You read words wrong due to common issues like speed-reading, fatigue, stress, or distractions, causing your brain to "auto-fill" words incorrectly, but it can also signal underlying conditions like dyslexia, ADHD, visual processing issues, or even medication side effects, requiring a professional evaluation if persistent. The brain tries to be efficient by predicting words, but gets it wrong, sometimes noticing the mistake later.
Word substitution is common with spatial dyslexia. This type of dyslexia can be something you're born with, or the result of injury, trauma, stroke, etc. Have you considered seeing a specialist to see if there is a diagnosable cause?
The most common learning disability of students with ADHD is dyslexia, characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities (International Dyslexia Association).
Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Also called a reading disability, dyslexia is a result of individual differences in areas of the brain that process language.
That's called aphasia. If this is something new it could be from medication (antihistamines cause it for me), or if it has started suddenly, no meds change or added lately or such, get it checked out sooner rather than later.
Symptoms
Mixing up words can be a symptom of the following medical conditions:
Common Signs of Dyscalculia
Characteristics of ADHD that can contribute to reading issues include: Inattention: Kids who have difficulty focusing often struggle to sustain attention while reading. 4 They might get distracted, skip text, miss important details, and struggle to stay on task.
Some major causes of poor reading ability are difficult text, ADHD, dyslexia, limited vocabulary, working memory deficit, and more. People may also have trouble with comprehension due to boredom or disinterest in what they are reading. Speed reading has proven to help deal with poor reading and comprehension skills.
The ADHD "30% Rule" is a guideline suggesting that executive functions (like self-regulation, planning, and emotional control) in people with ADHD develop about 30% slower than in neurotypical individuals, meaning a 10-year-old might function more like a 7-year-old in these areas, requiring adjusted expectations for maturity, task management, and behavior. It's a tool for caregivers and adults with ADHD to set realistic goals, not a strict scientific law, helping to reduce frustration by matching demands to the person's actual developmental level (executive age) rather than just their chronological age.
Adults can have ADHD.
Inattention: Difficulty paying attention, staying on task, or being organized. Hyperactivity: Excessive activity or restlessness, even at inappropriate times, and difficulty engaging in quiet activities. Impulsivity: Acting without thinking or having trouble with self-control.
The ADHD "2-Minute Rule" suggests doing any task taking under two minutes immediately to build momentum, but it often backfires by derailing focus due to weak working memory, time blindness, and transition difficulties in people with ADHD. A better approach is to write down these quick tasks on a separate "catch-all" list instead of interrupting your main work, then schedule specific times to review and tackle them, or use a slightly longer timeframe like a 5-minute rule to prevent getting lost down "rabbit holes".
Many people have aphasia after a stroke. Both men and women are affected equally. Aphasia can occur at any age. It is most commonly seen in those over 65 years of age.
General signs to look for are:
Usually, a nerve or brain disorder has made it difficult to control the tongue, lips, larynx, or vocal cords, which make speech. Dysarthria, which is difficulty pronouncing words, is sometimes confused with aphasia, which is difficulty producing language. They have different causes.
The 5 C's of ADHD, developed by psychologist Dr. Sharon Saline, is a framework for parents and individuals to manage ADHD challenges, focusing on Self-Control, Compassion, Collaboration, Consistency, and Celebration. This approach builds skills for better emotional regulation (Self-Control), empathy (Compassion), working together (Collaboration), establishing routines (Consistency), and recognizing progress (Celebration) to foster a supportive environment and reduce stress.
The 24-hour rule for ADHD is a self-regulation strategy to combat impulsivity by creating a mandatory waiting period (often a full day) before reacting to emotionally charged situations or making significant decisions, allowing time for reflection and reducing regretful snap judgments, especially for things like impulse purchases or arguments. It's a pause button that gives the brain space to process, move from impulse to intention, and evaluate choices more logically, helping manage ADHD's impact on emotional regulation and decision-making.
Famous actors like Johnny Depp, Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom all have dyslexia. Pablo Picasso's teachers described him as “having difficulty differentiating the orientation of letters”.
Some of the signs of dyscalculia are that a child is slow to learn to count or recognize numbers. Later, they may have trouble with word problems, reading a clock, and learning math concepts.
According to UMHS, the following conditions can present similar symptoms and difficulties to dyslexia:
Symptoms of aphasia
It affects people in different ways, but symptoms may include: not being able to say the right words , speaking very slowly or with long pauses. finding it very difficult to speak, or speaking in very short or incomplete sentences. repeating, mixing up or missing out words.
Some of the most common causes of sudden speech challenges include: Stroke: Difficulty speaking, properly pronouncing words, or simply getting words out when accompanied by a numb or droopy face and sudden weakness on one side of the body, can indicate that a stroke has occurred.
Dyslexia. Dyslexia can also increase the chances of verbalizing spoonerisms while speaking. Individuals with dyslexia have reduced use of their brain's sound categories. This limited access to sound categories can cause people to mispronounce words and swap word sounds.