Adult Characteristics of Dyslexia & ADHD

 
Woman at work surrounded by demanding people
 

Most adult with Dyslexia, ADD and/or ADHD adults will exhibit at least 10 of the following traits and behaviours which are often inconsistent, and may vary depending upon the day or situation.

Career

  • Employed in job/position that will hide difficulties or not require dealing with problematic areas

  • Hides difficulties from co-workers, friends and even family

  • Becomes frustrated at "planning meetings" and sequential tasks - already has the answer and how to do it

  • Becomes frustrated or overwhelmed with long forms or sequential processes

  • Thrives in careers where visual-spatial/kinesthetic talents can be realized: For example - Entrepreneurs, Engineers, Trades (carpentry, plumbing, electrical), Artisans, Interior Decorating, Actors, Musicians, Police/Investigation, Athletes, and Business Executives (usually with staff/assistants)

  • May pass up promotions or advancement opportunities that would require more administrative work

  • Has difficulty focusing and staying on task - may feel more comfortable managing many different tasks simultaneously

  • Difficulty with tests - passing standardized tests can be a barrier to career advancement

  • Highly successful/over achiever, or considered "not working up to potential." Either way, displays extreme work ethic

  • May be a perfectionist and overreact when they make a mistake

  • Out-of-the-box thinker or operates with very strict rules for themselves

  • Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids

General

  • Highly intuitive - known to have "street smarts." Is often "dead on" in judging personalities of others

  • May be able to sense emotions and energy of others

  • Remembers struggling in school

  • Frequently have dyslexic children and experience guilt when seeing own child struggle. Insecurities arise while reading to own children or helping them with homework

  • Easily distracted/annoyed by noises and other things in environment

  • May appear to "zone out" and be unaware that it is happening

  • Enjoys video games

  • Misspeaks, misuses, or mispronounces words without realizing it

  • May have poor balance or is/was very athletic

  • May have excellent recall of events that were experienced or not remember at all

  • May confuse past conversations or be accused of "not listening"

  • Difficulty remembering names of people without tricks, but remembers faces

  • Difficulty remembering verbal instructions or directions

  • Poor recall of conversations or sequence of events

 
Man running late for work with phone and coffee
 

Time Management & Directions

  • May understand higher math, but can't show it on paper

  • May excel at math, or may still rely on tricks for remembering math facts

  • Relies on calculators or finger counting. May have difficulty with making change

  • Difficulty with left/right and/or North, South, East, West

  • Gets lost easily or never forgets a place they've been

  • Difficulty reading maps

  • May have anxiety or stress when driving in unfamiliar places. Relies on others to drive when possible

  • May lose track of time and is frequently late - or is highly aware of it and is very rarely late

  • Finds it difficult to estimate how long a task will take to complete

Reading, Writing, and Spelling

  • Difficulty reading unfamiliar fonts

  • Avoids reading out loud. May dislike public speaking

  • Will commonly perceive that they "read better silently"

  • Has adopted compensatory tricks to remember spelling and homonyms (their, there, they're), or misuses homonyms and has poor or inconsistent/phonetic spelling

  • Reading fluency and comprehension fluctuates depending upon subject matter

  • Frequently has to re-read sentences in order to comprehend

  • Fatigues or becomes bored quickly while reading

  • Reliance on others (assistants, spouses, significant others) for written correspondence

  • Uncertainty with words, punctuation, and spelling when writing. Reliance on spell-check and grammar-check

  • Words out of context look "wrong”

  • Poor handwriting - masks spelling mistakes

  • Writes with all capital letters, or mixes capital letters within words. Abbreviates words frequently

Behaviour, Health, and Personality

  • May have a short fuse or is easily frustrated, angered, or annoyed

  • Easily stressed and overwhelmed in certain situations

  • Low self-esteem

  • Self-conscious when speaking in a group. May have difficulty getting thoughts out - pause frequently, speak in halting phrases, or leave sentences incomplete. This may worsen with stress or distraction

  • Sticks to what they know - fear of new tasks or any situation where they are out of comfort zone

  • Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly

  • Confusion, stress, physical health issues, time pressure, and fatigue will significantly increase symptoms

From LoGiudice, Karen. (2008) Common Characteristics of Adult Dyslexia. Used with permission

If you, a family member, or an employee displays at least 10 of these common symptoms, an initial consultation would be appropriate to see if the Davis® Program would be a good fit.

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