Its been a bit of an up and down week since my last blog.
On Sunday I felt very down a couple of negative remarks that I would usually let roll off my back and upset me. At the time I felt like closing everything down from my company Dyslexia Pathways CIC to all my associated social media.
Firstly I had been feeling down because I lost three friends to cancer over the past month or so. Fab people who I respected and cared about. It kinda brought back all the upset from when my mum passed away.
Secondly money worries have been getting to me as well. When I was a kid my dad was an alcoholic and gambler. He was always drinking and gambling his money away. I remember once we went away on holiday to Scotland. On the day we arrived my dad just disappeared. He came back later and all the holiday money was gone.
My mum and dads marriage was a total train wreck. One of the reasons I started working as a milk boy on a milk round was to make sure there was money there. I have always managed to support myself and people I love so these are unsettling times for me.
Who is the specialist?
Much of what I have learned about dyslexia and Neuro diversity I have learned from the students I have worked with. My qualifications say I am a dyslexia and inclusion specialist.
However, I would say I am the only specialist in myself as a dyslexic. Only I have lived my life as a dyslexic and have my own life experiences as a dyslexic.
All of us in dyslexic and neuro diverse communities are really the only specialist in ourselves? The better we understand ourselves the happier we can be. Not sure if that makes any sense though?
What makes us happy?
Many dyslexics are unhappy and from their perspective those of us who have a positive dyslexic message must have lost our marbles. Frankly even I think I have lost my marbles at times lol.
It is society that disables us and this disabling begins at school that fail us. We can end up leaving school feeling like failures and with little self confidence and self esteem and even mental health issues.
But we fail not because we cannot learn or because we are not smart enough but because we are not taught in ways that enable us to learn. So it's not surprising and understandable that there are so many unhappy dyslexics out there who hate being dyslexic and who do not like school.
If we are failures it is because society has failed us. We can and do succeed in many different ways. Me personally I am a very happy, positive and confident dyslexic but this was not always so most of the time. When I walked away from school I believed I was just someone who could not learn.
We dyslexics can be an enigma to ourselves, our parents and teachers. Solving that enigma for myself started when I as first assessed as dyslexic. I would say that everything I have achieved in my life would not have been possible if I were not dyslexic both before and after I was assessed.
All the negative experiences I have experienced I would not change one of them because that have taken me to a place and time where I am very happy and fulfilled as a person.
My organisation is running a little campaign #iamdyslexic. The idea is to make we dyslexics more visible, to try and build a global dyslexic community, to show other dyslexics out there they are not isolated and alone and enable us to be dyslexia proud and positive.
All you need to do is take a photo holding an #iamdyslexic😎 banner. You can add your name and location if you want to. I will add them to a Pinterest gallery and if I can get enough people to reply maybe do something creative with them.
It's open to dyslexics of all ages. There are a couple photos I have been sent to far. I have created a couple banners that you can print off and use or add to your own social media. Please share with your contacts.
Many thanks. If you are from any other neuro diverse community you can get involved with an #iamneurodiverse😎 photo? You do not have to put any other information there but a first name and country would be helpful
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| above some of the photos people have sent for |
many thanks for reading and for sharing my blog if you feel it worthy of sharing.
PS: received a fab phone call today that brought positive and fabtastic news about new prospective opportunities for myself and Dyslexia Pathways CIC. More news on that to follow.
I am seeking guest bloggers for my blog so if anyone has something to say about dyslexia or neuro diversity let me know.
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