Notably, dyslexics and other neurodivergents can be more susceptible to stress, anxiety, rumination and feelings of being overwhelmed due to their neurodiversity.
They can get easily overwhelmed
Dyslexic people tend to compare themselves to what they think of as 'normal', but being dyslexic means that you are processing the world in a fundamentally different way. Different, not wrong, and most neuro-typical people can't begin to do the things that dyslexic people find easy.
Distractibility and oversensitivity to loud sounds and background noise. Dyslexics often show symptoms of overstimulation in their brain's auditory processing cortex. Auditory over-stimulation can occur when there is a weakness in learning to decode language (during the working memory process).
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities.
What does this mean for dyslexics? In summary, stress and anxiety will prevent learning. Simply thinking about or remembering the previous experiences will likely illicit the same physiological response and prevent learning.
Although dyslexia is not an emotional disorder, it can lead to feelings of anxiety, anger, low self-esteem and depression. Anxiety is the emotional symptom that adults with dyslexia experience the most. They become fearful because of their constant confusion and frustration at work or an educational setting.
Many of the emotional problems caused by dyslexia occur out of frustration with school or social situations. Social scientists have frequently observed that frustration produces anger. This can be clearly seen in many children with dyslexia. Anger is also a common manifestation of anxiety and depression.
Nonetheless, as discussed above, being dyslexic may make an individual more sensitive and prone to anxious thoughts in certain situations. Personality traits and psychological profiles too play a key role in anxiety levels.
Dyslexia is not an emotional disorder, but the frustrating nature of this learning disability can lead to feelings of anxiety, anger, low self–esteem and depression. Read scenarios in the dyslexic child's life that can give rise to social and emotional difficulties.
People with dyslexia have the ability to see how things connect to form complex systems, and to identify similarities among multiple things. Such strengths are likely to be of particular significance for fields like science and mathematics, where pictures are key.
Public speaking is one to the most common phobias in the world and reading aloud is public speaking! So a really good way to annoy someone who has difficulty with reading is to get them reading aloud. People with dyslexia love that sense of foreboding as they wait their turn.
Most people associate dyslexia with letter reversal and reading difficulty. While these commonly appear in dyslexic individuals, dyslexia can affect so much more than just reading skills. Another common trait in dyslexic individuals is higher emotional intelligence.
Dyslexia results from individual differences in the parts of the brain that enable reading. It tends to run in families. Dyslexia appears to be linked to certain genes that affect how the brain processes reading and language.
Often forget conversations or important dates. Have difficulty with personal organisation, time management and prioritising tasks. Avoid certain types of work or study. Find some tasks really easy but unexpectedly challenged by others.
Individuals with dyslexia may experience marked anxiety in situations in which they feel they will make mistakes, be ridiculed, or made to feel foolish in front of others. Severe anxiety or fears are known as phobias.
Dyslexic people can struggle with direction: they may often get lost or feel nervous about going to unfamiliar places. They may also find 'left' or 'right' instructions difficult to follow, or give.
Adults with dyslexia often have a wide range of nonspecific mental health, emotional, and work difficulties. They may have low self-esteem, experience shame, humiliation, or lack confidence in their ability to perform at work or school.
Many people with dyslexia share a common set of strengths. You can remember these strengths by using the M-I-N-D acronym. You can remember these strengths by using the MIND acronym: Material Reasoning, Interconnected Reasoning, Narrative Reasoning, and Dynamic Reasoning.
They think in a different way. The majority of people think mainly with their brain's left hemisphere, whereas dyslexics think predominantly with their right hemisphere. This leads to a different kind of thinking and learning style that we call conceptual thinking.
Another condition people with dyslexia may experience is social anxiety disorder. It has several intense symptoms: The fear of being judged by others. Avoidance of social situations.
Frequently has to re-read sentences in order to comprehend. Fatigues or becomes bored quickly while reading. Reliance on others (assistants, spouses, significant others) for written correspondence.
Emotional sensitivity is not in itself a bad thing.
Dyslexic strengths can include high levels of empathy and a strong sense of justice. Many dyslexic entrepreneurs attribute a good deal of their success to strong interpersonal skills.
Moreover, high fatigue levels may also be contributed to by a dyslexic potentially trying to hide and mask how much work, determination and stress that has occurred during their day (BDA: Living with a Dyslexic Partner). Secondly, high fatigue and tiredness levels can be linked to the 'secondary symptoms of dyslexia'.
Both mothers and fathers can pass dyslexia on to their children if either parent has it. There is roughly a 50% – 60% chance of a child developing dyslexia if one of their parents has it.