Some strange impulse made me watch the movie “Summer School” again last night. One of the sub-plots involved a dyslexic girl who has a very difficult time passing her drivers test. I know dyslexia affects ones ability to read and spell, but does it mess with your spacial perception or any of the other visual processes that are required for driving?
I don’t believe that dyslexia messes with depth perception or anything like that. And dyslexics, as well as functional illiterates are part of the reason that there is more to a warning sign than just words, i.e. the different signs all have distinct shape/color characteristics that can easily be recognized, even if reading is a problem.
Just anecdotally, there is a woman in my neighborhood who is dyslexic, has never learned to read, got through school (she graduated) by having people help her to memorize stuff! She drives just fine. I would think the biggest problem would be passing the written test. Don’t they have someone who can read you the questions out loud instead?
How about reading traffic signs? That might cause some real problems.
“Dyslexia” is a catchall term for several perception field disorders which vary greatly in severity and type. I’m dyslexic. I have the concept of left and right down pretty well, but sometimes use the words interchangeably (I don’t have the same problem with “east” and “west,” for example, or even “port” and “starboard”). I have a BA in English from a really good school.
Traffic signs would only be a problem if I had a choice between similarly-named options like “Salem” and “Selma,” but otherwise I’m cool with them. When I livd in Seattle, it seemed to me that an awful lot of the surrounding towns were misspelled variations od the word “Tequila.”
I as well am dyslexic. When I was younger I was tested at severe dyslexia. Because of this my parents went through many different learning options with me, until I learned how to trick my mind into seeing things correctly.
To answer your question, no. I am extremely mechanically inclined and often see the answers to problems spatelly. I can manipulate things in my mind to change objects in 3-D form. Most people can’t do that. I have no problems with perception at all.
One of my daughters is pretty severly dyslexic, and she has no problems driving. Recall that most traffic signs are standard colors and shapes (stop signs are red and octagonal, for instance, yield signs are yellow and triangular) and typically contain only short, standard, easily-recognized words (“Stop” “No Turn On Red”).
As with ChozenRoze, her spatial skills are particularly good. My understanding is that’s a common trait with dyslexics.
The diffficulty that dyslexics have with reading is one symptom of a larger disorder.* There are many other symptoms that can manifest in this disorder (eg. difficulty with balance). Of the top of my head I can’t think of any that would specifically effect one’s ability to drive, but there very well could be something.
*I don’t mean for the word disorder to sound damning or negative.
To build on my earlier answer: I rarely have a problem with driving (in a familiar area, at least), but you wouldn’t want me next to you navigating. “Go left here–I mean right, right!”
Pala Poundstone had a great joke about her dyslexia: “I can’t tell left from right without pretending to eat.” I’m guessing ChozenRoze does something similar; I sure do.
I’m dyslexic, but it doesn’t affect my reading, and have a spatial processing disorder. I have trouble judging distance visually. I’m not sure if this is related or seperate to my dyslexia. I occasionally drive over a curb, when turning into or out of a parking lot, and for my first two years or so driving, I had to park extremely slow, for fear I was about to hit the cars on either side of me. I broke about a half dozen tail/head lights, my own and others, but seem to have gotten better with practice, Haven’t broken a light in years.
Recently I got my CDL class A ( I am legally empowered to drive an Eighteen wheeler) and have to be extremely carefull if backing up in a tractor/trailer, because I have a tendancy to corect any swinging to either side backwards, and have to correct myself.
Emilio Lizardo,
Was there a writtten component to the test the character had to pass (or something she had to study for via reeading)?
Speaketh Coileán:
No. Her dyslexia was diagnosed via a writing sample, but her driving seemed to be affected by poor spacial perception, eg inability to parallel park. It’s possible that her being dyslexic and being a shitty driver were completely unconnected; but I interpreted the traits as being linked. Perhaps someone else who has seen the movie could confirm this.
Damn, there goes my pet theory.
Having re-googled for specific info, it seems as though the jury’s still out regarding the causes and manifestations of dyslexia. I came across a few sights that alluded to difficulties in processing incoming visual images. In short, an area of the brain that is linked to visual processing has developed differently in the dyslexic. Two things should be noted here. Those championing this hypothesis seem to be in the minority. However, those who do hold this position also divide the disorder into several different types (eg. primary, secondary, and trauma). Thus, certain classes of the disorder entail difficulties in processing visual stimuli whilst others do not (in which case it’s a linguistic, not visual, issue). I seem to’ve closed the pages I found, but a search using terms like dyslexia, spatial/visual processing, neurology, etc. will return a few decent sites.
My opinion, for what it’s worth, is that dyslexia is a much broader disorder than most people presume. Though difficulties with reading/writing are a primary symptom, it would be silly to think that there is only one manifestation for the disorder–particularly so when you look at it from a neuro point of view. Furthermore, it is not the case that all individuals will have the same type of dyslexia. Though some folks may just have problems spelling homophones, others will have problems reading (blurred print), spelling, and perhaps, parking. I also think that a lot of the secondary symptoms of dyslexia (to take the example I used before, poor balance) would go largely un-noticed in the context of the diagnosis. Kind of like, “well I’m a bit klutzy, but I never thought that might be a part of dyslexia.”
Dyslexia’s often connected to conditions such as sensory integration dysfunction and ADD. People with co-morbid conditions are going to have more issues with learning to drive than people who only have dyslexia. I’ve got SID and I don’t drive because my spatial issues are such that it’s just too daunting.