Nadine Dorries MP, the UK Culture Secretary has said called attention to the ways in which dyslexia can affect speech following some of the linguistic choices she made in a TikTok video last week.
In the video, posted on Friday by Conservative MP for Bosworth, Luke Evans, Dorries is heard to say the word ‘downstreaming’ as opposed to ‘downloading’, and refer to tennis courts as ‘tennis pitches’, prompting some media sources to call attention to these unusual speech terms. Dorries has made statements over the past few days, saying that whilst she’s developed thick skin, it’s still tough seeing commentators ‘mock her for something that is beyond her control’.
She tweeted on Saturday to defend herself against the comments, saying that it when somebody has dyslexia, it can be difficult finding the right expression when speaking. “I have dyslexia, which means that when I speak I often run my words together,” she wrote, stating that “Dyslexia affects people differently. For me, it affects my speech more than my writing, which is why I find my solace in writing.”
As well as being a key player in the governmental Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Dorries is also a successful romance novelist, with several of her books hitting the UK bestsellers charts over the past few years.
How can Dyslexia Have an Impact on Speech?
Often, we categorise dyslexia as a condition that primarily is visible in reading and writing skills, however for many people, it has an impact on the way that they speak and choose their words whilst speaking too. According to Understood.org, children and adults with dyslexia may sometimes say a wrong word that sounds like the right one – extinct instead of distinct, for example- or may rely more heavily on vague words like things and stuff. They might also have trouble remembering the words for things, feeling like it’s ‘just on the tip of their tongue’ but being unable to follow up and identify the word that they want to use with the right sound combinations.
It’s also important to note that feeling under pressure can make these things happen with more frequency: whilst someone who has dyslexia-related speech effects might not really display them whilst in comfortable conversations with friends, being put on the spot in class or speaking to a camera might make them become more prominent in their speech, and more noticeable to others.
Dyslexia-related speech effects might look like…
You can find out more about oral language and dyslexia at The International Dyslexia Association.