Dyslexia and me

Many people are under the common misconception that people with dyslexia are dumb, slow or just total utter idiots that don't understand anything academic. 

1. Agatha Christie
2. Albert Einstein
3. Alexander Graham
4. Hans Christian Andersen
5. Leonardo Da Vinci
6. Thomas Edison 
7. Walt Disney
8. Woodrow Wilson
9. Winston Churchill
10. Sir Richard Branson
11. Danny Glover 
12. Whoopi Goldberg

You'll recognise these big household names for their achievements, but I wonder how many know they they are all dyslexic.

For those that aren't aware about dyslexia or what it does...
It's a general term for a learning difficulty that makes it increasingly challenging to read and write words, letters and symbols. It does not however, affect general intelligence. We are not stupid!

Growing up dyslexic 

Growing up dyslexic is extremely hard. Make no mistake about that. Reading is near enough impossible, our spelling the majority of the time is atrocious and when it comes to taking in information, expect us to read it a good 4-6 times before we can take in anything.

I remember once being asked to read out loud in class, which was mortifying for me. I'm pretty sure I was the person - like in most schools, that everyone rolled their eyes at when being asked to read out loud. I stuttered on most words and I was terrified. Terrified of not being able to read properly, terrified of stuttering and terrified of being laughed at. Anyway, I'd read the same line 4 times before my teacher told me - luckily for my self confidence, she never asked me again! That's only one example of something that I personally struggle with.

For those that aren't dyslexic, here is just SOME examples of what we see when we read.

Above is how I personally see letters when I read. A double effect makes my eyes water, I start to squint to stop the double vision (which doesn't work) and its just one part of the reading nightmare. 

 The picture above is called the river effect. This is the second part of what I see when I read.The spaces between the words are exaggerated. It is extremely distracting, frustrating and makes reading pretty much unbearable. 

This is another image of what people that have dyslexia see. Understanding the nightmare of us trying to read yet?!

So if the reading, comprehension, writing and learning wasn't enough, we then have everyone else to overcome! School isn't the easiest place at the best of time and having dyslexia makes it 1000x more difficult. It is so so easy to knock someone with dyslexia back, especially if they are already embarrassed by what they cannot do. What many people don't understand is that even though we know we have dyslexia, we still feel less intelligent than everyone else around us in academic situations.

However, dyslexics have many strengths that they would perhaps not have without their dyslexia. 

1. We can see the bigger picture. "It's as if people with dyslexia tend to use a wide-angle lens to take in the world, while others use a telephoto, each is best at revealing different kinds of detail" Matthew H. Schneps, Harvard University
2. We can find the odd one out. Scientist Christopher Tonkin, who was dyslexic, described his unusual sensitivity to "things out of place". People with dyslexia are better at identifying and memorising complex images. 
3. We are able to see patterns in complex systems.
4. We have great spatial knowledge. We can visualise 3D objects in our minds.Which is great for architects!
5. We're fab picture thinkers. We tend to think in pictures rather than words, therefor we learn better with pictures.
6. We've got sharper peripheral vision. We can take in a whole scene or situation even though it is hard to focus on individual words. For example, we could pick out the letter T in a situation like this fairly quickly.. LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLTLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
7. We make great business entrepreneurs, because we are great strategical thinkers and we are very creative. Sir Richard Branson describes it as thinking in a different way, with his dyslexia guiding the way he communicated with his customers.
8. We are highly creative. Many of the worlds greatest actors are dyslexic.
9. We're great at problem solving. We are able to solve problems with creative approaches. We do this the most when you may think we're day dreaming. But really our brain is sliding into a neutral state, allowing itself to solve a problem easily. However, those with dyslexia know the difficulty of trying to explain that to a teacher that thinks you're just not listening.

Dyslexic people just learn in a different way. Some learn better whilst fiddling with something on the table, some learn better with pictures, some learn better with their eyes closed, some learn better when they're tapping (also if you've ever wondered why I over use the bold and underline feature, it's so its easier for me to read back - dyslexic problems).

Many people don't understand is that you don't just 'get over' dyslexia, you don't just wake up one day and can read (or whatever else you suffer with your dyslexia) with ease. You can however make your dyslexia work for you.

One thing that saved me was my overlays. An overlay is a particular coloured sheet of plastic, that you hold over white paper. Oh that's another thing, us dyslexics find it extremely difficult to read on a white background/paper (this makes day to day situations super fun - not). I also worked through the 'Beat Dyslexia' (https://shop.acer.edu.au/acer-shop/group/1796BK) books everyday throughout primary school, I used Word Shark (www.wordshark.co.uk/index.aspx) to work on my spelling and typing skills. I also went on a weeks dyslexia course, where me and about 6-8 other children were taught different ways to tackle our dyslexia and it also boosted our self esteem dramatically.

I have been very fortunate to have had the help and support that I have got from my family, friends and teachers.  And with my determination I have got to where I am today, don't get me wrong it is still a struggle and its painful knowing that no matter how hard I work, I wont ever achieve the grade to match the work I have put in. But that's life. Never in one million years would I have seen myself as a journalism student and wanting to make a career out of it for myself.

So for you dyslexics out there, don't let anyone ever make you feel as if you cannot do something or that you are not good enough! 

You will never know what other are going through with any situation, be that physically or emotionally. So please remember to be kind, patient and considerate of others. And if you can't manage this for whatever bazaar reason, at least teach your children these values. We need more understanding and caring people in this world that will build others up, not tear them down.