Dyslexia Masterpost

Hey guys, so I’ve been meaning to make this post for a while now. For those of you who struggle with dyslexia or know someone who does, this masterpost is for you!

▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸   How to make your laptop read text to you (mac)   ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸

▹ Go to system preferences

▹ Go to Dictation & Speech

▹ Next set up the speed at which the voice will speak

▹ You can change who speaks, as well as the language they will speak in. (mostly concerning pronunciation and accents of the voice, naturally if you have it set on english and make it speak a german text, it will just be a german sounding voice speaking english and it won’t make much sense)

▹ The final step is to decide what key combination you want to use.

▹ All you need to do now is select text, press your chosen key combination and turn up the volume :)

▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸    Useful websites   ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸  ▸ ▸ 
▫︎ Writer’s Block  ‣ sometimes writing sucks, but you’re going to have to do it eventually
▫︎  OpenDyslexic font - free download ‣  seriously guys, this makes reading so much easier
▫︎ Sparknotes ‣ AKA how I’ve passed IB english
▫︎ Cliffnotes ‣ Sparknote’s BFF
▫︎ Crashcourse ‣  life, this is life guys
▫︎ Khan Academy ‣ learn concepts at your own pace + helpful when you want to revise using something other than your textbook and notes
▫︎ Google scholar ‣ the academic side of google
▫︎ Quizlet ‣ basically a database for flashcards, where you can use other people’s or make your own
▫︎ Youtube #education ‣ the educational side of youtube
▫︎ Proofreading program ‣ sometimes spellcheck just isn’t enough
▫︎ Spelling strategies ‣ there is always hope when it comes to becoming a better speller!
▫︎ Beating dyslexia ‣ a website dedicated to useful dyslexia 
resources

▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸    Google Chrome extensions  ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▫︎ Read&Write ‣ reads stuff on the internet out loud to you
 ▫︎ OhMyWord! ‣ helps you expand your vocabulary
▫︎ Instapaper ‣ for the times when you can’t finish reading the article in class and know you won’t have internet later
▫︎ Voice Clock  ‣ speaks out the time 
▫︎ Google Drive ‣ if you’re unorganised and forget pretty much everything, exactly when you need it the most 

▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸    Dyslexia info    ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ 
What is dyslexia? - TedTalkUnderstood 
everything you need to know about dyslexia + attention issues
Facts and Stats
Dyslexia test
Dyslexia at school
Dyslexia in College/Uni
Attending UK Uni with a learning disability

▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸         Other      ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸ ▸
Steven Spielberg discusses his dyslexiaInside the Hidden World of Dyslexia & ADHDGifts of a dyslexic mind
Plan ‣ for all you unorganised dyslexics, here’s something to get your life together

How to stay motivated

Yesterday I received an ask from an anon on Tumblr asking me about any advice I had regarding motivation. I know how it feels to loose all motivation. You think that you won't get out of that rut. Not all hope is lost! After all, all of us have gone through some point in our lives in which we had lost complete motivation. So I've complied a list of all helpful tips and tricks I use to stay motivated!

1. Set realistic goals 

Don’t try and complete all 20 things on your to do list all in one day. It won’t work. Trust me. You’ll just end up burning out and loosing focus. What you should do instead is to look at this huge list you've written and pick and chose tasks that are the most pressing and reevaluate what it is you set yourself as a goal. Here are a couple of examples for changing unrealistic goals to realistic ones.

Task 1: Clean up room 

- the problem with this one is that it doesn't specific where to start 
- look around your room and chose the most important parts that have to be cleaned/tidied up/organised 

Realistic Task 1: Organise desk // Sort out laundry // Organise bookshelf etc.

Task 2: Do (insert class here) homework 

- by writing something like this you are essentially setting yourself up for a long session of procrastination 
- focus on specific elements to this homework 

Realistic Task 2: Do 5 math questions // Finish introduction for Bio IA // Read 10 pages of 1984 etc.

If you followed these tips and tricks for your to-do list, you'll soon notice that you're getting more things done throughout the day than you usually would. By ticking off 50 smaller tasks on your to-do list you become motivated by just looking at the list you have created yourself. One of the reasons for being unmotivated is that you loose perspective on everything you have achieved so far. So take a look at that to-do list and be proud of your accomplishments!

2. Prioritise 

If your to-do list does have like a million items on it, break it down. I usually divide my list into three sections. 
a) Must complete by the end of the week 
b) Aim to finish by next Friday 
c) Must finish before the end of the monthThis way you can start working on the most urgent tasks first and feel less stressed knowing that the most important tasks are done. You can try making a to-do list by cutting out pieced of paper or using sticky notes and putting them up on your wall. I have this massive white board hanging on my room wall and what I do is use sticky notes and paste them in one of the above 3 sections. Through this I'm able to shift tasks from section b to section a and so on. If you're a visual person like me, this will come in handy, especially in those months where a lot of assignments are due.

