“So you see letters backward and upside down, right?” There it is, the inevitable question. The question I always seem to get whenever I tell anyone that I am one of the 5-15% of Americans who have dyslexia. I mean I can’t really blame them. It’s the one symptom of dyslexia that everyone hears about. Every time dyslexia is shown on film or in novels, it is often portrayed as numbers and letters floating off pages and flipping back and forth. Yes, that is, in fact, a symptom of dyslexia, but it’s not the only one.

Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability that is neurological in nature and causes those affected by it to struggle with language skills such as reading, spelling, and phonetic pronunciation of words. The truth is dyslexia presents itself differently in everyone. Some people with dyslexia struggle with reading the physical words written on a piece of paper while others struggle more with comprehending what it is that they’ve just read. Some people struggle with spelling and phonetically sounding out words while others struggle more with math.

Whenever I Google the symptoms of dyslexia, I am greeted with a various list of symptoms, some of which I have never experienced myself and others I struggle with on a daily basis. For me, dyslexia affects the way my brain processes words as I read them. The letters in words are often switched around, which makes reading timely and spelling rather difficult.

My brain often reads words incorrectly or skips over some words altogether. I often make mistake such as reading the word “slick” as “sick”. I also have an inability to pronounce words phonetically and can’t spell a word by simply sounding it out. I find it difficult to remember how to spell uncommon words or remember specific dates as the letters and numbers get jumbled in my head.

Dyslexia doesn't just affect the way I see words, it also affects the time it takes me to process information. It often takes me a longer time than most to process something I’m reading. Textbook notes that may take my friend an hour will normally take me double the time. Dyslexia also weakens my ability to tell right from left and I often get the two confused while driving and giving directions.

Dyslexia is so much more than just floating letters on a page.