dyslexia and lying

I have a child who is dyslexic and over the years he has entertained me with wonderful storys. I always enjoyed his imagination. As any parent would do, he has been diciplined for his little white lies. However he is now 13 and he tells very detailed and elaborate storys that are just so far from anything that is even close to the truth, that it is just mind boggling to me. I have asked him to explain this to me. He says that he will think that "wouldn't it be cool if..." and the next thing you know it has become fact in his mind. I am very concerned about this. I wondered if this could be so, or if he's just blowing smoke.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I have dyslexia myself, just interested that "lying" came up in a dyslexia forum, i find it harder to explain, but if i have something exciting planned, i find it hard to let my parents know, often lying. I see no reason to tell them what i'm doing until the time comes, or afterwords. DYSLEXIA or just PERSONALITY? or is the dyslexia doing something to the personality? It would be intresting to see if there is a link between dyslexia and lying. A bit obscure, but something interesting to think about.

I, my sister and my brother are dyslexic. I've always found myself to be a good lier, and my sister too. I believe this is due to the prime factor that causes dyslexia, a distortion of the senses. This links in with the theory that dyslexics are often more creative than non-dyslexics.

Where non-dyslexics rely on their senses more, dyslexics use their imagination and thus a dyslexic's imagation is often more developed.

Coupled with the problems a dyslexic faces in a non-dyslexic world I find they often resort to lying as a coping strategy.

Personally, I don't believe that dyslexics lie because of dyslexia, but because they can use lying to cope with various problems they face, and to escape from their problems into their fantasy world.

This is a cronic problem with my brother. He knows we know he's lying 70% of the time, but due to the fact he's so good at it he carries on. If you actually want to help this guy I would recommend looking at what he's trying to escape from. This is essentially not a pure dyslexic problem -but dyslexia often helps improve ones ability to lie, and he may even be trying to escape from the problems he faces as a result of his dyslexia, but personally I think he's more likely trying to escape from the problems everyone faces in life.

Hi
My name is adam i am 32 now and i remember lying to my parents but mine was caused through bullying and self confidence or the lack of it. since childhood though i have married a very lovly wife and i work hard. i have met alot of people with dyslexia and one thing i have notaced is they all work hard the only advice i can give is dont bring your child down always try to look on the up side i was brought down alot and it didnt help. i hope thing turn out o k for you and your family.

"Coupled with the problems a dyslexic faces in a non-dyslexic world I find they often resort to lying as a coping strategy. "

I found the same. If you tell them you have dyslexia they'll think you're lying.

Follow me for a minute....
Imagine that you are a child... let's say about 8 years old. You have dyslexia. You cannot read as well as the other kids, you are always either having to ask question or have the teacher drawing attention to you. "JOHN, are you paying attention?" (the kids snicker - this is the 4th time this morning the teacher has called you down). The entire class is told to finish their worksheet and as soon as you're done - you can go out to recess. It takes you longer to do it... so you get to go to recess later than the rest of the kids. By the time you get outside - they are already playing soccer, teams have been picked and they don't want to let you play (after all you're the "dumb" kid). So - you play by yourself, in your own little world (which works out well for you because your dyslexia gives you an awesome imagination). You see things really, really clearly and things that you think of seem real. Also, because you are so in touch with emotions and naturally empathetic - the emotions are REAL to you... and you can make someone else feel things - simply by explaining things to them.
When you get home, your mom asks "What did you do at school today?" You have two options... tell her the truth - that no one wanted to play with you and you got in trouble for not paying attention... AGAIN... or tell her a story that gets you the attention that you very much need.
Lying is a habit - it gets easier and easier to do....
This is very much what my life was like growing up... I lied and I was good at it. My son does the same thing. Both of us are dyslexic. I am a writer in my spare time... I love writing short stories. I am encouraging my son to do the same thing... he tells me the story and I help him write it... his imagination is INCREDIBLE!
Walt Disney was dyslexic - he told stories too!
Channel your childs energy, when he tells you something that you KNOW is not true - call him on it - gently. "Wow son, that sounds like an incredible story... can I help you write it down? Now... tell me what REALLY happened" Also - try to get him involved in activities outside of school so that he has fun things to talk about.
Good luck!

I can see this post was written a long time ago, but this is exactly where we are at with my 13 year old son, I have genuinely tried every approach I can think of and consistently so, We have seen numerous professionals none of which seemingly have a clue, did tango ever get a response or a way of dealing with this, how are things now ? desperate for help