OpenDyslexic font gains ground

[Apache]

My wife and I are together 24/7. We work together and both of us would not have it any other way. When we met we were both working on the road. We worked for the same company and managed to work together. After she got pregnant she had to stop working on the road. We hated being apart. That is why we went into business for ourselves. The point of this ramble is that I know my wife extremely well, as she does me. Sometimes I think we are twins.
Anyway, sometimes she apologizes to me when she makes a mistake because of her dyslexia. I know she is not faking it and make sure I tell her so. It is amazing how many people still think dyslexia is made up or all in your head. It is just not made up.
Our son has dyslexia to a degree, just not as bad as his mother. Yes he is left handed too. While in Catholic School his eighth grade math teacher called it nonsense.
Apache

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Dyslexia is something that has always baffled me. Japanese script is inherently much more complicated than the alphabet and when I have asked my Japanese friends about Japanese dyslexics they shake their heads in bewilderment, never even heard about the phenomena. When I was a student there I also asked foreign students from China, they were equally baffled. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but it certainly doesn't seem to take the same proportions. I wonder why? Can it be that training a young brain for a much more complicated script forces them over some mental hurdle? I have no idea, but it sure is puzzling.

My guess is that it does exist and it is simply ignored. My Mom discovered she had learning disabilities when I tested for them. When she was a kid, there was no thought given to why students were struggling. If you had problems reading you were lazy or stupid or a combination of the two. She has horror stories from school. It is more than possible that such an attitude still exists across the globe.

I am dyslexic, one of eight learning disabilities, and it is sucks. I have lerned to compensate but it is harder when I am reading a ton. Graduate school was very frustrating because I had not had issues with my dyslexia for years and then all the sudden it was back. In reality, I went from reading maybe 250 pages of text a week to reading 3,000 pages of text a week. I studied Political Science and we read a lot. A tired, over taxed brain led to having to give myself time to learn to cope again.

I am guessing that the weighted font works because it helps the brain process the information correctly. Maybe the weighted line helps the brain process that that part is suppose to stay put which forces the rest of the text to stay put.

I now my brother read better using a blue transperancy, something about the color helped his brain process the information correctly. There are anecdotal stories that kids with dyslexia are reading better on ereaders potentially because the background color is just different enough to help the brain process the information correctly.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by Apache

My wife loves to do scrambles and now I know why.
Another thing I thought was affected by Dyslexia is her handwriting. I used to attribute it to her being left handed. And I have wondered if left handed people are more likely to have dyslexia. When she fills out a claim ticket for customers, I have a hard time deciphering it. She does not stay in the lines well and she can put directions anywhere on the envelope.
When she was in high school, in Texas, Dyslexia was not recognized or treated. They thought you were just stupid. Her high school counselor said she would never make it in college. She said her daughters were intelligent and struggling at The University of Texas.
My wife was accepted at the University of Texas and graduated with a dual degree in all phases of Special Ed.
She first heard of Dyslexia in one of her class courses at UT.
Apache

Her handwriting is probably affected by dysgraphia, spacial orientation, and not dyslexia. I actually used graph paper for writing in school, one letter per square and one empty square equals a space. Otherwise my writing was all over the place and the words were not seperated. I thought they were, but they were not. When I first started writing, I had to put a finger down at the end of each word and start the next word on the other side of my finger.

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Thanks for all the replies, I did not know that dyslexia is so tied into the alphabet. Growing up with it and beginning to study different languages I was always impressed with how logical and easy the alphabet seemed to other orthographies, hence it seemes illogical that people had difficulties with it compared to those more difficult script systems. You learn something new every now and then. Wonder if those old Greeks would have started writing right to left if they knew what we know today?

Dysnumeria is dyslexia with numbers. I have that one too. Numbers move around for me and reverse all the time. I had awful math scores until one of my teachers took the time to go through my math problems and redo the answer when I reversed numbers and the like. All the sudden it was clear that I understood the concepts but that the numbers would not stay put for me. I ended up teaching statistics and game theory as a grad student and visiting professor. I got the concepts but still struggle with math by hand because of dynumeria. Give me a stats package and I am a happy camper.

[exscentric]

Colored plastic over the page is supposed to assist in reading as well. Blue and yellow or tan are supposed to work. I tried blue for awhile and it seemed to help a lot but changing the colored sheet page to page was a pain. On ereaders I use a tan background and it helps a lot for ease of reading.

Previously I only read on a have to basis. It dawned on me that I read online constantly. I ordered a Kindle and have been reading bunches since.

In high school in the 50's I was classed as not too smart. It was many years later that I took a test online that gave indication of the problem - I answered almost all of the questions in a positive manner. What a revelation - there was a reason I didn't like to read :-)

[Prestidigitweeze]

What an excellent find, Doitsu! I've just sent the link to a brilliant, gifted and famous novelist who has described precisely the dizzying revolutions which this "grounded" font was designed to prevent.

Hope it works for him to any degree that might help.

I'll also forward Blossom's comment about using Sans Serif fonts with even weight on all sides.

I remember having to change the format of the MS of one of his stories because the font was unusual and the orientation of the page was landscape. Perhaps he was only making the text easier to write and read.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

What an excellent find, Doitsu! I've just sent the link to a brilliant, gifted and famous novelist who has described precisely the dizzying revolutions which this "grounded" font was designed to prevent.

Hope it works for him to any degree that might help.

I'll also forward Blossom's comment about using Sans Serif fonts with even weight on all sides.

