We've read a lot of stories about successful adult dyslexics, and many of them state that they rely on other people to check/edit their writing for them before sending letters/memos at work etc.
This is my husband. When he can't get close enough for spell check, he calls me. He never writes anything by hand except "to do" lists for himself. When I forced him to hand write thank you notes to a few critical people, i.e. his boss, after our wedding, I had to proof them. He spelled the same word three different ways that were phonetically correct in the space of a paragraph. His dyslexia reflects the lack of automaticity described in Shaywitz's Overcoming Dyslexia. I think that this is the root of his disability and my daughter's too. Having lived with him, I've had to re-evaluate my own attitudes about people who can't spell. His inability to spell is not due to laziness or lack of intelligence, it is something that his brain just can't do. He spends a lot of time and effort compensating for his short-comings in this area because he knows people will perceive his mistakes as "lazy and sloppy." Despite his spelling challenges, my husband still managed to get a master's degree in mechanical engineering and is a successful professional in his chosen field.
ps - Pemberley - for your dd, I'd probably continue to memorize words for spelling tests, do it at a rate of words/week that is reasonable for her, and if she's being asked to memorize too many call an IEP meeting to add an accommodation limiting the # of words. For her other writing assignments, request that she not be graded on spelling and that she have access to word prediction and spell-check software.
Agree.
