Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Realizations, with a touch of dyslexia

When I was younger, there were thoughts I had to myself that I assumed applied to everyone. I found out the truths about these thoughts far too late in life…

For one, I thought it was widely known that Puff the Magic Dragon frolicked in the “Ottomiss.” Yes, I thought this was the name of the town where he lived in the land of Honnahlee. Like Ottomiss, Honnahlee, UK or some shit. This is the reason why I was 110% shocked at the age of 16 when I found out it was really the “Autumn Mist.” Say whaaa?

Secondly, growing up, I thought Princeton was a good representation of New Jersey…until I went to school in Northern New Jersey. Then, I discovered that not only is Princeton NOT a good representation of New Jersey, but that it is not a good representation of anything but itself. It is unique in all of its own good and bad ways. For 18 years, I truly lived in a bubble. “Schools have marching bands??” “Not everyone has to take 5 AP courses even if they don't feel totally qualified?” Yeah, these are realizations I came to.

And lastly, I used to think everyone was a little bit dyslexic. I remember saying to my sister once “You know when you look at a word and you see ‘Pastey’ but then you realize it actually says ‘Patsy?’ Isn’t that weird?” She laughed and rolled her eyes. I figured this was just because she was my sister and she’s allowed to tease me about stuff. So, I went on believing this falsity that everyone is a little dyslexic. Sadly, I only recently came to the realization that this is not true. I came across an online quiz that said something like “if you answer yes to 5 or more of these questions, you may be dyslexic.” I figured, what the hey, and took it….and I answered yes to 9 of them. Uh-oh. I figured I’d do a little searching to see if I couldn’t find more answers. I found another similar questionnaire, where it seemed I was clicking the bubbles next to the Yes’s on every question.
“Do you have trouble concentrating?” YES.
“Do you often daydream?” YES.
“Did you have trouble with word problems in school, but excelled at art and music?” YES.
“Do you make mistakes when writing cheques?” OMG YES (you don't understand how many cheques I've had to void through the years).
“Does your handwriting vary or is illegible?” SERIOUSLY, YES, GET OUT OF MY HEAD.
“Do you hold a pen or pencil unusually, or are ambidextrous?” YES, YES, YES!
“Do you often get confused with dates or are late to appointments?” SHUT UP, YES!

And so on.

So guys, I think I have a problem. How does one get evaluated for dyslexia? And more importantly, how did this slip by all my teachers and loved ones, who passed all these quirks off as “That’s just Caroline being Caroline?” And this friends, is how, at the age of 25, I found out that not everyone is a little bit dyslexic...BUT, I might be. Yikes.

4 comments:

Sarah-the-Yente said...

Oh Caroline! Did you know my brother Kurt was dyslexic? Apparently people with dyslexia or ADD often make really good leaders because they spend their whole lives having to be like, "Look, I can't do this, can you help me?" and that makes them really good delegaters. Like, you always know who the right people to get on a problem are! So maybe it's a compliment? Kind of? I mean, Kurt did pretty good! No sweat! Maybe you should get a rubber armband for dyslexia awareness? We could hold a Mroahtan for you to raise money for the cause.

carolinemichelle said...

Oh man! I did not know these things! I would love to raise money for the cause. I do need to find out if I legit have it though. Any ideas how I find that out? If I am dyslexic, that answers a ton of questions about my learning abilities growing up. Like how I probably should have requested extra time on the English section of the SATs, and how 100% of my teachers would tell my mom in conferences..."Caroline is a sweet girl, but she day dreams a lot..." lol

Unknown said...

Caroline!!! I totally thought the same things about Puff the Magic Dragon!!! I thought I was the only one who heard it as Ottomist and Honallee! I'm so glad we are connected on this level! And don't worry sweetie, I still believe everyone is a little dyslexic!

sweets said...

I sometimes believe that i'm dyslexic... but I think i'm also lazy when reading.

how to find out... by just googling- this is what came out:
http://www.headstrongnation.org/are-you-dyslexic