Listen to this blog post and read along by hitting play on the sound-bar below.
Dyslexia Canada Team Member, Anna Ashbarry, opens up about her journey with dyslexia. She shares how having this learning difference has helped shape her career into what it is today; a creative self-employed freelancer and the Communications and Outreach Manager at Dyslexia Canada.
I grew up in the UK and I was only 2 years old when my parents began to notice something wasn’t quite right. My parents used to read storybooks to me out loud before bedtime and I would always insist that the book needed to be turned upside down. Growing up, I had also struggled to watch movies and I couldn’t sit still to do my homework. I had a very short attention span, to say the least.
Throughout my first years of school, my parents picked up on some other things that I began to struggle with. I found it hard to follow a series of instructions and I couldn’t comprehend math rules. If there were numbers presented without comma separations, I found them difficult to read. I also had very limited visual memory and I avoided reading at all costs as I hated it with great passion.
Around the age of 10 when I was preparing for an exam in the hopes to attend a private school, I was tested for Irlen’s Syndrome. Although I don’t remember it too well myself, my parents tell me that I used to say I saw words move, I’d see ‘rivers’ in sentences and if there were letters with ‘holes’ or ‘circles’ in them, they’d be filled in black.
Throughout school, I had tried so hard at everything and I wanted to do well, but I struggled in many academic areas and I didn’t even manage to finish the private school entrance exam. Despite this, I was awarded a place at the school. It was a relief to be diagnosed with Irlen’s Syndrome and we hoped this diagnosis would help me improve.
Between the ages of 10 and 16, I remember really enjoying hands-on and practical lessons, like art and design technology, as well as sport and other activities. I also remember struggling with most academic subjects. I’d get easily distracted or disengaged, despite my urge to exceed in every subject. It wasn’t until just a few months before my GCSE exams that the school suggested I should get tested for dyslexia so I could get extra time on my exams.
During my dyslexia diagnosis, it was discovered that my reading and writing speed were much slower than average. Therefore, I was able to use a laptop in exams and have some extra time. My typing speed was pretty quick as I had been practicing at home and so this helped to level the playing field.
In the lead-up to my exams, the school suggested I drop languages as I was far from excelling in French or Spanish. I could then use those periods to focus my efforts on Math or English. Throughout studying for my exams, my mum supported me a lot, teaching me creative strategies to read and understand exam questions. They were very relieved that my dyslexia had been diagnosed as they always had suspected something wasn’t quite right. They have since described my teachers as being old-fashioned and reluctant to accept my learning difference.
I, unfortunately, don’t have a great memory of my childhood or upbringing so I recently asked my mum what I was like during my school years. She told me that I was really creative despite having limited visual memory and that I never saw dyslexia as a barrier. Dyslexia was my normal and I was really keen to learn strategies to cope with this learning difference. I was also really keen for praise and to do well, I enjoyed the acknowledgement of my efforts even when the outcome wasn’t as desired. I was very dedicated to my studies and my commitments outside of school too.
After high school, I headed off to college to study Photography, Film and Media. After I had graduated, I worked as an intern in a photography studio. Since then, I have been self-employed, travelling, working and learning new skills such as writing and marketing. If I told my younger self that she’d be a writer when she was older, I don’t think she’d believe me!
Today, I am not too different from how I was in high school. I am a really creative person and I still do struggle in academic areas. For example, I get a lot of help from my partner when it comes to bookkeeping, budgeting or tax returns. Interestingly, he’s dyslexic too but for him, math isn’t an issue. I am always developing new strategies and tools to help me with my dyslexia and I always strive to do my best, whatever the task at hand.
I am a big believer in the fact that dyslexia is my superpower. I think that dyslexia has allowed me to think outside the box, approach tasks differently and be a creative and adaptable person. It’s actually not until I worked at Dyslexia Canada that I learnt so much about my learning disability.
Below I have outlined some of the ways I believe my dyslexia affects me:
When I write by hand, I often put the last letter of a word at the start of the next word - Lik ethis.
When I speak out loud, I can get very muddled up with what I want to say even though in my mind I know what I want to say.
I get names mixed up like Zoe and Dori even when they’re very different names!
I struggle to recall information. For example, I am really into books, movies and podcasts but people are surprised when I can’t tell them who my favourite director is or the name of the book I am currently reading.
I often find it hard to spell words aloud or to read numbers out loud like a phone number.
I find it difficult to spot my own mistakes when proofreading my work even when I have made glaringly obvious errors.
I struggle to pronounce certain words like vocabulary. I also mix up certain letters like b and d.
I find it hard to spell certain words like the word ridiculous (Grammarly helped me with that one).
I can’t wrap my head around double negatives.
When I don’t understand something like a webinar or podcast, I easily trail off into my own thoughts as I did at school.
I spell out words going through the whole alphabet to find the letter I am looking for (this is the same with months in the year). I also still to this day use my hands to help me tell which is left and which is right.
I often make up my own words (like outroverted instead of extroverted) and I sing my own lyrics to songs.
Here are some of my strategies, achievements and superpowers:
I write everything down or I won’t remember, therefore, making lists is my favourite thing to do. I like to use the app Todoist.
I’ve taught myself to be highly organized in all aspects of my life and I continue to work really hard to improve my reading and writing. I do this by practising each day.
I only started to read books at the age of 21 but since then, I have read 75 books!
I know and believe I’m not stupid, dumb or misbehaved. I just learn differently from others and that’s ok. Self-acceptance is key.
I never let dyslexia hold me back and I strive to push myself above my personal expectations each year. Who’d have thought I’d become a freelance writer?
Even though I find learning languages challenging, I have it on my bucket list to speak fluent Italian!
I accept help from others, like my partner, and even though we’re both dyslexic, we’ve worked out each other’s strengths and weaknesses and how to tackle the world together.
I ask people to email me rather than call so I can take time to compose my message and thoughts rather than put my brain on the spot.
I’ve learned I can’t do two things at the same time such as writing and listening and so I take steps to ensure I focus on only one thing at a time.
I use Grammarly to assist me with spelling and grammar. I have the Google Extension so it helps me with emails, documents and more.
I try to find the humour in mistakes I have made rather than get mad at myself. I also try to communicate with people about my dyslexia so they have an understanding.
Being an advocate for myself has only begun in the last few years but understanding how your dyslexia affects you, asking for help and making systematic change for others is so important.
A note from Anna: If you listened to the audio recording of the blog, rest assured, this has been edited as I made many mistakes. This blog was also my 2nd or 3rd draft. In the 1st draft, I actually wrote a bunch of notes by hand and made a tonne of mistakes (see image below). Why am I sharing this? I wanted to highlight how I can often find humour in my dyslexia and I am not ashamed of my errors even as a Communications Manager at Dyslexia Canada! I hope this blog can inspire others not to let their dyslexia be a barrier to their success.
If you have any questions for Anna, please feel free to email info@dyslexiacanada.org. If you’d like to make a donation to Dyslexia Canada, you can click here.