Posted by HiveMaster on Thu 29 Jan 09, 12:58 AM to HiveMaster's blog.
This is a repeat blog, but you know I will keep repeating it until its not necessary. And if after reading it, you still sit there and think that people who spell badly are stupid and that bad grammar is inexcusable, beware, I will repeat it again.
I have had a few memos both here and on other sites and I have noticed that quite a few of them contain spelling mistakes. Not just one or two in some cases the whole message needs translating. The most common excuse is that the writer is dyslexic.
So are they all dyslexic? Based on surveys by the British Dyslexia Association 4% of the UK population is dyslexic. In the UK that's some 2.4 Million people. However bear in mind that Dyslexia is not cut and dried and some can have mild and others, severe forms. In the US that figure is much worse. 20% of all people in the United States have a reading disability and of that, 85% of those people have dyslexia. Isn't it interesting that the US admit to what amounts to 15% of the population, whilst the UK only admits to 4%.
So are they Dyslexic? Well, Dyslexia was not recognised in most UK schools until as late as the 1990's, in fact when we were trying to diagnose my step-son (who is Autistic), we were told not to mention Dyslexia as we would get no more help. That was in 1997. Even now most teachers (and politicians) do not recognise dyslexia as a condition and just mark pupils as lazy. The National Union of Teachers only started to give information on dyslexia when the Disability act was passed as it now became a legal requirement.
So all those who went to school and were never diagnosed lived under a cloud of being Stupid or worse, Lazy. Being told that you are lazy day after day, year after year, destroys your confidence and causes you to look at yourself as being stupid or lazy. Frustration at not being able to express yourself, especially in print in these days of blogs and messaging is a real issue to some people.
Unfortunately some do not recognise their problem and are never diagnosed and therefore can not find outlets for their thoughts and problems. Blogging is closed to most and the brave few that do blog get the "Grammar Nazi's" who only nit pick and miss the point, which is the message they are trying to convey.
The thing is that given the right amount of help they can blossom into the people they dream about. Look at how many dyslexics become Actors, Scientists and Politicians. Dont believe me? Susan Hampshire, Jackie Stewart, Pablo Picasso, Leonard Da Vinci, Whoopi Goldberg, and if we are to believe the reports George W. Bush and Gerald Ford.
So if I get a message that is spelt badly or I see a blog with mistakes in, I never criticise it. I never correct anyone unless they ask me to. The Grammar Nazi's never realise the damage they are doing to someones confidence. All they are doing in most cases is reinforcing someones negative image of themselves
So if you do get a message from someone who spells badly or uses bad grammar, don't dismiss them out of hand as being stupid or lazy. Chances are you have missed a very intelligent and witty person. Look beyond and see the person and try to get what they are trying to say, usually the message is more than the words.
The reason for this blog? My Partner is dyslexic and has a 1st Class Honours Degree in Business Information Technology and Im VERY Proud of her. And sadly there are many people out there who never get this far, just criticise people for trying to be who they are. In fact to quote one person "it made me nauseous to see such bad grammar" WTF? LOL!
Even the OED has realised that the English language evolves, make like a dinosaur and evolve or die. Be Well
Edited Thu 29 Jan 09, 12:59 AM by HiveMaster
| 29 Jan 09, 1:12 AM Raegan 5 yrs |
Couldn't agree more. If I'm honest, I hate spelling mistakes and bad grammar, especially my own. I have an English degree and it comes naturally to me to spot mistakes as that was part of what I studied. I do try not to judge people when they make mistakes though. My partner is dyslexic. He learned to cope with it, and found ways to help himself, but you still have to translate what he writes sometimes. He also happens to be one of the most intelligent, witty and wonderful people I've ever met, and that's more important to me than spelling mistakes will ever be. I don't care who you are... I'm not giving you my spoons. | |
| 29 Jan 09, 8:50 AM Sunhillow 7 yrs  |
My youngest son is dyslexic. He was originally branded as lazy and disruptive. The fight to get him diagnosed and get him some help was immense, and even when recognised he never really got the help he needed at school. He is very intelligent and always scored extremely highly in non-written tests.
What you say is right, it's still often unrecognised. I was gobsmacked and angered when I heard on the radio the other day that someone was saying dyslexia is a myth and that it's just down to bad teaching.
~ If you must pick the lesser of two evils; choose the one you've never tried before. ~ | |
| 29 Jan 09, 11:17 AM bohnanza UK(FK), 12 yrs   |
The big problem with dyslexics, especially ones who went through the school system before the 1990s is it is self diagnosed. It is an easy disease to have, saying you have it doesn't disadvantage you and may even work out in your favour. Not many people are prepared to pay the couple of hundred quid an assessment costs. When posting something, dyslexia is not a good excuse for bad spelling, almost all browsers will highlight misspelled words, it is carelessness or laziness or thoughtlessness which stops people seeing the highlights and doing something about it. People post to communicate, it is a two stage process: You know what you want to say but you have to ensure the reader of it knows it is what you want to say. The NHS, and you would think they would know, reckon 5 to 10% of the population are dyslexic. Science, the only religion that works even if you don't believe in it. | |
| 29 Jan 09, 11:50 AM Raegan 5 yrs |
My partner uses programmes that highlight bad spelling and sometimes grammar, and he also asks me to check letters or emails if they are important or for work. However, a lot of the time the browser doesn't highlight a word because he will have typed "there" rather than "their" or something similar, and it doesn't pick up stuff like that. I don't care who you are... I'm not giving you my spoons. | |
| 29 Jan 09, 11:55 AM bohnanza UK(FK), 12 yrs |
Agreed in that they miss mistakes like that, but they don't miss things like thoght. Science, the only religion that works even if you don't believe in it. | |
| 29 Jan 09, 1:37 PM HiveMaster UK, 8 yrs |
I can see where you are coming from with words that are spelt incorrectly but as my good lady says, how do you know how to look up a word if you cant even begin to spell it? Your thoght is an excellent example though, it is misspelled and the options are through, thou, though, thought, thorough, tough, thong, troth and thoth. To a dyslexic all of them in a list look almost the same. P.s. My Word spell checker thinks Spelt is incorrect lol Send Lawyers Guns and Money | |
| 29 Jan 09, 2:20 PM JudyInDsGuise UK(E), 9 yrs |
Change it to UK English and it won't ETA: I just switched mine to US English and it didn't say it was wrong there either, and I haven't 'added' it to either dictionary. judy
Edited 29 Jan 09, 2:40 PM by JudyInDsGuise | |
| 29 Jan 09, 2:58 PM Jons_Amaranth UK(WS), 11 yrs |
I am sure I blogged or replied to a blog about Dyslexia and how awful it felt to find the delightful bohnanza picked me up for spelling spelt wrong. The people who do that on here have no clue just how humiliating it feels or probably do and get off on humiliating others for trying to overcome this!
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