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I do not think I have had any big success but I do think I am doing well in my work for a dyslexic that only found out she was dyslexic at nine and now is ten so I think this is a little bit of a success. (February 2003)

I was diagnosed with dyslexia at an early age and have had, varying degrees of help throught school. So I know how bad and how good it can be for dyslexics. In primary school the head teacher was all for helping 'speshal needs' children and I got loads of hellp. My yr 6 teacher offered to transcribe my sats, but they didn't let her! I got vertulay no help in secondry school, one instance my englesh teacher underlined every other word in my essay and told me to imporve my spellling. Although moust of the teachers were ok when I tolled them about the dyslexia, but the school shoud have toled, them. I got no help exept extra time in my exams. My mom spent moust of her spare time in the head office trying to get me help. Which was half hearted at most. I did actually pass my GCSE's and am now in collage where I get loads of hellp. Next year I am going to study Archaeology at Bradfrod, the Universities that I've seen all give loads of help to dyselxics. You can get £4,000 disablity allowace to get computers etc. You can get so much help the hier you get up the education system, when there should be moor put into helping dyslexics at younger ages. Keep working at it, the further you get the moor help you get. Silly isn't it? Sorry about the spelling I am dyslexic :D (February 2003)

When i started year six, i was not rely looking fowerd to going as nearly all my teachers used to moan and moan about my speeling and i had my prober sats (i ushaly got a 3 for english and a 4 for maths and science). But my teacher (mr folferdbrown) toght me sprlling tips, when i got things rong he used to push me in the right direction. Then the sats came i thoght i will try my hardest and what ever i gat i will be proud of. then my results cam i was shoked i hade got a high levle 4 for english and levle 5 for maths and science. he rely pulled me throgh. (January 2003)

Hi Barnaby and everyone else. I just want to tell you a little story that makes me feel a lot better about my dyslexia. When I was at primary school, most teachers had never even heard of dyslexia and subsequently my writing, reading, spelling and maths problems were not diagnosed. I was the proverbial class dunce and would often have by work torn up, as it made no sense to the teachers. One teacher in particular made my life a living hell and basically bullied me for being so inept at just about everything. Thankfully I was taken out of the school by my dad who - on the one time he ever went to a parents evening - refused to believe that his son was so stupid. I took an entrance test for a small private school and by chance the head teacher, who was invigilating, had just returned from a course on learning difficulties. She immediately recognised the telltale signs of dyslexia and when my mum came to pick me up, she told her I was dyslexic - but potentially very bright. Th! e school was wonderful and within a few months I had progressed from not knowing the difference between "and" and "the", to winning academic prizes. Many years after that I bumped into my old primary school teacher. "So how are you doing Andrew, have you managed to get a job?" She asked me in the most patronising and "bet you work on a building site" type voice. It was with a rather large dose of satisfaction that I responded "No, I’m not working, I actually about to start studying for my Masters Degree!" I am now a freelance journalist and work for some of the biggest media firms around. So to all the dyslexic kids out there- don't worry, help is at hand and you can achieve so much - remember some of the greatest minds ever have been dyslexic. Winston Churchill (yes one of us) failed all his school exams, and he didn't do to badly! (January 2003)

Just a quick note to say - I am dyslexic and it is possible to achive what ever you want. I am nearly 30 now but with the help of my Mum and the people at school it was reconised that things were not right, With there help and technology (spell checkers) I now have a degree and an MSc in IT. With this help and Knowledge I am currently working for an Investment Bank in London pursuing a carrer in IT - All i will say is don't give up and keep pluging away it will all work out in the END. (January 2003)

Dear Barnaby and everyone else, this is not my success story at all, but rather that of a dyslexic student I supervised who just achieved the highest academic qualification you can get in the UK. Esther just passed her PhD exam, and is now a Doctor of Philosophy in Astrophysics! Let nothing hold you back. (January 2003)

