Dyslexic Disclaimer

Thomas’s Dyslexic Disclaimer

I am dyslexic. I believe I have an obligation to share this information on this blog and elsewhere as a responsible member of the Citrus County School Board. I feel that more specific information regarding what having dyslexia means might be helpful for some to better understand the disability and why mistakes may occur on my blog. Most people believe that dyslexia just shows up as flipped numbers or flipped letters, but it is much more. Dyslexia is more about the data retrieval process in the brain. And, as individual as each brain is, so are the ways in which dyslexia may present itself.

For me, it shows up a lot in word retrieval. For example, I know the difference between the meanings of the words “where” and “were.” However, once in a college essay, I flipped the words “were” and “where” throughout the entire paper except for the first usage. In my blogs, you may see this type of error occur. I may use the word “riding” in place of “writing” in a sentence. But, my brain sees “writing,” so as far as I am concerned, the sentence reads, “Enjoy my writing” when my written words are “Enjoy my riding.”

Dyslexia creates a sort of inconsistency. One day I may know without hesitation the proper way to write something. The next day I have to look it up. This has been going on since first grade when I was medically diagnosed as having “Severe Dyslexia.” My hope is that you will enjoy the content in my blogs and overlook any flaws my dyslexic brain can’t register. Please know that I will do my absolute best to catch mistakes, but any mistakes I do not catch do not mean that I don’t care enough about my reader to take care in my writing. I care deeply about clear and meaningful expression, but if I let the imperfections take over and I obsess, I’ll never get anything written. I try to have my blogs reviewed and edited by my family and friends, but at times, editing errors still occur. I apologize for these errors, and I don’t mind any reader bringing them to my attention.

 

Thomas Kennedy

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