Latest news with #dyslexia
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Dyslexia diagnosis at 50 'was a feeling of relief'
Working as a newsreader and a presenter on the radio means I have had to read out loud quite a lot - it's an essential part of the job. But over the years I'd sometimes struggle with some of the basic stuff like reading the scripts word for word - I'd hit a wall and make really silly mistakes - and it was frustrating. When I had the chance to have a test for dyslexia at the age of 50, after being inspired by a feature we did on Radio Berkshire, it established that, yes, I was dyslexic. It was a feeling of relief but also, for anyone struggling like me, a diagnosis can help you better understand yourself. Looking back to my school days in the 1980s and early 90s, I would often have to work hard to properly understand things, especially with maths and English. In the end I did very badly at my A-levels, leaving me frustrated with myself and suddenly not really having a life plan. Back then there wasn't the support or awareness of dyslexia and the impact it could have on a child's education and prospects - things might have turned out differently if there had been. 'Coping strategies' Luckily I got to muck around doing radio - hospital radio and then AA Roadwatch travel news before joining the BBC in Oxford. The BBC was great at teaching you the skills you need for journalism. I developed coping strategies - reading scripts many times over, changing breathing techniques, and using a different font that was easier to read. Like many things, you get along in life and I think I've done alright, even though I was never tested for or diagnosed as dyslexic. When we featured the Adult Dyslexia Centre in Maidenhead, which helps people who have struggled with growing up with the learning difficulty, I was inspired to take the test. Having taken the four-hour test with reading and comprehension and cognitive reasoning and recall, I eventually got the certificate confirming dyslexia. In a way I'm grateful that its shows I'm not stupid - it's a relief to know there is a diagnosable thing that's gone on here. I think the biggest thing I've learned is that facing a dyslexia diagnosis is not the end of the world and that there are a lot of things that can be done. One of the things I often struggle with is keeping my eyes focused on the words in front of me and not drifting around. My assessor suggested going to a behavioural ophthalmologist, who can work out what's going on and even provide specialist glasses that help control the eyes better. And for anyone having trouble - finding things like job interviews especially tough - and who, like me, has just struggled through, it's worth taking a test. The difficulties I've had all now make sense. What is dyslexia? Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that affects about one in 10 people in the UK, including adults as well as children, according to the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) If someone has dyslexia, they may have difficulties with their reading, writing or spelling It does not affect intelligence and it is not a disease or an illness - it is a condition that someone is born with Government statistics show that 6.3m people in the UK have dyslexia, while one in six adults have the reading level of an 11-year-old A dyslexia diagnosis is not available via the NHS. It is recognised as a specific learning difficulty and this means it is an educational assessment A diagnosis can only be made by an educational psychologist who is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council or a specialist teacher with a valid registration Charities such as the BDA can offer advice for people who want to find out whether they may have dyslexia You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. See also Tool for mass dyslexia screening being developed 'My dyslexia diagnosis was a lightbulb moment' Related Links British Dyslexia Association
BBC News
3 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
BBC presenter Phil Mercer on being diagnosed with dyslexia at 50
Working as a newsreader and a presenter on the radio means I have had to read out loud quite a lot - it's an essential part of the over the years I'd sometimes struggle with some of the basic stuff like reading the scripts word for word - I'd hit a wall and make really silly mistakes - and it was I had the chance to have a test for dyslexia at the age of 50, after being inspired by a feature we did on Radio Berkshire, it established that, yes, I was was a feeling of relief but also, for anyone struggling like me, a diagnosis can help you better understand back to my school days in the 1980s and early 90s, I would often have to work hard to properly understand things, especially with maths and English. In the end I did very badly at my A-levels, leaving me frustrated with myself and suddenly not really having a life then there wasn't the support or awareness of dyslexia and the impact it could have on a child's education and prospects - things might have turned out differently if there had been. 