Growing up with dyslexia can have its own set of challenges, and one of the hardest parts is communication. This includes verbal and nonverbal. What makes this difficult, to put this in the simplest way possible, is my brain just works differently than others. For example, a dyslexic person's brain runs about 10 times faster than a "normal" brain (I put normal in quotes just because no brain is exactly the same). So compared to the active brain, my thoughts run faster than what my mouth can put out, and I have a difficult time explaining what I'm thinking.
Before I go further into this list, it's important to realize that every dyslexic is different. For some, their symptoms aren't as bad, and for others, it can be very severe. Once you finish reading the list, I would encourage you to talk to the dyslexic person that you're having difficulties communicating with and seeing what on this list is helpful for them.
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1. Have patience.
Now, you might think that you already have patience, but you're gonna need even more. I realize that this can be frustrating, because at times, things need to be done in a limited time period. Whenever you're getting frustrated and are losing your patience, take a moment to breathe, and remember that while this might be frustrating for you, this is how this person's whole life is, and that they're probably more frustrated than you.
2. Show us, don't tell us.
Dyslexic people are usually very visual, so if you show us how to do something, we can usually pick it up right away! This is probably the best advice I could give anyone that's trying to effectively communicate with someone who is dyslexic. When people just tell me the steps of how to do something, it tends to just get jumbled right away, and I have no idea what I'm doing. Now, you can either spend a ton of time trying to verbally tell me how to do something and have to constantly repeat yourself, or you can just show me once, and we're all good.
3. Fonts.
In the event that you have to send out an email or print something out for everyone to read, think about using a universal font that makes it easier for everyone to read. Fonts are a great way for dyslexics to break words apart and read things more easily. They do have dyslexic-friendly fonts, and many people like them! For myself, I try to break document into three fonts, keeping similar content in one font, and so on and so forth. Color is also a great way to help. Again, the color helps to separate the words, making reading easier to follow.
4. Listen and ask questions.
As I said before, every case of dyslexia is different, and if someone has told you that they're dyslexic, that usually means that they're open to having a conversation about it. Asking questions isn't offensive. In fact, I would rather someone ask me questions then just project stereotypes about dyslexic people onto me.
Now, I will say that if I tell you that I'm dyslexic, and then you shove a book in my face and ask me if I can read something, I will be upset by that. That's not OK. Don't just assume that because I'm dyslexic I can't read, especially if you know that I'm in school!
I hope that this was helpful to everyone, and if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below, and I will gladly answer them.
