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| Being Dyslexic: its about hidden abilities even to ourselves at times |
Hi blog readers hope you are all well and recovered from the Christmas and New Year celebrations
As promised I have another in my series of guest blogs from dyslexic and neuro diverse individuals. I first became aware of Robin's art and music way back in 2015 during our Dyslexia Pathways CIC, "Unique Dyslexic Get Creative campaign". He was one of a number of dyslexic creative who submitted their art work for exhibition on our Unique Dyslexic Get Creative web site and Celebration of Creativity Exhibition.
Here is Robin's blog with some examples of his fab artwork
Where do we put Robin?
When Steve asked me to write
something for his blog I was honestly at a loss as to where to start. After
some deliberation I decided to start at the point that dyslexia started to
become a problem, primary school. Prior to school age I spent most of my time
in the woods surrounding my home. If I wasn’t in the woods letting my
imagination run wild then I was drawing with equal enthusiasm sometimes
imagining the drawings coming to life.
I resented being taken from my life of fantasy to be
placed in the schoolroom all day: so much so that they had to post a guard at
the school gate to thwart my escape attempts. Back them, in the late 60’s; the
three primary school teachers had no idea what to do with me.
I was a contradiction, my general knowledge was excellent and any story that was told to me I memories and could narrate back almost word for word; and yet I was years behind the other kids with my reading and writing skills.
They tried me in remedial class, which was great because I got to draw all the time, but it became very clear that I didn’t belong there. I was tested to see if it was my sight or my hearing I was called lazy or even sometimes accused of cheating all of which added to my resentment of being trapped in this institution.
But every Wednesday afternoon I put that resentment aside in order to experience a radio program for schools all about myth and legend. The class was herded into the canteen and we sat cross-legged on the floor surrounding a mono speaker that each week told of a myth or legend from around the world.
I was a contradiction, my general knowledge was excellent and any story that was told to me I memories and could narrate back almost word for word; and yet I was years behind the other kids with my reading and writing skills.
They tried me in remedial class, which was great because I got to draw all the time, but it became very clear that I didn’t belong there. I was tested to see if it was my sight or my hearing I was called lazy or even sometimes accused of cheating all of which added to my resentment of being trapped in this institution.
But every Wednesday afternoon I put that resentment aside in order to experience a radio program for schools all about myth and legend. The class was herded into the canteen and we sat cross-legged on the floor surrounding a mono speaker that each week told of a myth or legend from around the world.
I loved these stories replaying
them over and over in my head wanting to become the God or beast that walked
through the story. I would often draw the stories or characters out of them and
as I grew older I searched out new and exciting stories. By the time I got to
secondary school age I was taking myself off to the library every Saturday to
trawl though the mythology books. In a way I think my reading may have improved
not through the efforts of the school but as a result of these visits to the
library the great thing about a lot of the stories was that there length was
short so not to taxing
In my late teens early twenties I
added another string to my bow in the form of composing music a lot of which
was also based around mythological characters.
At 53 years old I am still thank
full for these wonderful creative outlets and do wonder what would have become
of me if I had not had this escape from frustrations and anger at being
underestimated.
Many thanks for your fab blog Robin. I am certain there are many dyslexics out their who can empathize with your experiences.
Robin in undergoing chemo therapy at this time so lets all wish him well and send positive vibes.
Robin in undergoing chemo therapy at this time so lets all wish him well and send positive vibes.
If there is anyone else out there from either the dyslexic or neuro diverse communities who would like to write a guest blog just send me an e mail at steve_mccue@hotmail.com
Social media links Please join us on our social media. Share your experiences, stories or creativity in a supportive and friendly environment.
IVITATION TO JOIN DYSLEXIA PATHWAYS CIC AND OR UNIQUE DYSLEXIC SOCIAL MEDIA:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unique.dyslexic/ our facebook group page
https://www.facebook.com/Unique-Dyslexic-Get-Creative-1431413910440768/ kinda like our Unique Dyslexic campaign come business page
http://www.dyslexiapathways.com/ company web page
http://www.uniquedyslexic.com/ our unique dyslexic campaign page By the way I am seeking funding or donations to help keep this web site up and running. It also need updating very remiss of me I know just busy busy
http://sdyslexia.blogspot.co.uk/ dyslexia blog page
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVKyJJgQWkYUa93-GdtX3fg you tube channel
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