S

E

L

E

C

T

_

Y

O

U

R

_

C

O

L

O

R

one day i did my times table test and i only got 20 out of 50 the week after i got 50 out of 50 so then i found out if i trust in my self i will get it right. (November 2003)

Hello my name is Mel, I have a daughter Stacey who is 12 years old. Stacey has just been diagnosed with dyslexia, Stacey has had learning difficulties from the start of school (age 5) but on the advice of the teachers at her school I agreed for them to give her extra support!. We have dyslexia in the family so it had always been at the back of our minds, to cut a long story short Stacey got good results in her SATs. we were realy pleased for her. On going to secondary school Stacey became very distressed and unhappy, not wanting to go school she always seemed to have tummy ache or a headache. We became very concerned and after many visits to her school decided to have Stacey assessed for dyslexia, we felt great relief when we were told yes it was dyslexia. At last she would get the help she deserves and needs. Her school have been fantastic we couldn't ask for more. Stacey has still to come to terms with it and she is finding it hard to accept, but is keeping her chin up and is going to school. We are very proud of her. This web site is excellent it makes children with dyslexia aware there are other people like them, after all they are not stupid but dyslexic. (November 2003)

My English teacher used to tell other students to pick people to read and these boys behind me always choose me and laughed because I couldn't read the words properly. They picked me everyday then I put the book down and said sorry but I'm not reading. Then I told my dad and he said my grandfather was dyslexic so I was tested and I was dyslexic and now every thing is ok! (November 2003)

Hi I was 9 when I was diagnosed with dyslexia but I have always worked hard but often something was missing. I got lots of help in class when I was working on my GCSEs and they were great and kept me in line. I liked Science and History. My History teacher forced me to work hard to improve my hand writing because he knew I could. Finally I got better and got a B for History at GCSE. Science is my true love and got double A for it which I still jump for joy over. I also got B for ICT, Maths and for both Englishes. I got As for RE and PSHE. I got C for electronics (I played safe by going in for lower paper) and one mark off a C in Drama (which I did love). I am now doing A levels in Biology, Chemistry, Psycholgy and Electronic. All great subjects to study but all hard. (November 2003)

Hey People! I found out I was dyslexic when i was 9. I have been called stupid and thick loads of times! When I was in Primary School I used to think dyslexia meant you where thick. Now I'm at secondary school and I love it. Since I went to Secondary School I found out I was really good at sport which has given me loads of confidence! Anybody who has dyslexia and feels stupid should always remember that you ARE NOT!! Keep trying and achieve your dreams! (November 2003)

My 7 year old son was diagnosed with dyslexia just a few months ago. Kindergarten and grade 1 were just a total nightmare. He didn't learn a thing (including his alphabet) and was under so much stress, we finally pulled him out. We had him tested by an educational psychologist and then a speech and language pathologist. Now came the decision making. What were we going to do. With the new educational reform in our area, the only thing public school could offer was less work and more support. My son needed a totally different curriculum if he was to actually learn anything. I didn't want him to just be able to cope, I wanted him to learn. With the help of a great literacy center with specialize speech and language pathologists, we decided to home school our son with their help. The whole experience has been fantastic. He's mastered his alphabet, he's reading and spelling without the stress. His curriculum is tailored to him and we can go at his rate. Thank you for creating this site. I have to agree with many of you, dyslexics are awesome people. Some people look at my son oddly because he thinks differently but personally, he facinates me with his unique way of thinking. It may be different but more often than not, he's right. (November 2003)

Hello! I am not dyslexic myself, but I grew up with a sister who had a learning disability and I now teach students who have learning disabilities. Firstly I would like to talk about why I think my sister is a success. Unlike myself, Laura always had a hard time in school, especially when she was very young. My mom tells me that she did not start speaking sentences until she was well over two years old. It took her a very long time to learn how to read and she always struggled with spelling, grammar and math. I know also that she did not always get treated well by classmates and some adults. Despite all of this she managed to work harder than anyone I have ever known to graduate from high school and go on to University. I remember her always getting frustrated because she worked four times harder than all of her friends and she could never achieve more than a B grade (which I think is pretty good anyway!). Finally in second year university, feeling very tired and overwhelmed, Laura went to an educational psychologist to be tested. She found out that she did in fact have a learning disablility. She found out that ! she needs more time to process information and when it comes to writing essays, she needs to have someone proofread her work. She also found out that she had some very high abilities in abstract reasoning - meaning she is very good at thinking through different problems, ideas and philosophies. She is also a very good artist. Now Laura is a mom with two children. She has a job with a lot of responsibility and she is very good at it. I think a big change started to happen when she realized that she was NOT "stupid". She just learns differently than other people. In my current job as a teacher of students with learning disabilities, I am trying very hard to help my students recognize that even though they have challenges, they are smart and they can do anything they set their mind to....with a lot of hard work! Thanks for creating this website. I plan to show it to my students. (November 2003)