'Coping strategies' Luckily I got to muck around doing radio - hospital radio and then AA Roadwatch travel news before joining the BBC in BBC was great at teaching you the skills you need for journalism. I developed coping strategies - reading scripts many times over, changing breathing techniques, and using a different font that was easier to many things, you get along in life and I think I've done alright, even though I was never tested for or diagnosed as we featured the Adult Dyslexia Centre in Maidenhead, which helps people who have struggled with growing up with the learning difficulty, I was inspired to take the taken the four-hour test with reading and comprehension and cognitive reasoning and recall, I eventually got the certificate confirming a way I'm grateful that its shows I'm not stupid - it's a relief to know there is a diagnosable thing that's gone on here.I think the biggest thing I've learned is that facing a dyslexia diagnosis is not the end of the world and that there are a lot of things that can be of the things I often struggle with is keeping my eyes focused on the words in front of me and not drifting around. My assessor suggested going to a behavioural ophthalmologist, who can work out what's going on and even provide specialist glasses that help control the eyes for anyone having trouble - finding things like job interviews especially tough - and who, like me, has just struggled through, it's worth taking a test. The difficulties I've had all now make sense. What is dyslexia? Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that affects about one in 10 people in the UK, including adults as well as children, according to the British Dyslexia Association (BDA)If someone has dyslexia, they may have difficulties with their reading, writing or spellingIt does not affect intelligence and it is not a disease or an illness - it is a condition that someone is born withGovernment statistics show that 6.3m people in the UK have dyslexia, while one in six adults have the reading level of an 11-year-oldA dyslexia diagnosis is not available via the NHS. It is recognised as a specific learning difficulty and this means it is an educational assessmentA diagnosis can only be made by an educational psychologist who is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council or a specialist teacher with a valid registrationCharities such as the BDA can offer advice for people who want to find out whether they may have dyslexia You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
The Guardian
13-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Readers reply: Why can some people solve anagrams immediately?
Why can some people see the solutions to anagrams instantly? I stare at them for some time and cannot work them out, while I have friends who can solve them immediately. Annie Wilshere, St Asaph Send new questions to nq@ For simple anagrams, dyslexia helps. Words are a muddle of letters anyway, so seeing the solution is just an extension of reading sometimes. WoollyAphid I'm not dyslexic, but I have always been good at them. I just look at the letters arranged in a grid or a circle and usually the word leaps out at me in seconds. I think I have a linguistic brain, though, as I speak multiple languages, whereas I have no sense of direction at all – I could get lost in a cathedral. Some people's brains are just wired differently. My partner is a polymath, but he has struggled to learn a foreign language. When we go abroad, it's a good combination: I can do the talking and they can do the directions. FolieA2 I write the anagram in a circle and am able to see the word almost immediately. 67589959 Doesn't everyone write down the letters of an anagram in a circle? I don't know anyone who doesn't. Watch any episode of Countdown and you'll see that's what virtually every competitor does. Troy_McClure I write the vowels and consonants on separate lines, sometimes rearranging the consonants to break up common pairs. The most important thing is to break the pattern of letters in the original. ravenrider My dad was good at crosswords and anagrams and taught me to look for an ending first, eg 'ion', 'ing', 'ent'. That way, there were fewer letters to make up the rest of the word. I find it works sometimes, but not always. CazKat If you find them difficult, anagrams make your head hurt, don't they? I hate them. I was trying to do a crossword on a steam train once and was stuck with one, so I asked the man in a pinstripe and bowler hat sitting opposite me in the compartment. But he was no help whatsoever. I said: 'Excuse me, sir, but I wonder if you can help? I'm stuck for an anagram for 'flaneur' here and the tremultimate letter is R.' He replied: 'That's your funeral, then,' and went straight back to reading his FT. Well, I mean, really. ThereisnoOwl If you're ever challenged to find an anagram of 'new door', bear in mind that it's one word. EddieChorepost I've found that an anagram is best solved by the sea with a glass of armagnac. bricklayersoption
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Emily Deschanel Recalls Having Panic Attacks During Season 1 Of ‘Bones' & Feeling 'Shame' After Being Reprimanded For Being 'Unprepared'
