I was reading a diary about the counting up subtraction method and how some people get annoyed about different methodology, so I thought I would talk about my own problem in learning to read.
I have two problems, one is visual so that when I look at a page of writing what i see is an abstract image. This was rectified by using wavelength absorption via tinted glasses, with age they have moved deeper into the violet part of the spectrum, as a bonus they look quite chic.
OK, so I could now see the page in an organized way, distinct but meaningless forms.
During the time when I was regarded as an idiot incapable of learning even the most basic principles of language when taught as most people are by starting with the alphabet. This was totally absurd to me as I saw no difference between d, b and p, when put side by side m and n merged into one never mind having to deal with u and w at the same time., so map was the same as paw in my world. To this day when someone writes in all caps my head hurts.
The way I was taught to read and write words was similar to ancient languages as pictograms. So every word has to be imagined where letters have position as part of the overall form, as the logic of letters is meaningless to me.
To cut a long and painful story short it took me until nearly eight years old to read anything more complex than "the cat sat on the mat" and even then the interpretive results could be quite exciting. Today spell check can still cause me some serious hilarity. Punctuation is still a deep and quasi meaningless exercise in futility, breathe dear, for god sakes take time to breathe.
I suppose my point is that not everyone can learn via a standardized methodology and I am glad there are alternatives to what is deemed to work for most. i was always happy in maths classes because numbers were not a problem for me.
Being treated as lazy and just plain stupid can seriously piss you off.
Some may have noticed that after I have published a diary that I still carry on correcting it, I am sorry for that as I can read a sentence many times and it looks correct at the time, then a short time later it no longer makes sense. Don't talk to me about my comments in a thread, I cringe.