A point about people who make spelling and grammar mistakes. Give them a break

[Quixote1818]

Last edited Sun Nov 11, 2012, 12:24 AM - Edit history (1)

About 5% of the population is dyslexic and an even higher percentage have some other form of learning disabilities.

Snip> One study done in Los Angeles found that 50 percent of students committing suicide had been diagnosed with some sort of learning difference. That is as opposed to five percent of students in the population at large. That means that a teen with a learning disability such as dyslexia is 10 times as likely to commit suicide as someone without a learning difficulty. Even more telling, a study in Canada examined the suicide notes left by 267 teens. According to researchers, an amazing 89% of the notes had spelling and grammatical errors indicative of learning disabilities.

http://www.dyslexicsuicide.com/

We know those who spell well and do grammar well are BRILLIANT! But keep in mind that people who are dyslexic tend to have higher IQ's than people who are not dyslexic. So you might be making fun of someone who is actually smarter than you are.

On Edit: I would like to say that I think it is fine to point out a mistake in a polite way. Otherwise people won't know they have made a mistake and may continue to make it.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. And some of us can't type fer shit, especially on an ipad!

[mitchtv]

2. I can't type well plus I have a touch of Parkinson's

[2theleft]

3. THANK YOU

for posting this.

I hate reading a post and find people snarking about other's mistakes. Seems very petty. Thoughts are what is most important.

[MANative]

4. And thoughts that are incomprehensible due to mis-used words and punctuation...

don't convey the message. Accurate use of language allows us to share meaning. Without that context, it's all just word salad.

[Live and Learn]

5. Nothing worse than reading a post full of glaring grammatical errors

Last edited Sun Nov 11, 2012, 03:03 AM - Edit history (1)

and then realizing it is one of your posts. Thank goodness for the edit button. I think many of post so fast that our brains can't keep up. Same with emails.

But who really wants to waste time reading a post that corrects other posters. Not only is it rude but it is also tiresome.

[karmaqueen]

6. Thank You for this..

I always feel so bad for people who try to say something and are made fun of. I can't text at all because I have bad disks in my neck and have no feeling in my hands. It takes me a long time to type on any keyboard. I am so happy to be finished I sometimes to forget to spell check.

[marybourg]

7. Well then it would behoove us not to make fun

of mis-spellings on certain wing-nut fora if our board is to be likewise adorned.

[Quixote1818]

9. I think there are times when the irony is so rich that it's fine to make fun

Someone taking the time and effort to do a political sign and not have someone make sure the spelling and grammar are right is one thing. Someone writing a quick post who is dyslexic and making some mistakes is another. But perhaps I am contradicting myself. You do make a good point.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Yup, and I know what you speak off

And a new IPad still learning don't help.

[VPStoltz]

10. English is disfunctional language.

I learned to write half-way acceptably - in English - only after learning a second language.

[BlueMan Votes]

14. perhaps even more dysfunctional than you realize.

[aquart]

11. And some of us are losing control of our hands with age. Like me.

I don't feel a need to condemn or belittle for these errors, but I have taken to correcting them BECAUSE the internet moves so quickly to create words, memes, language that we run a great risk of seeing our errors codeified into our language.

I appreciate having errors corrected without accompanying insult.

[noamnety]

12. thank you.

I'm married to someone with a masters in engineering. He was in and out of remedial classes in elementary school because of dyslexia, which was interpreted as low intelligence.

He's a freaking genius.

When I sent him to the romney facebook page to look at the collapsing likes, I had to spell out mitt romney letter by letter, and he still couldn't find the page because he typed in factbook.

[Omaha Steve]

13. I make typos, mistakes, and errors all the time

Screw them that have a pet peeve?

[scarletwoman]

15. Point taken - however, there is NO excuse, not one, ever, for using apostrophes in plural nouns!

The use of apostrophes in plural nouns has become a virulent plague, and it must be eradicated without mercy!

[justgamma]

16. English is a second language to some.

I applaud them for contributing. They shouldn't be made to feel bad about their language skills.

[libdem4life]

18. This ^^^^ no more than making fun of someone with an accent. Having lived in a foreign

country and being a second language speaker for that time, I was grateful that people cared enough to help me...both in speaking and in writing. Much different than being critical. My biggest problem was that everyone wanted to practice their English with me. LOL

[CTyankee]

22. I teach ESOL and I teach it correctly. I will tell you that my Chinese students spell better than

most American native speakers of English and they don't make grammatical errors. I am sure that they have their share of dyslexic individuals, so to what would you say is the difference between them and us? It isn't me, because they had these skills before I started tutoring them in Advanced American English.

[niyad]

17. while I understand the points being made here, I do have to say one thing. as a former editor,

it is sometimes painful to see poor grammar and poor spelling (as opposed to the occasional typo). however, I will add that it is not as painful seeing it on discussion boards as it is seeing it in published works--novels, newspapers, etc (where there is NO excuse for not knowing the difference between rein and reign, there and their, are and our, just to name a few).

[shcrane71]

20. Thank you. It needed to be said. nt

[liberal_at_heart]

21. thank you

Self rightousness is one of my pet peeves and it bothers me even more when it comes from democrats. We're suppose to be better than that.

[marybourg]

23. This forum does have a spell-check, right underneath

the text box, and anyone who uses internet explorer can load IE Spell (I recommend doing it from CNet) to spare themselves and others the embarrassment of an obvious misspelling, although it doesn't catch the incorrect use of apostrophes to form plural nouns or homonym errors, both of which are VERY common on this board.