Emily Deschanel recalled struggling emotionally and professionally while filming the first season of Fox's Bones, to the point where she got a talking-to about her lack of preparedness. In a recent episode of podcast Fail Better with host David Duchovny, who once directed an episode of the police procedural, Deschanel opened up about the pain point and how her diagnosis of ADHD and dyslexia as a child affected her career later on. More from Deadline 2025 Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Cable & Streaming Annie Potts Joins Fox Medical Comedy 'Best Medicine' News UK Expands Original IP Ambitions With 14 Projects In Development Based On Its Archive 'We were working insane hours, longer than just a normal series,' Deschanel began. 'You're working 14- to 16-hour days, and then I had to memorize the lines. So I'd be staying up late night memorizing lines. I would joke that I would go home and just cry in a bathtub every night because I was just so overwhelmed.' She continued, 'I'd come to set and I would be trying to remember the lines that — I got no sleep and trying to remember the lines that I had memorized the night before and then I had them in my head and couldn't remember them.' Deschanel said moments like that would result in 'tunnel vision' and feel 'exposing' in front of crew members and other peers who were dependent on her performance to get through shoot days. 'I didn't know I was having panic attacks, but I was basically having panic attacks at the time,' she recalled. And when Deschanel was once 30 minutes late to work because of an accident on her commute, series creator Hart Hanson was forced to deliver a harsh message from his superiors. 'Hart knocked on my trailer door, which was not a usual thing, he wasn't knocking on my door often,' she remembered, chuckling ruefully. 'He took me aside and said, 'The studio has concerns about your work.' They said that I was late and unprepared. And that to me — I get emotional just thinking about it now because it was probably shame [that I was feeling].' Continuing tearfully, she said, 'I mean, I was a wreck … I took it so hard, and I was such a fragile person at the time. I got hardened up doing that show for so long. I was not sleeping, I was so stressed out. I was already, I'm an emotional person, so I was just beside myself.' However, Deschanel said the moment served as a wake-up call of sorts in that she was never late to set again. The following day Bones was also picked up for more episodes, with the eventual tally for the 12-season series comprising 246 episodes from 2005 through 2017. Deschanel added that she was able to get through the long-running series after Hanson offered her practical 'support,' such as by getting someone to run lines with her and a bigger trailer to match costar David Boreanaz's. 'Hart helped me find ways to be better, get my job done in terms of learning my lines and remembering them, and a lot of it was having downtime or having some scene that I'm not in, et cetera. He's just a good one. We were so lucky,' she concluded. Loosely based on the life and novels of forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, a producer on the show, each episode of Bones unpacks an FBI case file surrounding the mystery of human remains, as well as the personal lives of its central characters. The show garnered two Emmy nods throughout its run. Best of Deadline 'The Buccaneers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 'The Buccaneers' Season 2 Soundtrack: From Griff To Sabrina Carpenter 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery
CTV News
09-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
B.C. senior who survived WWII bombing knits to support people enduring war
Adam finds out the explosive story that led to a Saanich senior's crafty caring. Adam finds out the explosive story that led to a Saanich senior's crafty caring. SAANICH, B.C. — No matter where she goes, Birgitte has been wearing one particular pin. 'I've been knitting them now for three years,' she says, showing how the pin looks like tiny knitting needles creating a small Ukrainian flag. To appreciate why she's still making them after many people stopped showing their support of the war-torn country, we need to go back 80 years to when Birgitte was growing up in Europe during the Second World War. That's when young Birgitte was awoken one night with a bang. 'The bomb came and blew out our windows,' Birgitte recalls. Birgitte and her brother were alone in their bedroom, facing flames rising from a hole in the floor. 'I said, 'I can't move. I can't move,'' Birgitte imitates her younger self's voice. 'I was absolutely stuck with fear.' Although her brother was just two years older, he ran to her rescue. 'Then I stopped being frozen,' she says. 'He held my hand, and we walked out.' Birgitte lost her home that day, and by the time she'd reached elementary school had also lost both her parents. 'You had difficulties,' she says. 'But you just had to try and learn how to cope.' Like when Birgitte struggled to learn how to read and write and was eventually diagnosed with dyslexia. 'I've never been treated like I was stupid or incapable,' Birgitte says. Instead, the caring grandparents who raised her encouraged Birgitte to focus on her strengths. '[My grandmother] taught me how to knit,' Birgitte smiles. 'I could do knitting and sewing long before my friends could.' That support not only inspired Brigitte to purse her passion professionally, it motivated a lifetime of volunteering to help others facing adversity. 'I don't like things that are not fair,' Birgitte says. So, when she saw what was happening in Ukraine, she couldn't help but think of the young girls experiencing war like she once did. 'If I could raise a bit of money doing a little bit of something, why on earth wouldn't I?' Birgitte recalls thinking. But Birgitte never imagined her little hand-made flags pins would end up raising a lot of money for the Red Cross in Ukraine. 'Pretty close to having raised $20,000,' Birgitte says. And the 87-year-old has no plans to quit. Because like her big brother's bravery, like her grandparents unconditional loving, Birgitte is determined to make a positive difference in the lives of others. 'We all have things that we can do,' Birgitte says. 'It may not be something earth-shaking, but at least you've tried to do something.'
