Possible Dyslexia/where to test

I have taken several online Dyslexia tests, printed out the results, and am looking for someone to test me, but I thought I would post here first. Here are some of my "symptoms":

1. Sometimes I mix numbers up when I write them out. Through school I would get many simple math questions wrong this way. For example, I might mean to write 479, but might actually write 439. Or I might mean to write 47.8, but actually write 4.78. Sometimes I would combine the wrong numbers. For example I might have written 4+5=8 instead of 4+4=8, or I might have written 2+2=5 instead of 2+2=4.

2. I could not tell my right from my left until I was 10 years old, nor could I read old fashioned clocks until then. Actually I still have a hard time reading clocks that have hands.

3. I could not tell "d" from "b" until I was about 10 and could not tell written "s" from "z" until I was about 10 as well. I would write things like "I love you Dab" or I might write "sizsle" instead of "sizzle". Also I could not tell a digital 2 from a digital 5 for many years as they were the same design, just flipped backwards.

4. When I read I am constantly adding/switching/taking out letters/words/punctuation. For example, a sentence that read "The dog chased the ball" to me might look like "the dog chased ball" or "the dog the chased ball". Sometimes I switch simple words. For example, I might see the word "to" when the word is actually "the" or I might see the word "it" when the word is actually "is", so a sentence like "I like to go shopping" might read to me like "I like the go shopping". I am constantly switching simple words around.

5. There are many things I can do on myself that I have a hard time doing on others. For example, I have a hard time tying other peoples shoes, but can time my own with no problems. I also have a hard time putting other peoples hair in ponytails but can tie my own with no problem. It seems that my brain can't figure out the different angle of me doing it on myself versus on someone else.

6. I have a hard time using mirrors as everything is backwards. For example, it takes me forever to straighten my hair because when I look in the mirror I may try to move the iron backwards, but actually move it forward, if this makes sense. Basically mirrors confuse me.

7. I have horrible depth perception. I am afraid to drive and usually hit the curb when I park. I have hit cars before because I cannot judge how far away they are and am terrified I am going to hit a person. When I use to play soccer I would never do headers because no matter how hard I tried and how hard I practiced I would always get hit in the face, or I would totally miss the ball. I am pretty much horrible at eyeballing anything, including depth, distance, height, weight, amounts (for cooking), etc, although I am have become better.

8. I am usually either, like, 20 minutes early for appointments, or 10 minutes late. It always seems like one minute I look at the clock and have 15 minutes until I should leave and the next minute I am five minutes late!

9. I can't read maps very well as they all just look like random lines.

10. This may be related to my ADD, but I sometimes have a very short attention span. I love reading, but sometimes I just have a hard time because I don't focus long enough to remember everything and have to constantly re-read whole sections just to remember who a certain person is, what is going on, etc..Combine that with my constant switching/adding/deleting of letters/numbers/punctuation, and sometimes I give up all together. This can make studying very hard for me. I also have a hard time remembering directions and have to be told how to do things several times before I remember.

11. I am a very slow reader.

I also have several other things that might be symptoms but are probably related to my ADD (i.e. constantly losing things, have to be told what to do, short attention span, etc). Please tell me if this is normal for everybody. I promise I won't be offended if you said it was, but it is all so frustrating that I thought I would look into Dyslexia. Also, where can I get tested for Dyslexia? I have checked with my local community college, but they don't test, and I am not sure if my insurance will cover Dyslexia testing.

Buffheart,

How old are you? If you are in school, even college, you can have a reading specialist there do the screening. If you don't have those support services available, I would call around to some of the private learning academies such as Sylvan. Also, the Scottish Rite Hospitals have an extensive dyslexia program. They may be able to help to find someone who would be willing to do a screening on you. Also, an adult literacy program might be able to help you.

From the sounds of your symptoms, you do not sound like you are dyslexic. Switching numbers and letters is a symptom of only a very small number of dyslexics. Generally they have trouble de-coding words. They can't turn the squiggle lines, what we call letters, into sounds.

That doesn't mean, however, that you don't have a reading or learning disorder, there are many other types.

Good luck!