What are the differences between people who have dyslexia, and people who have a hard time writing papers?

Do you think this is dyslexia?

• I read really slow and I always mix up words and letters while read. Sometimes I get really confused by a sentence and have to re-read and re-read it again to get the meaning. My reading speed is anywhere between 110wpm and 160wpm (I'm a sophomore in highschool, by the way). When I'm writing I often skip letters in a word, or add letters to a word, skip words, add words, and switch letters and words a lot. Sometimes I have really bizarre spellings. Example, today I was writing a paragraph and spelled exercises "excersisez" without meaning to. I have been attempting to spell words like "definitely" correctly for a few years now, but still spell it like "definately" on accident. I hate when I know how to spell word but then when I write them, they don't come out write. I'll write "people" as "beople" and stuff like that. When I'm talking I often mix up sounds and say stuff like, "the roy ban" instead of "the boy ran." When we took the writing practice OGT (Ohio graduation test) I was the last in the class to turn mine in and I didn't even have time to finish it. I wrote one page for my essay and everyone else wrote double or triple that, even the dumb people... I was also the last to finish the reading, math, biology, and social studies OGTs as well. I spend hours on my homework each night, usually AT LEAST three. And the thing is that I know I'm smart too. I grasp concepts so easily. I'm just so slow when it comes to anything with reading and writing. The only that makes me think that I'm not dyslexic is that I have good grades. I went to the guidance counselor at my school for this and she doesn't believe I have any problems because I have good grades. But she doesn't understand how hard I word for them. She did give me some color slides to put over my reading materials to see if it they helped. They seem to have helped. I normally find word searches very difficult, frustrating, and irritating, but when I used the colored cover, I could actually do the word search without all of the irritation I normally get from them. Dyslexia or no?

• Answer:

  I think you have many of the symptoms of dyslexia, but it's not something to be diagnosed over the Internet. If you are in a public school your district likely has a school psychogist who tests students for learning disabilities and difficulties. If you're in a private school you should be eligible for the same testing at the public school district where you live. Your parents should be able to request a full assessment for you. It's not the label that is important, but the information you will get about your strengths & weaknesses that will help you, your parents & teachers help you learn best. Hang in there. There is help out there!