Dyslexia is a learning disability that hinders the development of some language skills. Each person who has dyslexia is unique, with his or her own strengths and weaknesses.
Adults with dyslexia may:
- Hide reading problems.
- Spell poorly or rely on others to spell for them.
- Avoid writing or not be able to write at all.
- Be very competent in oral language.
- Rely on memory rather than on reading information.
- Have good "people" skills and be very good at "reading" people (intuitive).
- Have spatial thinking skills. Examples of professionals who need spatial thinking abilities include engineers, architects, designers, artists and craftspeople, mathematicians, physicists, doctors (especially orthopedists, surgeons), and dentists.
- Often work in a job that is well below their intellectual capacities.
- Find it hard to plan and organize.
- Be entrepreneurs, although lowered reading skills may result in difficulty maintaining a successful business.
Credits
| Author | Debby Golonka, MPH |
| Editor | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA |
| Associate Editor | Pat Truman, MATC |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Louis Pellegrino, MD - Developmental Pediatrics |
| Last Updated | June 12, 2008 |