(sorry for sending it twice, this time i ran it through the spell check ;-) ) I was assessed as Dyslexic when I was 10. I have always had a problem with writing and spelling. Like most dyslexics i have been teased and bullied for being "stupid" and was even told that my spelling was so bad because I was "lazy" by one teacher!!! Luckily the Schools I went to after I was assessed both had special units setup to help people with dyslexia and learning difficulties. With the help from these people and my teachers I have worked hard to conquer my spelling and writing. I loved Maths and Science, but I worked my hardest at English and French and managed to get a B in GCSE in both. Once my GCSEs were done, I was able to focus on my favourite subjects and ended up with 3A Levels in Math and As in A level Physics and Chemistry as well as an A in AS Electronics. Now, I am 19 and half way through doing a degree in "Computer Science" at the University of Cambridge. My advice to people is to stick with it, don't let people get you down or tell you that you are stupid. Work hard at what you enjoy, and work even harder at what you find difficult and you can achieve anything. (January 2003)

Firstly if you are reading this, Good Luck and don't give up, You can do it. I'm almost 30 now and was very lucky that my school wanted to help. A very observant teacher realised that there was something wrong and I was diagnosed very early. Individual teachers often didn't know how to help, but they gave me encouragrment. I did well in my school exams and went on to university where I graduated with a good Honours degree. I'm now have an accounting job. The dyslexia still effects my everyday work (swaping numbers arround) but I build checks into everything and it makes be better at my job. Most people assume that they haven't made mistakes! I'm studying towards professional exams, and whilst it is hard I am getting there. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. I belive it makes you better at what you chose to do. Oh and READ - I'm a slow reader but I know it has really helped and books can be good friends and great inspiration (start with comics, magazines, the net, anyhting but READ). (January 2003)

Hello my name is Lucinda, im DYLSEXIC and I have ADD, and this is going to be written to my best abilities. ( meaning that there will be some misspellings and misunderstandings) I am 15 years of age I havent been diagnosed as dyslexic but I am suffering from consequences from, and I’ve lived most of my life in constant fights because I was teased, called names, for the fact I saw everything backwards, left was right, right was left and everything was all up messed. Everyday went passed and I just wished that I would get caught up in some bad crime gone wrong and just died. Students ,adults even teachers called me stupid, dumb, lazy, hard headed, I was young and I was shocked to hear thoes things because everthing I did I tried very hard and I tried. To hear the students call me names and tease me wasn’t as bad as hearing a teacher, witch was an authority figure someone that was supposed to promote no violence and higher a kids self steam was telling me that, this is harsh. Apart from the fact that home was a headache and school is supposed 2 be a safe place I was Traped. I have the type of problems as a normal dysexic person one is cordanation. I can't bounce a basketball, ride a bike, walk in a staright line, spell, or handwrite. I found it to be a stuggle going threw school When I was picked to read aloud it was a nightmare I struggled with ever sentence not knowing if the words are begin siad correctly, and I made a lot of mistakes, hopin I would just choke on a word, I kept reading, and more until the teacher had to interrupt me because the class was to loud and rude, because they were laughing at the fact I that couldn’t read, but that wasn’t it I could read every word but it wasn’t left to right. The struggles, and pain was great something that killed my entire child hood. I couldn’t smile thinking what the teachers and children said was true, so I tried and I practiced and thought outside the box and maybe they laughed because they didn’t understand, and that I had to be the bigger person. Writing poems, stories, and further more speeches this was hard because the teachers never gave me a chance, they look over me, and that made me want to just not try at all, but that’s what a lot of my family did just give up and I didn’t want to I wanted to learn I wanted to try. I like school infact I loved learning I tried everyday very hard. I always wanted to know why did I always have to be the slow one why was it me to always daze off because what the class was learning was confusing, was it true was I dumb, NO of course not, not at all I made it this far in life im in the 10th grade never left back, that makes me a better person inside prove to thoes teachers wrong. (November 2002)

I am dave, 23 yr old dyslexic. I and my family had a rough time getting me statemented. I have had to work hard and long to get my spelling and reading up to his level. with guts and tears i can say " i have done something with my life" now at the age of 23, i have got to a point where i am a computer tech with a college, trained electrican, have a lovely 4yr old girl and a active member of St. john Ambulance. In St. john Ambulance, i hold the qualifactions to crew a ambulance, use a automated external defibrillator (one of them shock thing you see on casualty). I also hold the post of county webmaster of St. John shropshire. Not bad for someone who i guote my ex-primary teacher " will make nothing of your life, just pick up litter for the rest of it". all i can say to him is "you were so wrong mate" The moral of my story is "you can do, even if other tell you otherwise" (November 2002)

