Weird word processing?

Discussion in 'Braaaaiiiinnnns...' started by Re Allyssa, Feb 25, 2015.

  1. Re Allyssa

    Re Allyssa Sylph of Heart

    So! I am fairly certain that the way I process words is pretty weird.
    Then again, I think that about a lot of the things I do which people say is pretty normal, so I dunno.

    So, I can't spell worth shit, and sounding out words is a foreign concept. I learned all the phonetics charts they taught us in school, but it just doesn't matter. I basically rely on memorization to get by. (I swear, I'm having more problems typing this post than usual.)
    And I can get by pretty well because I read a lot, and I have a good memory for stuff I read, and so words tend to stick pretty well. Spellcheck is a Godsend though. (This is the same reason I can tell when something is spelled wrong, but have no idea how to fix it.)

    But yeah, since I've been reading since forever, I never really considered dyslexia as I thing I could be. Words and letters don't move around on the page or anything either.

    I do swap syllables when trying to pronounce things though! Sometimes adjacent, sometimes not. Like I initially parsed Enkidi as "en-di-ki" and now I can't flip them back (yeah I totally looked that up to check if it was right). I also delete syllables in the middle of words, I think. (I don't have an example for that one.)

    I have a very hard time pronouncing words in general. Like I know that stress in English is actually regular and so it's not like vowels are changing all whilly-nilly on me, but it still feels like that because I have a hard time hearing stress (like I can when it's obvious, but it takes effort).

    Also in Linguistics doing phonetics is HARD. [f], [h], [x]? practically the same on their own. Next to something else and I can usually hear the difference, but... And don't get me started on low back vowels.

    Oh and I swap b and p when sounding out words to type pretty often. On words I know how to spell even! But that's the only pair that's a problem, and not all the time.

    Oh oh, numbers too. Once I was copying down a sheet of numbers and I realized that the numbers I was silently repeating in my head weren't the numbers on the screen, or the ones I was writing down. The numbers on the screen and the numbers I wrote down matched, though. So who knows.

    But anyway that's some of my word weirdness, I'll add more as I remember. Anyone got any ideas? Or resources/things for me to look it with which to get ideas? Trying to find things via google is anxiety inducing.
     
  2. Allenna

    Allenna I am not a Dragon. Or a Robot. Really.

    I pretty much only can spell things by memorization and the grace of spell check as well. The only thing I can really think atm to suggest is playing old parser adventure games. It helped me at least memorize commonly used words in a bit more...fun way?

    I wish I could help more, I've mostly just blunt forced my brain over 34 years into picking up some things, but I wouldn't recommend that way it leaves huge blind spots and a tenancy to never speak aloud any new word.
     
  3. Re Allyssa

    Re Allyssa Sylph of Heart

    Hehehe yup that's me too.
    I've started just recognizing that I have trouble pronouncing things and basically starting to say the word, fumble a bit, and try to ask the person I'm talking to for help. It's gotten a few weird looks, but I like it better than people correcting me all the time. It's like, I'm approaching it as a thing that I have trouble with, rather than something I get wrong and thus feel stupid about. I'm not sure why that distinction matters but it does to me, so I'm running with it. xD
     
  4. Morven

    Morven In darkness be the sound and light

    The only way to spell English is memorization; there are simply no coherent rules that are reliable enough. I'm just lucky to have the right memory for it.
     
  5. budgie

    budgie not actually a bird

    hmmm, actually, letter-swapping, having a hard time sounding things out, and getting by on memorization all sound like my dyslexic sister to me. she had a smartscribe pen in college that really helped her get by, and there's apparently a couple fonts that are easier to parse if you're dyslexic, but i'm not sure if she uses any of those.

    neat fact: there is a significant subset of people who have dyslexia who manage just fine with non-alphabetic systems.

    i find [x] sounds more resonant than [f], but i don't really know how to explain why. fortunately, one doesn't normally encounter them in isolation in the wild.
     
  6. Re Allyssa

    Re Allyssa Sylph of Heart

    I guess I'm just really surprised that if I am dyslexic how no one figured it out.
    Then again, the only thing that would've been a clue is that I'm comically bad at spelling; otherwise I'm really good at school (at least I was before depression reared it's ugly head). Like in elementary I got all A's and B consistently and that B was spelling. And my first failed test, and also report card C were both spelling. Thank God for middle/high school when spelling is no longer a separate subject.
     
  7. budgie

    budgie not actually a bird

    yep, same with my sister. she did really well in school, to the point where everyone thought that she just didn't care about her spelling, not that there was an actual reason for it. she didn't get a diagnosis until she was almost 20.

    if it's possible, i'd talk to someone at your school about getting tested, because getting a diagnosis + accommodations and strategies made a world of difference for my sister.
     
  8. Re Allyssa

    Re Allyssa Sylph of Heart

    Huh, okay that goes on my "needs to get tested" list next to autism and adhd.
    I mean, it was already there, but I feel a little bit better about it now.

    Especially with how long this list of things is getting, I start to wonder if I'm just making it up for some reason. And I do the same thing with physical problems too. I'm starting to think it's tied to abuse somehow, but still it bothers me xP
     
  9. albedo

    albedo metasperg

    This. Constantly. =_= So uh, at least you're not alone?
     
  10. Re Allyssa

    Re Allyssa Sylph of Heart

    Yay?? It'd be nice if no one ever felt like this though :c
     
    • Like x 1
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice