Have you ever stared at a text message and thought, “What did I just read?” You read it once. Then twice. Then a third time. The words are simple, but your brain just will not connect them.  That feeling follows you during class. During a test. While reading a menu. For dyslexic people, that confused feeling is not rare; it is normal. 

Dyslexia is a learning difference that affects how the brain processes language. It makes it harder to match letters with sounds. Reading can feel slow, like walking through mud. Spelling can feel like trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces. You might study a word ten times and still spell it wrong on the test. Not because you didn’t try, not because you are not smart, but because your brain works in a different way. “I know a lot of people think that just because I have dyslexia, they think I’m not smart. This pretty much hurts my feelings because just because I stutter with words doesn’t mean that I’m dumb,” commented senior Emily Cedillo. 

Dyslexia is not a source of weakness — it can be a strength! Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence. “Can’t read? Can’t spell? Bad grammar?” But what if someone only struggles with spelling? What if they read slowly but understand everything? What if they are amazing at math, science, art, or building things? People get confused. They start asking, “If you’re so smart, why can’t you spell?” That question hurts more than people realize. 

A person with dyslexia can be extremely creative, thoughtful, and brilliant.  

Yet when reading is harder for you than for everyone else, it feels embarrassing. You laugh when you spell something wrong, but inside you are wondering why something that’s seemingly simple is so difficult for you. “At first, it was really hard for me to accept that I have dyslexia,” explained senior Destiny Moncada. “In class, I would get frustrated because I had to work extra hard to get the same results that came easily to other students. It didn’t feel fair. But over time, I learned something important, my brain just works differently, and that’s okay.”  

Dyslexia looks different for everyone and cannot always be identified through a checklist. This is where the misunderstanding begins. 

Some dyslexics can read pretty well, yet their spelling is a disaster. They understand a whole novel but still spell “tomorrow” wrong. Others can spell better but freeze when they read out loud. The rest mix up letters like “b” and “d”. Some skip lines without meaning to. It is not one size fits all. “Even though I was diagnosed with dyslexia, I never really struggled with it,” said senior Rosalia Edwards. “Reading and learning aren’t super hard for me. The part that challenges me the most is my speech. Sometimes I have trouble saying words the right way or pronouncing them clearly. It can be frustrating, but it’s just one small part of who I am.”   

Since people do not fully understand dyslexia, many students are misdiagnosed, labelled as lazy, or they are not trying hard enough. Others are seen as having behavior problems because they act out when they feel frustrated. Imagine trying your hardest and still falling behind. After a while, you might stop raising your hand. You might stop trying at all. 

Another important fact is that dyslexia often runs in families. That means if a child has dyslexia, there is a good chance a parent or grandparent may have had it too. Many adults grew up without knowing they had it. They just believed they were “bad at school.” Now we know their brains were simply wired differently, and different is not bad. 

The biggest problem is not dyslexia itself. The biggest problem is misunderstanding. When we only rely on quick online definitions, we miss the human side of it. We miss the frustration of reading out loud. The fear of spelling in front of others. The quiet victories when a word is finally spelled right. We miss the fact that no two people with dyslexia experience it the same way. 

So next time someone says, “I’m dyslexic,” do not picture one stereotype. Picture a person whose brain works differently. A person who may need extra time. A person who might struggle in one area but shines in another. Because dyslexia is not about being less capable. It is about learning in a different way. And once we truly understand that we can replace judgment with support, and confusion with compassion.