Tuesday, December 23

Living with dyslexia



  • Alexander Graham Bell - inventor and scientist.
  • Tom Cruise - Actor.
  • Leonardo da Vinci - Artist and inventor.
  • Steve Jobs - co-founder of Apple Inc.
  • Tim Tebow - American football player.
  • Thomas Edison - Inventor.
  • Albert Einstein - Scientist and mathematician.
  • Henry Ford - Ford motor cars.
  • Jay Leno - talk show host and comedian.
  • And many more.
I have something in common with all of them, We all have dyslexia. Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that mainly affects the way people read and spell words.



 Being dyslexic I have trouble with spelling and grammar, Those with dyslexia can have difficulties with spelling, Reading, Rhyming and discerning left and right to name a few.


 The use of technology such as text to speech helps when spelling words I have difficulties with. To read more about assertive technology check out this article Assertive technology for dyslexia.


Dyslexia has its weaknesses, But it also has its advantages.
  • Dyslexics often enjoy and excel at solving puzzles.
  • Dyslexics have excellent thinking skills in the areas of conceptualization, reason, imagination, and abstraction.
  • Dyslexics have a strong ability to see concepts with a "big picture" perspective.
  • Dyslexics are adept to excellence in areas not dependent on reading.
  • Dyslexics tend to be more curious, creative, and intuitive than average.
  • Dyslexics’ special mode of thought easily produces the gift of mastery.
  • Dyslexia is not related to low intelligence.
- See more at: http://athome.readinghorizons.com/blog/50-interesting-facts-about-dyslexia




 In this TEDxYouth video Piper Otterbein talks about Overcoming Dyslexia And Finding your Passion.



I am going to end this post with a quote by Albert Einstein that I think is fitting.
 “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” 





  References
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_diagnosed_with_dyslexia)
  (http://www.dyslexia.ie/information/general-information-about-dyslexia/famous-people-with-dyslexia/)
 (http://athome.readinghorizons.com/blog/50-interesting-facts-about-dyslexia) (http://coloradocommunitymedia.com/stories/Dyslexia-Brain-Differences-and-Cognitive-Skill-Weaknesses,55654)

Sunday, December 21

Starting a blog





As one of our Assignments for this course is to post on this blog, I thought I would look at how to start your own blog. There are may different blog hosting sites out there or you can buy a domain and Self-host.
If you plan on going with self-hosting, You will need a domain that will cost approximately $10 a year and hosting (service that connects your blog to the internet) is around $4 – $7 a month. To sum this up, it will cost around $50 a year. Check out this link for How to Launch a Self-Hosted WordPress Blog in 20 Minutes or Less.
One blog hosting site WordPress.com owned by Automattic, and powered by the open source WordPress software. It is free to use, but you can upgrade for premium features such as a custom domain, premium themes, no ads and many other options. It also happens to be the site we use for this blog.


Another one is, Blogger owned by Google, Which makes it great if you already have a Google account as you do can use it for Blogger as well, And also allow you to use Google Adsense to place ads on your blog to make money. Blogger is a great site for beginners with an easy to use interface, And best of all it is free to use.


After you have decided whether to go with a blog hosting site or Self-hosting, You will need to choose a name for your blog. If you know what you are going to blog about, then try to pick a name that matches. For help with naming you blog check out this blog, How To Brainstorm Blog Name Ideas You’ll Love.