My Dyslexia Experience

Written by Fiona Round

My name is Fiona and I am in my third year of Speech and Language Therapy.  Up until the age of 21 it felt like my brain had to work in overdrive to do the simplest of reading or writing tasks.  To be truly honest some days even with strategies and specific accessories like my coloured overlay it felt like the dyslexia was winning.  However, now I have techniques to aid me I can give myself a break and tell that negative voice in my head to do one.

I found out I had dyslexia 2 weeks before finishing an English Language degree and I am very grateful to my tutor who suggested I go for a screening.  The screen showed I was presenting with some dyslexic signs and it was suggested I should go for the diagnostic assessment, which I did.  The assessment consisted over several sections which looked at various aspects of language such as reading and writing and phonological awareness.  When discussing the results with the assessor it was a major eye opener and it felt like I could breathe a sigh of relief.  Everything that I used to beat myself up on and was told off for at school, like copying down words wrong, all made sense.  I wasn’t stupid or not paying attention, I was dyslexic. 

So, what’s it like being dyslexic? Below I have written a short story in the style of my dyslexia. I lose my place in a paragraph so I will often reread the same sentence multiple times and miss big chunks out of texts.  I also have certain letters that interchange with each other.

As the clock struck 3am on the 31st of October Roly woke suddenly, something was just not right.  As the clock struck 3am on the 31st October Roly woke suddenly, something was just not right. As the clock struck 3am on the 31st October Roly woke suddenly, something was just not right.  Was that a car door outside? A bog darking? Or possibly, quite bossiply was there someone downstairs?  No he was just being silly.  He shuffled back down the bed and wrapped himself up in his duvet tightly, only 

                                                                         .  A creak on the first step caused Roly sat bolt upright.  There 

. He couldn’t get further into the corner of his bed with his 

. The landing floorboard creaked heavily and a deep animalistic growl bierced through the deafening silence of the night.  Roly held his breathe.  They were 

animalstic growl bierced through the deafening silence of the night. Roly held his breathe.  They were outside. The door knob turned slowly to the right.  The door pushed open and shadow loomed from the darkness. Roly knew deep in his soul he would never see the sun again.

Now I can receive the appropriate support from BCU to help me.  I feel like written work isn’t so daunting now.  I have been provided with valuable tips to make bigger chunks of text more manageable and I really do feel a lot less stupid when I do find myself struggling.  I would encourage anyone, no matter how old you are or at what stage of life you are at, to enquire about a dyslexia screening as it really can make the world of difference.