Hello. I'm 20 and currently at APU university in Cambrigde. I'm in my final year of a psychology degree and hope to come out with a 2.1. I have the dyslexic age of an 11 year old and have known since I was 6. Having Dyslexia has pushed me to achieve my 10 GCSE's and my 3A'levels and soon my degree. People have always put me down and my primary school told my parents to remove me from school as I was a lost cause. But my upper school didn't recognise my dyslexia. I still get put downs from some people and its not easy. But I Know that I can do whatever I put my mind to and with my support network around me I can achieve the world. Whether you have just been diagnosed or have known for a long time don't let people stop you from going where you want to go. Go for it and show everyone what your made of. Good luck in everything you do and I hope your life holds as much sucess as mine. (November 2003)

The negative mindset that I adopted at a young age was because I believed and didn’t challenge the labels they gave me.(educationally subnormal, stupid, lazy, daydreamer, easily distracted, just a phase, arrogant, slow etc etc) I was an angry, confused , scared student and hated school so I stayed away…(by the way not the solution)… and everybody gave up on me. After school I felt I didn’t deserve credit or consideration, it was working in very mundane jobs and doing awful factory work for very little money only then I realised that I did deserve more and in fact I was quite clever- I manage to work the computers that everybody else couldn’t… (I only touched a computer after I left school) initially computers freighted me but I soon realised I was very capable and through shear stubbornness did I succeeded- and left those nasty jobs for greater things. I can not say it was easy but through determination and digging my heels in I managed to work through education although still believing a lot of the negative input that I was given at school and struggling to understand things…(ie myself)..as I said earlier I didn’t believe that I deserve credit or consideration.. So didn’t ask for help I thought it was up to me…. And me alone… I only diagnosed with dyslexic/skiptopic sensitivity on entering university, I gained entry through merit/distinction of my portfolio; and limited qualifications. (I went to study Art and Design at Degree level)... after finding out these facts needless to say the jigsaw puzzle fell into place, I am still coming to terms with, my awful (school) education and the implications that are involved with the mindset that prevails. After graduating I gained employment in a school as a technician in a design technology department. This was very daunting at first as school was a big fear factor(even ten years after leaving myself)… this experience afforded me so much more than I can mention. I am now studying to teach my passion (art) and am loving the experience as I did with uni. Learning that I love learning has been a surprise and a joy, I never believed I was employable or indeed able to learn let alone be a talented teacher -which I have been told comes naturally to me….(there are people out there that have positive things to say about me…I’m still getting used to that???)I just hope that when I teach i can turn all those negative experiences into postives so that my future students will leave my class room inspired and hopeful feeling valued...and self worth... All I can say to any young people out there struggling, Believe in yourself and the world will follow, understand that your dyslexia is a gift and the world will realise this too, do not apologise for the world that doesn’t understand, stand up to make them recognise. For you have the key to success… its you…. Good luck with this fantastic site and your studies…. Take care Karen Leech ps i gave myself a gold star because i never got one at school... yey got one now (October 2003)

Hi ive been wondering for the last two years if i had dyslexia. Then I found out on the 23 October 2003 that I was dyslexic. i haven't been diagnosed with it yet but ive done assesment & my dyslexic teacher told me there is a very big chance i am dyslexic which I believe. School wasn't the best time of my life. The teacher didn't know i was dyslexic. I was always behind in my class work I had been going to learning support classes but most people said i was thick I was called every name in the book. I got very bad GCSEs I didn't know what was wrong with me until I went to college. This year ive had alot of support in my lessions. I am studying Public Service. In my class i'm the only person who is dyslexic but there are a few people in my class that still make fun of me as they don't know I am dyslexic. I aint going to tell them until they ask. One of my class friends asks the teacher why I always get blue hand outs. I did'n't want to say why. In my class I like to have laugh with people. I like to make people happy. I can say thats the skill I have. There are times when I get home from college im too lazy to do my work & then after I do start my work I don't like to check for spelling errors. It always looks like ive done lots of work & it sounds good. Then when the work is given back it turns out to be bad with lots of spelling mistakes which puts me down. I am now happy that I know I am dyslexic I aint going to let it stop me from reaching my goal. My goal is to join the Police service. (October 2003)

I was detected for dyslexia at the age of 12yrs. I mainly had problems writting. After doing tests I was diagnosed for what is called as dysgraphiya. It is connected with poor motor coordination.(i can read very fast) After all theses tests which in India take 10 months I was allowed to take a writer for my s.s.c.(similar to gcse o-level)and extra time of 30 mins for each exam. I got distinction with 85%. I am now also planning to give gcse a-level with my h.s.c. my current age is 15yrs also I am learning comp.sci. in my college in lieu of biology and one language. (October 2003)

