Perceptions, Opinions & Reactions - Page 6

Tormentil · #**126** (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 06:31 PM

I agree. Lets close it.

Paul mabbott · #**127** (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 07:51 PM

Well, yes, we don't need to continue one part of this discussion, perhaps, but other threads within the thread are quite interesting and useful. I'm, for instance, particularly interested to learn how dyslexic people cope with reading/writing. I've a little experience with students who were clearly intelligent and understood what their subject but whose essays/written answers were practically unintelligible ... extremely difficult to evaluate and made me feel rather inadequate for not being able to make allowance or whatever ...

Other points. I've mentioned that I'm unable to put in smilies and the like but I don't think I'd want to anyway. It always seems a bit like telling a joke and then laughing to let people know that you've made a joke. Or television programmes where they hold up boards saying 'Laugh!' or 'Applaud' to the audience.

And humour is a problem. Not everyone gets the joke or recognises that it is a joke (I share a lot of problems with Leonard Cohen). For those of us into irony, it's even worse ... it was always said that you shouldn't use irony in correspondence/conversation with Germans or USAmericans - they don't have that sense of humour - whereas the British and French always assumed that anything you didn't understand was meant ironically. I suspect that many British people have now become americanised and have lost that sense of humour that the British were renowned for ....

There was something else but the Blades are having one of their tremendously victorious evenings .... (that's irony for you ..... !)

Cheers, Paul

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tormentil

I agree. Lets close it.

Dorcas · #**128** (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 07:55 PM

unfortunately the joke was against people's dyslexia

Airehead · #**129** (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dorcas

unfortunately the joke was against people's dyslexia

There was no joke against dyslexic people. That sounds like paranoia.
The joke, such as it was, was with (not against) the common mass. Dyslexic people were not singled out. They singled themselves out.

I have for a couple of years worked with people who have various disabilities, physical and mental and some terminal. I have never laughed at them. I often laughed with them at their own prompting. Unfortunately there are some who do not have the ability to laugh. I have found myself unable to help them.

cherrybee · #**130** (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 09:33 PM

I think its time to agree to disagree and close the thread for more postings.It has been interesting to find out about how dyslexia affects some people.There are varying degrees of dyslexia and the thread has possibly taught a fair amount of people about what it is and how it can affect people so they will be more tolerent.So lets give it a rest and start to enjoy the run up to Xmas.Goodwill to all, after all a lot of people dont have that chance and some may not be around next year so lets have some good cheer and thank God we are on WAB with a lot of wonderful people of like minds enjoy our wildlife and have FUN.

So Graham its over to you lets have an end to it

Beryl · #**131** (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Airehead

There was no joke against dyslexic people. That sounds like paranoia.
The joke, such as it was, was with (not against) the common mass. Dyslexic people were not singled out. They singled themselves out.

I have for a couple of years worked with people who have various disabilities, physical and mental and some terminal. I have never laughed at them. I often laughed with them at their own prompting. Unfortunately there are some who do not have the ability to laugh. I have found myself unable to help them.

I don't think there was a joke. I and my friends often laugh at some of the things I write. some times my sons and I are in stitches over my spellings. What upset a couple of us was YOU said the spelling on the WAB was ABYSMAL. and when one or two of us pointed out that we have no controle over our spelling dew to Dyslexia. YOU then came back with It being a FEABLE EXCUSE. That sort of atitude can upset any body.

speckled wood · #**132** (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speckled wood

I for example am autistic "spectrum" and many things that come naturally to others do not come naturally to me and often I need to have things explained to me that others would not need to have explained to them as a result I am often misunderstood I try my best but my best is not always enough, and it is very upsetting for example when as a result of my problem (that I try to do my best to deal with) I get a privmail threatening me with ejection from the group.

Dyslexia can be distressing and I make allowances for it, I just wish that people would make allowances for me, and for other people who might have other conditions.

I mentioned this issue earlier in the thread, No one responded, that tells me a lot.

Goodbye I wish you well

cherrybee · #**133** (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speckled wood

I mentioned this issue earlier in the thread, No one responded, that tells me a lot.

