I have Dyslexia. It’s pretty bad and I’ve struggled my whole life with it. I remember sitting with my mother at a parent teacher conference with Sister Martha in 3rd grade and being told that I was “mildly retarded.” I was not correctly diagnosed with Dyslexia until the 2nd quarter of 4th grade. I missed all the lessons on phonics being taught in the years beforehand so I REALLY can’t spell.
My mom taught at my catholic high school as the English dept. head. She is VERY smart but tends to be passive aggressive. Long story short, one day she unknowingly insulted my 10th grade English Lit teacher. Soon after he gave a true false test, which I did very well on, but I misspelled “false” every time. He took my test, transferred it to an overhead transparency, and used my test as the teacher’s answer key in front of the entire class. He spent the majority of the time pointing out to the class that the department head’s 10th grade child can’t spell a 2nd grade word.
At times I feel less than smart. I can’t spell and I don’t like people watching me type or write. I have an unbelievable fear of spelling the word wrong. I get such anxiety! It’s hard to take notes or do dictation in front of anyone. And don’t get me started about having to read a passage out loud in front of a crowded room. I start moving whole words into different spots. I get nervous and sweat starts to run down the back of my neck and I freeze up. If writing in a note pad in front of people I feel judged and I try to write messy so people can’t tell I’m spelling words wrong. The problem with this technique is that I can’t understand my own notes later on.
There was a time when I thought I would go into a career as a school teacher, but decided it would highlight my disability too much and give the kids too much ammunition to make fun of me. I spent a year of my professional career as a mortgage banker – not the career for a dyslexic. The loan could be for $12,000 or it could be for $21,000. True story. I also transpose letters and numbers. I ruined more than one of my roommates’ dating lives by writing down the phone number of their potential suitors wrong. Oops!
To others challenged with Dyslexia, I have one word for you -TECHNOLOGY! Spell check and computers have made life so much better! Surround yourself with good people with the skills you lack and outsource to those people. Have co-workers or friends be your editors. Know what you are good, if not great, at and exploit it. Through the years I’ve developed coping mechanisms of humor and, oddly, I love public speaking if it’s a subject I know and can talk about off the top of my head. I must love the sound of my own voice! And don’t let anyone break down your self esteem.
I remind myself all the time about the famous successful people who are also dyslexic: Albert Einstein, Charles Schwab, Henry Winkler , Daymond John, John Irving, Tom Cruise, Whoopi Goldberg, and Brian Grazer to name a few.