I hope you will put this in amongst your success stories especially as it isn't mine !! Our 7 year old son has recently been diagnosed with dyslexia and since meeting my husband I had suspected that he had had a problem as well. I was initially greatly saddened by our discovery, as I knew how much extra effort our son would have to put in. However I am greatly inspired after reading all your stories on your site. My husband received virtually no support at school, and was often ridiculed by his language teachers for his mistakes and shortfalls. After alot of hard work and perseverence he got a degree in chemistry and an MBA in marketing. Now at the age of 44 he is the CEO of a large blue chip organisation. Our son knows he has a problem, but continues undeterred and works like a trojan. I look forward to him being added to your list. If it wasn't for people like your story tellers, dyslexia wouldn't be as recognized as it is today, so thank you and good luck ! (September 2003)

i'm actually the sister mentioned in katie (from London)'s story below! as she said after she was diagnosed it was suggested that i went to have the test done (my brother had already been diagnosed) so along i went, utterly convinced that i would not be. i thought the only symptom was bad spelling, and my spelling had always been alright. turns out i was wrong. which, when i look back on past academic (un)acheivements makes me feel so much better about myself. all this time whenever i got a mark lower than i thought i deserved (which was pretty much all the time) i put it down to myself being stupid. i was relieved to find out that this was not the case! at the same time i felt pretty angry that it had taken so long to be discovered (i was 19 when i was diagnosed) to think of everything i missed out on. but now i do know, i can concentrate on getting the help i need in order to complete my degree. (September 2003)

Hi!i am 14 and I found out I was dyslexic in about the 1st grade. I got pulled out of class a lot so I could get help and people thought I was really stupid. It made me feel really bad but then I got some friends that didn't care about how well I could read or write. I still have trouble understanding things and reading is still tuff sometimes but it was cool to see this site with lots of stories from people like me! (September 2003)

I am a 37 year old student who only found out about my dyslexia a year ago, so education was not much fun when I started school. But I managed to scrape through without much extra help with reading or spelling and went on to study Occupational Therapy.Part of my career led me to lecture on perceptual problems, which is ironic as I have a peceptual problem myself. After having 2 children, (both with dyslexia) I gave up my job and worked on my potfolio to enter Edinburgh College of Art to study a 4 year BAHons in painting. During the course I have had extreme difficulty with writing the 3000 word essays.So I went to the learning support department for help. They oganised my Dyslexia assessment and I now have access to a tutor to help me with my essays this is a great help and has reduced loads of stress. The Art College has a high population of Dyslexic students so it is well geared up to supporting us. I sometimes feel sad about the times during my schooling and even my Occupational Therapy career, when I felt stupid because I could not read fast enough, spell properly or manage simple mental arithmetic. However I feel I have benefited from my Dyslexia which has made me more creative, imaginative and determined these are great qualities for an aspiring artist like myself. I have 2 more years of my degree to go and I am enjoying every bit of it. (September 2003)

Brilliant sight!!! i found out that I was dyslexic when i was 10 but for years teachers had been telling me i was stupid, lazy, just about everything in the book including i rember one teacher saying to me "why wont you work why wont you learn your spellings because if you dont you wont pass your exams and you wont last long with no qualifications in this world" she didnt say any more but i could tell that she was thinking id end up on the streets doing drugs or something! the teachers would make a big thing about how every one in my class could do work so much quicker than i could the otha children picked up on the fact that i was an easy target and so i was bullied for the entire time i was at lower school! i would come home and tell my mum every thing she then tryed to make my life easyer at school by asking the teachers to relise that i was ofiosly having difficultys and could they make alowances for me and my work the school said they would but i saw no improvement in the way they reacted towards me so i finaly gave up on myself. it showed but thankfully my mum didnt give up on me she found something on dyslexia and thought it sounded extremly like me so I was tested and I was. My weeknesses are the time it takes me to write my spelling and my handwriting tends to be all over the place my reading is getting better but I have to read a book sevral times to understand it but im getting there now 4 years afta I was diagnosed the teachers have been grate since my lower school and I intend to take my GCSEs in the next 2 years my mates don’t recegnise that im dyslexic because I talk to them in text slang which is much easer than normal english but slowly but surely im getting there sorry if my spelling has made this hard to read!! (August 2003)

I'm 17 years old and i found out i was dyslexic when i was 11. I didn't really understand what it was i just thought i was thick. but as i got used to it i realised that i was good at takeing photographys. i find it hard sometimes because i'm the only one in my friends and family who has it. but then i think what i have got from being dyslexic and thats good grads at GCSE and now im going onto my second year at Art and Design collage studding photography. I don't mind being dyslexic anymore it's given me courage knowing that other people have it my age as well. so be happy with yourself and work for your dreams. (August 2003)

Hi. I'm 19 & I finally (after a lot of nagging to my teachers from my parents)I got tested for dyslexia when I was in my last year at school. When I found out I was happy in a way, that there was a reason for how I am & a name for it, but I also felt an odd one out, that I wasn't normal. After I left school I studied an HNC in Traditional Music Performance (I'm a fiddle player) for a year at college & I'm now studying a BA in Scottish Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama in Glasgow. When I left & went to college it was great, apart from getting away from school (I really did hate that place) I could accept that I was dyslexic more, mostly because the staff & people around me didn't see it as a problem. I can now tell people which I couldn't before. I have a computer now & programs which help me with all the essays etc for uni. It's great to read other peoples stories here & know that we're not alone! (August 2003)

Well, since I was about 3 my mother thought I was dyslexic but my teachers thought I was lazy and slow! But when I was in year 6, there was a new teacher and he thought I was, so I had some tests and I am. Now I'm in Cwmtawe a 'dyslexic friendly school' and i get lots of help! (July 2003)