Goodbye I wish you well

Oh dear SW you were overlooked I repeat what I said before, although it was about the dyslexia.We should be tolerent of all conditions and really should not make remarks about peoples spellings etc.The treehouse can be such a fun thread and what does it really matter about spellings as long as we understand what people say I must admit to have missed yours but the discussion was getting just a little heated it was overlooked by me as dyslexia is in my family as well as my friend that I was just jumping in at there defence.I have a granddaughter with Down Syndrome and a grandson with a form of autism and who is often misunderstood by adults and children alike so I do know how hurtful these misunderstandings can be.I do think by using smilies this sort of thing can be avoided to a certain extent.When talking to someone you can see their body language and can usually tell when its irony or a joke also you can tell by the sound of a voice.But the writte word is impossible as there are so many ways in which you can take it.
So come on peeps use the smilies so no one takes offence and lets ALL chill.Lifes too short

badgerwatcher · #**134** (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 10:04 PM

Speckled wood, I for one did not refer to your reference to autistic spectrum because I felt that enough people were getting hett up about dyslexia without opening up other avenues to offend people. I was impressed that you felt you could share it with us, and sympathised with your potential difficulties in comunicating by text. I would be very unhappy if you felt you could not join with us on this site any more.

matt_xyz · #**135** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speckled wood

I mentioned this issue earlier in the thread, No one responded, that tells me a lot.

Goodbye I wish you well

I'm not sure how we were meant to respond SW. I'm sorry to hear you have a degree of autism, but me stating my sympathy could be construed as patronising etc. Hence the reluctance of people to respond.

If this condition explains one or two of the 'issues' that arose then I'm glad you let us know, but your post above seems to complain that we didn't make allowances for you - how were we meant to do this if we didn't know you had this condition? Are we to assume that everytime we have an 'issue' with a poster it's because they have a condition of some kind?

I genuinely hope you don't leave over this.

Matt

Rainbowmum · #**136** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 08:19 AM

Just a question about dsylexia and spell-checkers. Often when I use a spell-checker it highlights the incorrect word and gives me a number of other options I could use. If one has dyslexia is it then possible to identify the correctly spelled word from a list or not?

Louise xx

eeyore · #**137** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beryl

What upset a couple of us was YOU said the spelling on the WAB was ABYSMAL. and when one or two of us pointed out that we have no controle over our spelling dew to Dyslexia. YOU then came back with It being a FEABLE EXCUSE. That sort of atitude can upset any body.

I've stayed out of this so far but I have to say that while I agree that aireheads post does seem designed to provoke argument , he didnt mention any member specifically - he said that the spelling on wab was abysmal.

So a couple of us (including me) are dyslexic, but the great majority of posters are not so it seems a bit paranoid to accuse airehead of targeting dyslexia sufferers

Also I would not agree that as dyslexia sufferers we have no control over our spelling - spelling is more difficult for us than it is for most people , but computers have spellcheckers and anyway hitting two keys at once is a symptom of fast typing not dyslexia.

eeyore · #**138** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainbowmum

Just a question about dsylexia and spell-checkers. Often when I use a spell-checker it highlights the incorrect word and gives me a number of other options I could use. If one has dyslexia is it then possible to identify the correctly spelled word from a list or not?

Louise xx

not always , dyslexia often leads to reversing letters in words or duplicating / missing out letters - but a spell checker is helpful in highlighting words that need to be checked - and also in picking up typos, most of which have nothing to do with dyslexia in the first place

Beryl · #**139** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 09:14 AM

When Arehead said that the spelling on the WAB was abysmal. a couple of us just wanted to explain why. He then went on to say we were making WEAK excuse. That is when we got a little upset.Fpr some of us older folk, whrn at school Dyslexia was not heard of of and we were just sat at the back of the class and more or less left because they didn't know why and they didn't know what to do about it and even teachers made fun of us infront of the other children. Youngsters today get a great deal of help. My son is dyslexic and he had so much help he managed to pass his O level(as it was then ) for English After 3 attempts.

badgerwatcher · #**140** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 09:25 AM

In reply to Louise, my dislexia is mild, but when I use spellcheck, usually it becomes clear if given a choice of words, so fairly easy to choose, I don't know how it is for more severe sufferers. My head shuffles the letters, and if it's a word I'm fairly sure of, usually all the letters are there, but I seem to type the dominant ones first, and all the others at the end, or something like that. Not sure really, as I can see it's wrong when I look on most occasions. Sometimes I can stare at a word for ages and not be able to tell. Also, collections of letters that I don't recognise as a word I've heard, turn into some strange shape in my head, leading to much teasing when I was young. For example, some of the names people call themselves on this site, especially those involving letters and numbers, don't stay in my head at all, so I will never recognise that I have spoken to that person before. I think that is because I make everything into pictures wherever possible, even if it's just a series of colours. I don't know how other people's minds work, so I don't know which bits are dislexia. Also, sometimes I spell better than others, and I can spell out loud better than I can write.

