Dyslexia. It’s something we have all heard of and quite a few people "suffer" with. I say suffer loosely as I don’t see it as something that should be used to bring people down. I’ve always had trouble with spelling and refused to read out loud in my English lessons (I use to get sweaty palms when I knew it was my turn to read out, I’d read ahead and try to figure out the line I had to read, reading it and re-reading it to make sure I didn’t get tongue-tied when my turn came). I was even tested for it in primary school but did everything I could to get out of being labelled as dyslexic. Dyslexia can often cause people to recoil when faced with reading and writing, which can cause people to delve into more artistic and hands-on subjects while at school (which isn’t a bad thing - I did this and enjoyed these subjects thoroughly throughout school).
But I want to make it clear that being diagnosed with dyslexia should never turn you away from an essay or research-based subject! Science consists of endless reading and writing, especially the treacherous time of dissertations (I had to just go on google and say the word ‘treacherous’ into my laptop's mic in order to get the right spelling – I spent a lot of my time doing this while at university), but this shouldn’t scare off people with dyslexia.
I was diagnosed at university (finally got my crap together and did the test), and it gave me this sense of knowing. Knowing that my struggles with spelling and slow reading was caused by something that I had no control over and not because I was ‘lazy’ (which I had been told numerous times in the past). I have had teachers tell me my writing read as if English wasn't my first language, and at the time it broke me and made me want to stop writing forever. But if you want to do something don’t let anything stop you! Schools and universities are there to help, be it extra time or support staff to read through your essays (I had one of these and they were an absolute godsend!). And of course, never forget that some of the most successful scientists were diagnosed with dyslexia! Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Albert Einstein, Archer John Porter Martin and Ann Bancroft to name a few, and if I become even half as successful as these people, I will be overjoyed!!!
Ruth x
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