Hello:) I just thought I'd tell my story on here because I think this can help other people, parents and even teachers. Well, I am 18 years of age and I have been dyslexic for about 15 years. When I was at kindergraten I used to get called very nasty names as I have another condition apart from the dyslexia since I am a shortsighted girl. Well, when I was nearly 4, I went to an ordinary school where I had loads of friends. We all used to click on very easilly and they used to help me. My worse subjects where Arts, Maths and Physical education as I didn't see any diference between left and right. I was so sad as I had to change school when I was 13 that I spent the whole summer crying. Well when I went to the Hifgh school I thought it'd be different as I would meet loads of nice people but it wasn't like that as I met stupid people insteed. First my Arts teacher: He would always tell me that the things I did in clas weren't the things he'd expect from me... In Maths I got a little bit of support from my teacher. In physica Education was were my teacher helped me the most as I was given some special work different from the other students. When I went into the 2nd year my nightmare started as we started doing physics... My teacher of Science wasn't there to help me as he always tell me he'd be explaining the lesson to me after class but he never had time for me. Music lessons where pretty much the same, always trying to get the teacher to explain the signs for me but when it came to down them I wasn't able to. I was asked to memorize some composor's life and when I said the whole thing, the whole class was amazed of how many things I could learn by heart. I wasn't a Maths, Physics kind of girl, I was a memoristic one! In my high school I was treated bad. But thankfully I got through and now I am very happy to be where I am because I can speak English fluently, as well as Spanish, French German and Catalan. I want to tell everyone who has had a lot to let it go and to be proud of who they are because I know we are all special in a way. Lots of love. Me. (November 2002)

Daer Barnaby and others, I am going to write thsi as I do naturally but not correct as I have learned myself to do. (in which case the above line would read 'I am going to write this as I would naturally, but not correct it as I have taught myself to.') like most of you I have dyslexia. I am however also a successful scientist. I wasn't diagnosed as being dyslexic untill I was in graduate school. I was thought to be an average or below average student who would make stupid mistakes....my whole school career. I ket going however even when I was failing several of my classes though I was working real hard. My mom had told me I could do anything I wanted to, and I believed that. Even when told I was stupid (other students or even teachers), I knew better. You know what, she was right! You can do just about anything you set your mind to. But sometimes it sure takes a lot of work. But it is worth it. I think now that if someone has dyslexia, they also often have a gift to compensate how hard we have to w!ork at some things. In my case I discovered that chemsitry was real easy. for others it is math or physics, or like my brotehr business, or my sister training horses. But languages are hard. It has taken me many years to get better at english, since dutch is my mothertongue...and I was pretty bad at that. But I kept working at it, and progressively I got to good and then even better. And now I am learning danish. It is very hard to do, to say or write things right, but understanding and reading it are now easy. I know that I can do. I also know that any of you, probably find something you are great at. It does mean that you still have to work hard to do teh other stuff, but it is great to be able to be really good at something and be recognised for it. Goodluck, and keep going, believe you can because you know what in the end you will know and do things better than most of those around you. So what if we still make a mistake ot two, you learn to recognise those as well and c! orrect them more often than not. (October 2002)

Hi my name is TJ and I am 12. I am in 7th grade. I play football And I try hard in school so I can play. I can't read too good. I gat help in school and I say thanks to my teachers. (October 2002)

Goodday, Well back when I went to school if you couldn't do the work you were told you were lazy and made feel that you were stupid. I spent most of my time planning ways to wag school than going. I hated it, I could read but couldn't write stories. I had things in my head but they never came out correctly. Or I would say the wrong words, forget things especially tables and dates - most important then. I would have things thrown at me and once I got the cane from the teacher (you weren't allowed to cane girls even then). I left school when I was 13. After I married and had children of my own I decided to try and do my junior certificate (after 10 years at school) I passed 3 subjects. This encouraged me to try to get into university as a mature age student. I was accepted. I studied to be a teacher and later I recieved a scholarship to do more study to become a special needs teacher to help children with learning problems. I still get very angry when I hear teachers calling children 'lazy or behaviour problems' when they haven't even considered that they may have learning problems. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of ignorent teachers out there who believe if you can spell, read or write you must be dumb. I proved I wasn't. Don't give up, believe in your self and look for someone else who believes in you to help because it is very easy to loose all confidence and believe thses what other people say about you. Congratulations on your good work and web site. (October 2002)

