How my missed dyslexia affected me & how I found out later in life

Today I am pulling back the curtain of my missed dyslexia and how it has affected me later In life. We are talking about the signs that were missed in primary school and how they affected me well into adulthood. I also share some strengths I have being a person with dyslexia.

I have always had Dyslexia that has affected my education and work. It was just missed until I was 19.

I found out I was dyslexic pretty late in life. I went through primary and secondary school without my dyslexia being noticed by any of my teachers. Now, I’m sure you’re thinking “surely they would have noticed” – no absolutely not. Now that I am an adult looking back I can clearly see the signs I was showing of my Dyslexia, and I truly wonder why my teachers or parents were unable to identify it. Some of the struggles I faced in school, from missed dyslexia that should have prompted further investigation of my dyslexia were..

  • I was held back in first grade. I have a very vivid memory of not being able to write my numbers in the correct order or the correct direction. 
  • I hated reading. I often choose books that were very animated, and could not read chapter books well into 5th grade. I would often skip lines or re-read lines because I was unable to comprehend what I was reading. 
  • If you were in primary school in the 2000s I guarantee you remember the timed time tables. I HATED THOSE. I was so bad at those in 5th grade that I needed to be moved to another classroom to do my math work. The fast-paced, race of those times tables caused me so much anxiety and I could never finish them. 
  • I was also unable to comprehend word problems. 
  • I could not accurately follow verbal instructions. So many think that Dyslexia only affects reading and writing. In reality, Dyslexia affects the way you interact with life as a whole. Not only does it affect reading and writing, but it also affects speech and overall comprehension of the world around us. 

In high school, of course, my Dyslexia continued, however, because I had no idea I was dyslexic at this point, I just thought I was dumb and I stopped caring. This is why it is so important for different learning abilities to be identified at a young age. If I was able to identify my Dyslexia and use tools that benefited my learning style I do not think I would have had such educational insecurity. 

How has Dyslexia affected me later in life and how did I find out I was Dyslexic. 

I thought once I finished school, my struggles would disappear. Because at this point I thought my struggle was purely academic. However, my struggles, came right back the second I entered the workforce. 

  • I still struggled with the inability to follow verbal instructions. I would often have to ask for the instructions to be repeated. This lead to a lot of anxiety because I did not want to be viewed as incapable of doing my job or dumb. 
  • I struggled with speech, Even now, I struggle with the order in which I place my words. I struggle in this audio show, because, sometimes I feel the order in which I place my words does not make sense. Yoda, Yoda- but dyslexia version 
  • I still struggled with mixing letters and numbers in my writing. And this is when I realized I was actually dyslexic

How Did I find out I was Dyslexic?

So when I was 19 worked for a small Auto Glass company, It was my job to file customers insurance claims and when I did so, I needed to gather their VIN number to their Vehicles. NOWWW if you have ever seen a VIN number, they are essentially a dyslexic nightmare. it is 17 characters of a dyslexic’s own personal hell. 

No matter how many times I double and TRIPLE checked those VIN numbers, so many were often wrong. I was gathering 10+ VIN numbers a day! My boss comes up to my desk and goes “Are you dyslexic?” Yes, I guess I am 

After that, I started really researching Dyslexia and suddenly the struggles I had been facing my entire life made sense. I did multiple tests to confirm my Dyslexia as well. 

How do I feel Dyslexia has benefited me? What are my strengths as someone with Dyslexia? 

Creativity is an incredible benefit of Dyslexia. I have always excelled at art in school and of course, I have taken advantage of my creativity in my career as a web designer. I am also incredibly organized. Those with dyslexia tend to be either incredibly organized or incredibly unorganized and I feel very fortunate to be someone with an organizational eye. Check out one of my organizational processes here

You can find success with different learning abilities- You need to be able to identify and find tools that work for you.

You can find success with dyslexia. The key is to identify it and utilize tools that work for you. Walt Disney and Albert Einstein are just two successful individuals with dyslexia. If any of this sounds relatable to you, I urge you to take a deeper look into dyslexia. Below are resources that I have personally benefited from.

https://www.dyslexia.com/about-dyslexia/signs-of-dyslexia/common-characteristics-of-adult-dyslexia/

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/common-signs-dyslexia-0