The Code to being Dyslexic in Tech.
Coding is difficult for everyone, but what is it like to be dyslexic in tech?
Hello everyone! My name is Sylvia. I am a self-taught developer with dyslexia, which happens to be the main topic of this article. I wanted to write this in hopes of shedding some light onto what it means to be dyslexic in tech from my point of view. I got inspired when, Bethelhem (bethelhem_w on twitter) tweeted a question, Is it possible to succeed in tech having dyslexia and/or ADHD? I cannot speak for the ADHD community or any other community for that matter, and I want to encourage anyone with any type of learning difference to voice their own journey and perspective. I think your experience is just as important and needs to be heard. I want this to reach as many people possible, just because you have ADHD, Dyslexia, or any other kind of learning difference, you can achieve anything. I want this article to be about having dyslexia in tech so I will keep the definition and my story of dyslexia brief. If you want to learn more about dyslexia and the subgroups that are out there, please follow the links at the end of this article. I also want to reiterate that I'm not "officially" in tech and am still on my learning journey.
Dyslexia usually means you have trouble processing words or numbers, but it's important to remember that dyslexia symptoms can effect your speech, reading, and even affect you physically (chronic ear infections and difficulty tying shoes are some examples). There are different types of dyslexia effecting people differently. It is not a disease, it is a difference. What happens for the most part, is that people with dyslexia use different parts of their brain when processing information than someone without dyslexia. To quickly explain my dyslexia, falling under the double deficit category, meaning that I have both traits from Phonological Processing (difficulty pronouncing words) and Rapid Naming deficits (difficulty naming numbers, letters, and or colors on sight).
Typically I will have numbers that switch places, 43 will look like 34, letters will flip and rotate (d and b being the biggest offense), acting like they're a css animation, and sometimes sentences from other lanes will merge. I have a difficult time pronouncing new words and reading out loud is a mission impossible sequel. Basically, the connection from what I am seeing and what my brain tells me when it comes to writing and or speaking out loud gets mistranslated.
I didn't realize growing up that I had a "problem" or "condition". I thought my dyslexia was just a fun quirk I got from my family. And if I'm being honest, I thought beyond that, it was just me. I wasn't good enough or I wasn't studying hard enough. I even googled and researched how to take better notes because maybe that's why I'm constantly failing. I was still very lucky. I had three amazing teachers in my life. One showed me the magical world that is reading, the other encouraged me to be the writer that I am today, and the other put me in ESL class.
“I'll be whatever I wanna do.” -Philip J. Fry.
Can someone with dyslexia get into tech?
Of course! In fact, many have already gotten into tech being dyslexic and many more will continue to get into Tech, having dyslexia, or any other kind of learning difference. It's a difference not an impossibility.
Apple's founder, Steve Jobs, Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, and HP co-founder Bill Hewlett to name a few all have/had dyslexia. But I understand the frustration. There's days where I look at my code and it's labyrinths within labyrinths. I can't figure out where the errors are sprouting and reading it isn't working. More times than anything, an error in my code is due to a typo. My first instinct is to panic, my second is to delete it all and restart the whole process, and the third instinct is to slow down and take a break. I rarely use my third instinct and there's not a lot of conversation going around on how to manage it all.
“Fortune always leaves a door open in adversity in order to bring relief to it,” ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
I want to help but I am not sure what works for me, will work for you. Below includes what has helped me in managing my own dyslexia.
Extensions and Themes: If you are using VSCode, the extension called, Prettier is wonderful. With color, it displays different colors so brackets, parenthesis, etc are easier to detect. Any VSCode extension or theme can be a game changer when it comes to writing code, so I highly recommend checking them out and finding what works best for you.
Clean code: The cleaner the code is, the better you will, not only find where your errors are, but know what that specific line of code is doing. It will take longer in the beginning, especially if you're not used to writing "clean", but once you get the hang of it, you and whoever ends up reading your code will thank you.
Read other people's code: Not only is this advice given in general, but this was one of the most beneficial advices that has helped me. I learned how to write cleaner code, learn about what results you should be expecting, found tips and tricks, and learned patterns that just made sense.
Rubber Duck it: This might seem counter intuitive, especially if one of the ways your dyslexia affects you is reading out loud, like me, but it helps you catch these mistakes 100x quicker. The better you get at debugging, the quicker you'll get at finding your mistakes. Explaining your code out loud can flip that switch in your brain where you're better able to catch that mistranslation.
Developer Tools: This is similar to rubber duck, except instead of you speaking out loud and hoping to hear that error, you are letting the developer tools translate your code and speak for you. And when it "reads" your code, it will "spit" out your errors in red. There's other ways and methods to use the developer tools, like inspecting your elements and using console.log if your using JavaScript, but as long as you learn how to use it to your advantage, it can only help you. Just get in there and inspect.
Take a break: If you are reading the same code over and over again and it's just not making sense to you, take a break. However long that break needs to be, do it until you can look at your code without any frustration. Stress only makes my dyslexia more difficult too overcome and that just leads to more stress becoming a vicious cycle. Coding is hard and when the times comes, you deserve a break.
Ask for help: Weirdly, this is the most difficult tip of my own for me to follow. I have a hard time asking for help. I don't like rejection and I hate being a burden, so I rather not. I'm also competitive and stubborn because I don't want people to think I'm not capable but I'm trying to get over that. The amount of times that when I did ask for help has always outweighed my fears.
Overall, these are my tips for now. I promise to write more in depth about the actual writing code with dyslexia as I felt like these tips are good for when you hit a wall or error. But for now, I hope this will do. Any spelling mistakes and or grammar errors, I do apologize for. Thank you.
Website to learn more about dyslexia
Website to support people with dyslexia, including resources