I remember having to change the format of the MS of one of his stories because the font was unusual and the orientation of the page was landscape. Perhaps he was only making the text easier to write and read.

There is a better one out there but not sure how to get it.

This going to make alot of people cringe but alot of people who have this trouble find Comic Sans alot easier on the eyes. Yes I know alot of people hate that font. Here's a modified version for free for Dyslexics.

It's just easier to say I'm dyslexic than to say I have issue with numbers but I think I have that worst than the other. I envy those who can do math in there head or on paper. I have to use my calculator, Excel, fingers and toes.

I will agree as I have read 91 books this year my Dyslexia has started to act up worse after seeming to be getting better for many years.

[Pomtroll]

I'll have to show this to my husband.

[morriss003]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I wonder too. I took one look at it and it made my eyes go in and out of focus. I guess all Dyslexics are not the same. For me I have to have a font with an even weight on all sides. This is one of the reasons Times Roman and I don't get along. I use more Sans Serifs more than I do Serifs with the exception of Amasis.

Interesting. I'm only slightly dyslexic and usually experience great difficulty only at night, but I have to use Times Roman when I write, even though I know this will cause me to miss errors I would catch in another font.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by morriss003

Interesting. I'm only slightly dyslexic and usually experience great difficulty only at night, but I have to use Times Roman when I write, even though I know this will cause me to miss errors I would catch in another font.

Yep I have the same problem specially on a white background. Why do you have to use Time Roman? I use whatever font I want. Once done I then change it back to Times if it's say an email or doc.

On my browsers I can change fonts permanently.

[readerbeagle]

Originally Posted by Apache

My wife loves to do scrambles and now I know why.
Another thing I thought was affected by Dyslexia is her handwriting. I used to attribute it to her being left handed. And I have wondered if left handed people are more likely to have dyslexia. .
Apache

What your wife has is possibly dysgraphia. It can be combined with dyslexia. In essence it is terrible handwriting no matter how hard the person/child tries. Both my boys have dysgraphia and reverse letters and create a horrible chicken scratch. Noticed a strong correlation with males in our family Grandfather, Uncle and 2 grandsons - daughters etc. are fine and one can actually do calligraphy very well. There is also a strong correlation between bright/gifted people and dysgraphia. You can often get a time extenton for writing exams if they are to be handwritten via spec ed dept at most Universities.

Typing and the watershed of 1995 w affordable computers has changed a lot for dysgraphics and it is very interesting to hear of this new font.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by readerbeagle

What your wife has is possibly dysgraphia. It can be combined with dyslexia. In essence it is terrible handwriting no matter how hard the person/child tries. Both my boys have dysgraphia and reverse letters and create a horrible chicken scratch. Noticed a strong correlation with males in our family Grandfather, Uncle and 2 grandsons - daughters etc. are fine and one can actually do calligraphy very well. There is also a strong correlation between bright/gifted people and dysgraphia. You can often get a time extenton for writing exams if they are to be handwritten via spec ed dept at most Universities.

Typing and the watershed of 1995 w affordable computers has changed a lot for dysgraphics and it is very interesting to hear of this new font.

I never knew it had a name. I Googled and yes this is me. I gave up writing a long time ago. I only type now.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Thanks, Blossom.

I haven't heard back from my friend yet, so I have to assume that either he knew about this already, another of his many friends and admirers directed him to it, or he's especially busy at the moment given his schedule and the time of year.

If I do hear from him on this subject, I'll forward the links you've provided.

Incidentally: Many people have remarked on the quality and richness of my friend's style, which he says is partly due to the extra care in reading and writing which dyslexia requires.

Originally Posted by Blossom

There is a better one out there but not sure how to get it.

This going to make alot of people cringe but alot of people who have this trouble find Comic Sans alot easier on the eyes. Yes I know alot of people hate that font. Here's a modified version for free for Dyslexics.

It's just easier to say I'm dyslexic than to say I have issue with numbers but I think I have that worst than the other. I envy those who can do math in there head or on paper. I have to use my calculator, Excel, fingers and toes.

I will agree as I have read 91 books this year my Dyslexia has started to act up worse after seeming to be getting better for many years.

[piper28]

Originally Posted by Apache

And I have wondered if left handed people are more likely to have dyslexia.

I can't point to anything that would confirm it with a study off the top of my head, but I'm almost positive this is true. I know I ran across it at one point though.

[QuantumIguana]

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...102926,00.html

It's an old article, from 2001, so it could well be dated. It talks about Italians with dyslexia read better than people with dyslexia from France or England. The article claims:


English has 1,120 different ways of spelling its 40 phonemes, the sounds required to pronounce all its words. By contrast, Italian needs only 33 combinations of letters to spell out its 25 phonemes. As a result, reading Italian takes a lot less effort, and that's probably why the reported rate of dyslexia in Italy is barely half that in the U.S., where about 15% of the population is affected to varying degrees.

It isn't saying that Italians are less likely to have dyslexia, but only that they are less likely to notice it.

[morriss003]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Yep I have the same problem specially on a white background. Why do you have to use Time Roman? I use whatever font I want. Once done I then change it back to Times if it's say an email or doc.

On my browsers I can change fonts permanently.

I use Times Roman because I have difficulty reading other fonts, so using them slows my writing. I first realized this when I switched from Ariel to Times. My guess is that there is a lot of variety in humans with this problem. I can't help wondering if elementary schools should test for font recognition in kids who display this difficulty.