Finding Strength in Weakness

I have dyslexia and all through school I found this a challenge. I was ten when I found out which, back in 1980s Britain, was quite early. Before then I thought I was stupid, so the diagnosis was a huge relief. It was also the kick start I needed, now that I knew why I was different I could start learning how to deal with it.

Fast forward 30 years and I am successful in my career. I have turned, what was once a disadvantage, into an advantage. I am a slow writer – so I have taught myself how to be concise. In business I have found that this is a useful skill. I am a slow reader – so I do not want to have to read something twice. I have perfected how to understand and consume information, and convert it into something that doesn’t require as much reading. Lately I have begun taking pictoral notes (this will be the subject of a subsequent post).

Being dyslexic has given me:

• the determination to succeed,
• the willingness to accept that I will make mistakes,
• the desire for constant improvement – I will not accept that my abilities are limited to those that I have today
• the openness to search for new, quicker ways of learning

I research as much as I can, I read books about learning, teaching, mindfulness, personal development – if I can find any technique that makes me even a little bit quicker then I will use it. A byproduct of all this is that it has increased my skill as an educator – which makes me more successful in my career.

I would like to end this post by returning to those pictorial notes that I briefly introduced earlier. I use them all the time in discussions with colleagues and customers and they are very much appreciated. The concepts that I deal with on a daily basis are complex and can often not be described by abstract words alone. Converting them into graphics turns out to be a useful skill.

Dyslexia is part of who I am, a part that gives me more strengths than weaknesses, and I would not be without it.