Identifying Dyslexia!

…acceptance of my own ways of thinking, working and learning.

I was identified as Dyslexic as soon as school started for my writing and reading. Yet I thought of dyslexia as entirely about literacy; It wasn’t until my early twenty’s that I started to link my dyslexia to my organisation problems. It was, in a way, a second identification of dyslexia!

But why should this link matter? I always knew I was less organised than others (to understate the case significantly!), but the difference was this: I found that, once I connected my organisation problems with dyslexia, I was able to face them head on. On some level, I had always known enough to fear that, even with my greatest effort, I would fail in that area — so I avoided thinking about it. When I was handed an important piece of paper, I would stuff it in my bag rather than dwell on the fact that the date and address contained on it told only of a future missed appointment — or deadline. Identifying the problem with dyslexia gave me the hope that I might find my own way of dealing with those situations. The particulars of the strategies I use continue to change — from a Moleskine notebook at university to the many apps I now use daily — but all are enabled by an acceptance of my own ways of thinking, working and learning.