Hello,i am now 19 years old and have nown about my condition since i was 11.my teachers would always call me stupid, lazy i didn't try and much more even after i said i had dyslexia.This made me mad and so all i would concerntrate on was going to ballet class after school and dancing all my frustration out.i am now studing dance overseas and doing something that i love.if i had listened to thoes teachers i would'nt have made it where i am now.My advise to young people with dyslexia is to not give up and no matter how much people tell you otherwise don't listen just turn away and think i am stronger then that...... (October 2002)

I have only a mild case of dyslexia, but I still have to fight to learn. Math has always been the hardest for me although at night when I am tired reading and spelling become difficult too. My sucess story is that I have wonderful parents that taught me how to deal with and work with my dyslexia! I am now in my senoir year of college and I am studying to be a teacher. I am doing well in most of my classes, although I really struggle with types of testing. It is possible to be sucessful even through the difficulty. I have learned that even though I have to work harder then most it is worth it!! (October 2002)

Dear Barnaby I was always picked on at school for beening last in every thing and for being dyslexic. At the age of 14 my mum pulled me out of school and tought me herself when I was pulled out of school i had a reading age of 9 my mum helped my bring it up to my own age group. For a while because of the bullying I lost interest in learning anything all I wanted to do was spend my time up the stables whith my pony 9 (he listened to me and I found confindece in him because he din't make fun of what Isaid or did).At the age of 16 I am currently studying NVQ passport to travel at swansea college and everybody trys to help rather then picking on me and bullying me because I'm dyslexic. thank you for reading this. (September 2002)

Dear Barnaby, This is not really a sucess story but here I go. Ever since kindergarden I was made fun of for being dyslexic. But I can tell you I'm 14 years old right now. And I go to a camp for about a week and Kay Howell helps me and everybody their that goes to gain knowledge of their dyslexia. It really is amazing camp so that's my sucess story and I now want to become a counsler (soon) you got to be 16 years of age. But I also want to tutor dyslexic kids :)! So that is my kinda of sucess story. (July 2002)

Hi Barnaby, At the age of 29, Barnaby, i just found my self taking a deap breath before i decided to send this story to you. I really hope that it helps. Well here i go!! I went to a boarding school at the age of 9 because my parents worked over sea's. Although diagnosed as dyslexic and having lessons i was still always in trouble at school. As i am sure most of us are, it was always easier to be the joker because that gave me a exscue for been last at every thing and what was the point of trying because even when i did i still came last. Well along came my GCSE's and every one expected me to fail every thing, but they were some teachers and my mum who believed in me. I worked realy hard and got 2 B's and 5 C's. Proved them all wrong. I can remember when i got my results at the 16 i thought that i had proven to every one that i wasnt thick. Well unfortunatly it wasnt me been thick but some people still treated me as if i was. Barnaby i was heart broken. So i picked my self up and did my A levels, i knew i wasnt thick and was going to prove them wrong. I got 2 C's at A level. You know what Barnaby it was the best feeling as i walked out of school looking strait at all the people who expected me to fail and letting them know that i won. I then went of to universaty and studyed Manufacturing Systems engineering. Although university was so much better Dyslexia never really leaves you, you just learn to work with it. I still get words the wrong way round, i carnt spell and get easly confused when i a m tired. But 6 years after leaving University i wouldnt change i thing. I know i am dyslexic, i am still scarred (by the way i am a 6ft rugby player, so even big boys get scared)to stand up and write on a board when doing presentations, but i know i think differently than other people, more imaginatly, quicker at some things, i understand things, others dont see. Yes i am dyslexic, No i am not thick, yes i have to work very hard to just be OK at things others find easy, but i have done it. I am know working as a Management Consultant specialising in the Nuclear Industry. If i can do any thing to help any person on your fantastic site barnaby please send them my email andress. (July 2002)