3. Reward yourself

I know that seeing posts in which people lay a candy bar after each chapter in their textbook seems a bit too much, but bare with me here. What I’m talking about might be a little more reasonable. You could set yourself a small goal such as finishing a chapter, five questions for a homework assignment, a quarter of your math homework etc. and allow yourself to just chill for 30 min after each of these small bursts of concentration. What I do is usually make myself a cup of tea or watch a youtube video when I’m taking a break. This way you will successfully recharge your mind, and be able to work more effectively throughout the day. 

4. Procrastinate with something useful

Alright, bare with me here guys. You're probably thinking, "But Izzy...if you procrastinate by doing something useful...how is that still procrastination?" I see your point. Procrastination is usually something we engage in in order to escape from the dreaded work load awaiting us. However, one you have prioritised your work, you know that there are some things further down your list that aren't as important and necessary for you to complete. I'll give you guys an example to show you how I apply this to my life. So lets take my IB Film assignments. For now all we really have to be doing is working on our independent study and our production portfolio for our final film. When it comes to the final film, I'm taking on the role of the Director as my primary job. However, because I'm working in a group with just one other person, I'm also taking on the roles of the script writer, editor and cinematographer. So what I would do when "procrastinating" is to do something like creating the title slate for the film, or edit some of the footage by color correcting it and cutting. These are necessary things that have to be done eventually, but aren't actually pressing tasks. So when I'm done with them, I have relaxed and regained some energy but also completed a minor task that will elevate future stress.

Bad Feminist Essays

One of my closest friends recently suggested that I read "Bad Feminist Essays" by Roxane Gay. She told me that all of the feminist societies at the, probably very liberal, universities that she was visiting in america were reading this book. Naturally, as I do identify as a feminist, and like to be an "open-minded inquirer" (bonus points to those of you who get the reference) I decided that I would take my amazon gift cards I received as part of an academic award for 11th grade last year, and invest in a good old book. 

Now, anyone who actually knows me went absolutely crazy when they saw what I had done. 

Guys. 

Izzy....

bought...

a...

book!*gasps 

To those of you who I have not had the pleasure to meet yet, I should explain why my buying a book is an incredibly rare event. I have dyslexia and throughout my entire academic career I relied on my older sister's past book projects or summaries and the helping hand of Sparknotes, Cliffnotes, lit charts and the likes in order to survive. Its not that I dislike reading in the sense that the topics aren't interesting to me. For me, the physical act of reading and trying to comprehend what I read, is so incredibly strenuous, frustrating, nerve wracking, sometimes impossible seeming, and difficult for me that I don't find pleasure in reading. 

Imagine if you would have to re-read a page three times over. At the same your classmates audibly express how much faster they are than you, by obviously flicking the pages over with pride. Those long evenings spent crying over books that I tried to hard to understand, yet didn't seem to be able to understand are why I find myself grabbing for the film version of a famous novel instead of the actual book. But more about my struggles as a dyslexic in another post. As this one is meant to be about reading a book, and not the absence of said activity. 

Moving on from the short explanation of my interested in books, or lack there of. I want to get to the point, which is not to give a comprehensive review on the book (you guys don't actually think I've finished reading it yet lmao) but instead, a spilling of my thoughts and some sort of academic mind dump. 

Generally speaking, this book has done many things for me. It has allowed me to gain a completely different perspective on feminism. Learning about feminism and its meaning from the perspective of an african american woman, has done so much for me in terms of freeing me from this very one-sided ignorance. The idea of intersectional feminism where instead of preaching white feminism, as Emma Watson commonly does, is quite fascinating. 

Feminism shouldn't just be about empowering white woman, but every woman. And in order to do this, we have to acknowledge our own privilege and where we stand in relation to others. In the grand scheme of things this translates to being more of an open-minded feminist. Thinking not only about woman who are similar to you in class, ability, wealth, culture, religion, health etc. but woman from all walks of life. The key goal is to understand that some feminist solutions might seem completely achievable for some, but not for others. The only way you can see how you are preaching a solution unattainable for others, is if you acknowledge your privilege and how you might be able to benefit from such a solution but others might not be able to. May this be because you cease to realize that your way of thinking completely excludes one group of woman, for example by suggesting a solution to a problem that would only cater to wealthy abled people. 

Topics like intersectional feminism are amongst the many that I have found interest in when reading "Bad Feminist Essays". Another, more physical aspect of the novel which I find very practical is that it is divided into chapters. These chapters are written in the style essays. Which essentially allows you to flip through the book and randomly select whichever essay you want without having to worry about context. As many of you might have already guessed, THIS IS ABSOLUTE HEAVEN FOR DYSLEXICS. 

1. When your reading in public you look pretty smart starting somewhere towards the end of the book, making it seem like you're a well read individual 

2. I can spend weeks focusing on one essay alone without feeling the need to move on or read something else. 

Every chapter is unique in its own way, and thats one of the reasons I'm still avidly reading the book till this day. 

However there are times when I read something and disagree with what is being said. This is when I text my friend to say that we have to hang out and have an educational discussion about this, because who knows, I might be misunderstanding it. But more on that in another post!