctors not medicating their patients into near comas and tailoring treatments to take those creative gifts into account. IE, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater!
Those with gifts have always been treated differently because so many of those gifts involves seeing the world in way others can't or that old 'thinking outside the box.'
I will say being able to finally after so many years to get a few of those 'stories' out of my head onto 'paper' has helped me.
So what is your writing gift? Does it have its downside too?
Hugs!
Just Grover thinking too much ... again!
Comments
Thanks, this is great!!
Thanks for sharing this, Grover.
I too have dyslexia. It was first noticed when I was 7 yrs old. I've been told all the negative, but never the positive aspects of it, before now. My daughter is the same and is now 22. I'm definitely sharing this with her.
Hugs,
Mark <3
its frustrating
whether its ichat or email or even the comments here, you type something and when you look back your words have been changed. don't stop just do your thing, if we spot a problem I don't have a problem telling a friend in a pm you might want to double check a word. love your writing
That good/bad thing!
You're welcome Mark. I'm certainly am happy to help. However, remember to throw a thanks Puddintane's way too! That was who mentioned to me. I knew I was a visual thinker, but not the link to dyslexia.
Society does tend to pound those who don't fit in with all the bad things, leaving out the good stuff. People wants to be a part of the herd so whatever prevents that is bad, period. Those of us who has to walk a different path don't see it that way although it makes for a lot of lonesome nights.
Because we do see things others miss you could say we do live in a different world from the 'herd.' I think was addressing that somewhat with my story 'Explain Me.' The Shrinks have been set up as the arbiters of what's accepted and real. Whatever you do don't contradict them! :)
Hugs
Grover
There are a couple of things
There are a couple of things you can do to help.
1) Get yourself a speech to text program. It won't be perfect, but you won't be limited by your visual cortex issues. Homonyms are easier to fix than 'I can pronounce it, but not spell it!'.
2) Get an editor (or two). They can then help clean up the rest of it without confusing you too badly.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Text to Speech vs. Speech to Text
Both are very handy for those who have trouble with the written word in either direction.
Every modern operating system has text-to-speech built in, usually as a part of their accessibility features. Most of these features have to be turned "on" specifically, but it can be very restful – even for those without specific reading problems – to hear a text read aloud. In fact, "hearing" text is so popular that an entire industry exists for the specific purpose of turning the written word into the spoken word. Audible.com (Amazon) is among the most famous, but there are many others, including the Library of Congress, which supplies such "books" gratis for the blind.
When you think about it, one has many opportunities to "read" in daily life which aren't particularly friendly to books or text in printed form:
1. Taking a bath.
2. Driving an automobile.
3. Meditating.
4. "Proofing" one's own words. You might be surprised how very easy it is to *hear* mistakes that completely escape the eye.
... and so on.
http://www.apple.com/education/special-education/
Of course, tools like Dragon are significantly better at speech-to-text, for some people.
www.nuance.com/
It's available for the iPhone (and other smart phones) as well.
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Blessed with Suck or Cursed with Awesome
My gifts come from the combination of moderate dysgraphia and borderline Asperger's. What it means for my writing is I also have a very difficult time putting what I imagine into text, and when I do, I'm constantly trying to correct any errors I make. What it means for others is that I spot errors quite well. I wouldn't call myself an editor, since I can't suggest how to improve story structures. I prefer the term 'proofreader' since it describes someone who scans through looking for mistakes.