What is it like to have dyslexia?

One person writes that it’s like running a 100-meter track race, but in your lane, there are hurdles that nobody else has.

Another says it’s like trying to put together a Rubik’s Cube.

This writer compares it to grasping a slippery bar of soap.

Research suggests that about 17 percent of the population has dyslexia, a common language processing problem, yet it is still largely misunderstood. Common myths include: 1) dyslexia only affects boys, 2) dyslexia is a visual problem, 3) it’s something people grow out of, and 4) people who are dyslexic are not very smart—all of which are untrue.

In Reddit’s Internet is Beautiful community, redditor AMorpork shared Dsxyliea, a website that “demonstrates what it’s like to have dyslexia.” The site, created by Victor Widell, shows letters in a block of text “jumping around.” Trying to decipher the sentences is frustrating and makes you dizzy and want to close the page immediately, which is the whole point.

A snippet of Dsxyliea:

Of course, the site doesn’t depict everyone’s experience, and several redditors who have dyslexia discussed what happens in their own minds as they read.

Here’s what we learned about dyslexic brains.

Letters can “become uncertainties.”

Coming across unfamiliar words can really slow down one’s reading pace.

Some have to “actively decode” each word.

Interesting aside: AMorpork shared that designers are creating fonts that are more resistant to dyslexia.

OpenDyslexic is an open source font “created to increase readability for readers with dyslexia.”

This school psychologist writes that dyslexia is about phonology processing, not letters moving around on a page.

There’s a wide spectrum of experiences.

At the very least, the site seems to convey the struggle of having dyslexia. “Nothing will ever show you normals exactly how it truly feels to read while dyslexic,” writes redditor DangerDragonDude. “But this is damn close!! The point is to give you normals a little taste of the struggle we have to endure, especially as kid trying to learn how to read!”

See the full discussion in the Internet is Beautiful community.