badgerwatcher · #**141** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 09:30 AM

I think, as Beryl says, it is all the teasing even from teachers and family, that is so painful. My spelling was the comedy routine at every family gathering for years. I was, and am, an avid reader, which has helped, as it gradually goes in more and more, but a set back sends it all haywire again.

If I'm tired, ill, or stressed it's worse.

eeyore · #**142** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badgerwatcher

I think, as Beryl says, it is all the teasing even from teachers and family, that is so painful. My spelling was the comedy routine at every family gathering for years. I was, and am, an avid reader, which has helped, as it gradually goes in more and more, but a set back sends it all haywire again.

If I'm tired, ill, or stressed it's worse.

I was lucky enough to be educated in a mmore enlightened time when the only teasing was from class mates - and that was easily settled with a punch in the teeth.

However Airehead never actually mentioned dyslexia even in his second post - dont get me wrong I am not defending his posts which were in my view designed to reignite an argument which had pretty much died out - but IMO the best thing to do with such Troll posts is not to rise to the bait - and yes i know that this is easier said than done

Beryl · #**143** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 10:33 AM

No. Arehead did not mention dyxlexia. we I and Badgerwatcher did when we were explaining why our spelling was bad. we didn't want to fight with any one but we just don't like it when some says it is a WEAK EXCUSE. I'm quite badly dyslexic I even have trouble making sence of a keyboard some letters I have to hunt for because I don't always recognise the shape of the letter
Beside little girls (that I was never

) and young ladies (That I was

) don't go arround punching people in the teeth.

Paul mabbott · #**144** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speckled wood

I mentioned this issue earlier in the thread, No one responded, that tells me a lot.

I did notice but, like badgerwatcher, thought the thread was going off at too many tangents already. Sorry.

It's the invisibility of some conditions that causes problems. I've always thought the worst possible impairment would be blindness. I said as much to a congenitally deaf aunt of mine who said, 'Hmm .. if you've got a white stick or a wheelchair everyone is full of sympathy but if you're deaf, they just think you're stupid.'

Same with autism and all sorts of conditions. I'm not sure that the term 'autistic spectrum' is helpful - it lumps together a lot of conditions in which people just won't/can't act or behave in conventional ways. Asperger's, for instance, can be seen as behaviour which, really is 'better' than how "normal" people behave. Assuming that writing/and speech mean what they say rather than what the speaker/writer thinks they mean. Compulsive collection and categorisation. Refusal to believe the improbable (facts before faith). I'm convinced that most great scientists from Newton on were all 'sufferers' of Asperger's ....

So, you're in good company

Beryl · #**145** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 10:40 AM

Einstien and Leonarddo Divinci were dyslexic.

smartie · #**146** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beryl

Beside little girls (that I was never

) and young ladies (That I was

) don't go arround punching people in the teeth.

They do sometimes. When I was a little girl in the 1950s I was badly bullied by a bigger girl at my primary school. I told my mum (had to, as I as going home covered in bruises), and her solution was that we waylaid this girl on her way home and my mum held her while I gave her the equivalent of a punch in the teeth

I'm horrified now to think about it, and not suggesting anyone else should follow my mum's example - but I have to say it worked.

Beryl · #**147** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 10:48 AM

I can imagine . I was a little girl in the 40s I jwan't fist orientated I used to go and hide and cry my eyes out. Have a brown belt in Karate now

badgerwatcher · #**148** (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 12:09 PM

Since we're into disclosure on this thread, I was physically abused from birth, which has given me a tendancy to freeze rather than fight back. I have never quite been able to overcome this tendancy. So punching someone has never been an option for me.
See, we never know what cans of worms we're going to open in other people's lives.

I hope it doesn't mean we all have to tread on eggshells!

And when I joined a site called Wild about Britain, I thought it meant the animals that were wild, not the people on it!

Goes off, humming a little tune to herself, hoping people don't take offence at a comment gently meant!