Breaking barriers – my dyslexia journey

I have severe dyslexia and, in this blog, I wanted to share my experiences about how this condition has affected me throughout my life.

I knew I was different from a young age and my parents were worried because my writing and reading seemed so far behind, despite the fact that I appeared to be bright. It came to a head when I failed my 11+ exam. In those days, that meant I couldn't join my five siblings at grammar school, instead going to a secondary modern school. My new school didn't know what was wrong, so I had lots of tests: an IQ test, a speech test and even a hearing test. I was quite unlucky at the time because dyslexia wasn’t a thing, and I was diagnosed with ‘word blindness’.

I would say the mechanics of having dyslexia held me back when I was younger, but worse, it was incredibly dispiriting and confidence-sapping. It made me feel very self-conscious doing ‘simple’ things such as filling out forms in front of people and ashamed of what it said about me.

As I grew older, I realised we all have toolboxes. I just don’t have some of the tools other people have, but, like most dyslexics, I have extra tools that most people don’t have. I see simplicity in complex things, which means I can see what’s going wrong and how to fix it. Instinctively, I can easily see pathways out of seemingly intractable problems. I grasp concepts very quickly and can easily translate my experiences to different situations. I also see things in three dimensions, a skill many people with dyslexia have – that’s why many of us become architects. These skills have also helped me get my dream job here at Peabody. There’s a lot of integrity in what we do, and I get a sense of value in my work, which is very fulfilling. I still can’t spell ‘restaurant’ though!

While having dyslexia has been a gift to me as I thrive in challenging situations, it was a real problem when I was growing up. That’s why it’s so important to help young people who’ve been written off just as I was. Unless we encourage openness, people will do as I did and try to hide it - I became a real expert in avoidance and coping mechanisms.

My advice to anyone who has dyslexia, or another neurodiverse condition is:

• Don’t try to fix it – you can’t change it, so you should accept it.
• Be honest and tell people – don’t try and hide it!
• It’s all about confidence – find things you’re good at and focus on them.
• Embrace the benefits it brings – remember you have skills other people don’t. Embrace your superpower.
• Use technology to the max. The read out loud functions are amazing, and you can train yourself to listen at speed. The quality of the dictation built into Apple is also amazing, so use it.