I’m happy to say my hidden #superpower is being dyslexic. I say hidden because since university days, I haven’t spoken or wanted to talk much about it. The moment I entered the world of work (away from education), it’s felt like my dyslexia has been hibernating away – dormant perhaps!
It’s like you’ve got your education, you start your career and suddenly your dyslexia doesn’t even come into question. It’s there but you push it to the back of your mind. It becomes hidden and maybe even secretly lied about. All those things you struggled with at school, college or even university suddenly get forgotten about.
I delt with my demons of being dyslexic as a child and I’m more than happy to talk to people about it, how I’ve struggled, how I’ve channelled it and also how it’s actually shaped me – my #SuperPower in fact.
I have to admit though, there has been many a time during my working career that I’ve kept my dyslexia hidden and been afraid to share it with both managers and colleagues in the work place. Why you ask? I think it’s a confidence thing and as usual with most people who have a neurodiversity – people don’t understand it or have the time to either. In some places that I’ve worked at, as soon as I’ve mentioned I’m dyslexic people have shifted away from working with me, even gone above and beyond to triple check my work as they assume I can’t write, I can’t spell and therefore how could I possibly work in comms. I’ve even been told a few inappropriate jokes about being dyslexic. Plus I’ve been told to ‘hurry up’ because apparently I take too much time to complete work and that maybe I should try not to make everything ‘too perfect’. For me, taking my time is a confidence thing as well as a tendency to finish/complete a given task which my mind just has to see through.
So why now am I talking about dyslexia? I think, sadly it’s only now because neurodiversity in the work place is being talked about. People are even adding that they’re dyslexic to their LinkedIn profile and CV – I told you it was a #SuperPower! In the last year, I’ve attended neurodiversity talks, bought books about dyslexia, listened to podcasts and talked more than ever about it. It’s helped me to rediscover and understand why I am the way I am and why I work the way I do – why I need things done in a certain way and how colleagues can best work with me.
Yes, I’m working for a great charity, who have a great team who help and support equality and diversity in the work place. They’ve highlighted my creativity and see my dyslexia as a ‘hidden gem’- it makes me the creative, organised person I am. However, I feel in the work place (like everything) it’s entirely up to you how you use that support and manage your neurodiversity. You can wear the badge, be confident but it’s up to you to do something about it and own it!
So what would I say to any adult in the workplace who has dyslexia? Embrace it and re-visit your #SuperPower again and again – it not only helps you to think differently at work but also helps you to understand the reasons why you may do things and behave in certain ways. It also helps create awareness of dyslexia so that you don’t have to hide it again! It can even help you at home – there’s a reason why I can’t leave things untidy and have to have everything organised, otherwise it just completely stresses me out!
Ask at work if there is any support you can unlock. As mentioned, I’ve attended a couple of online neurodiversity sessions which for me was really good light bulb moments. I’ve also had a one-to-one chat with a professional to help me understand my dyslexia plus make recommendations for my employer to help support me. I wasn’t sure about this at first and thought it may be difficult but talking about my dyslexia openly and honestly again after all these years really helped as it doesn’t just go away!
Something else that has helped me at work is the creation of a ‘way to work with me’ card. It’s a one pager about my preferred methods of working. What I like, what I don’t like and how to work best with me. Something that by revisiting my dyslexia that has became quite apparent is my short term memory is rubbish. If I’m in a meeting, I can’t take in new information plus write notes – so I’ve asked people to follow up the meeting with a few bullet points. Not because I’m lazy but because it helps me to focus within the meeting on what’s being talked about and then the follow up email triggers my brilliant long term memory to recall what needs to be done!.
Making sure I take breaks at work has also helped me – a somewhat difficult habit for me to form as my mind is always working at the double and I struggle to switch off. Most employers promote flexible working arrangements. I’ve used this to take longer lunch breaks to exercise – something that helps me to re-focus, breathe and re-channel my energy. I run and need to run for my wellbeing but it also supports my neurodiversity. It’s something I would really recommend for anyone to think about and talk to your employer about.
Something else that I find really hard is switching off – finishing work because I’m such a task orientated person and feel like a failure if I don’t finish something. I’m sure this stems from not being able to finish an exam on time! It’s the fear of the clock! I’ve started to use Teams, Viva Insights to wrap up my day with a ‘virtual commute’ which helps me to mindfully disconnect from the day plus appreciate what I’ve achieved. It’s definitely helping and I’ve now set this up in my calendar, 10 minutes before I finish each working day – so if you use Teams have a go as it might help you too…
If all of this sounds a bit overwhelming then my best advise to anyone would be to self -investigate your dyslexia again in your own time. Read a book or listen to a podcast as it definitely helps you re-discover coping techniques which you may not have used or perhaps have forgotten about over your adult years. I’ve recently been listening to the Truth About Dyslexia by Stephen Martin who talks about his journey, what he is learning, and shares insight from daily life. There’s lots of podcasts out there though, so just take 5 minutes to have a look.
I’ve also recently read ‘Dyslexia is my superpower (most of the time)‘ by Margaret Rook. It’s an insightful book about children and teens with dyslexia around the world. It’s well worth a read as it’s a wonderful book and bought me to tears more than once plus it gives you some valuable wisdom about how to increase confidence and self esteem – especially if you have any children who you think may be dyslexic too.
There’s lots of other support you can tap into including support networks, free seminar’s and tools to take a look at on the British Dyslexia Association website. The above is just a few examples of the support you can unlock – I have a long list of stuff that I still need to take a look at, listen to or read about and give my energy and time to – not everything helps or works for everyone but as Yoda said “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
#DyslexiaAwarenessWeek #DAW24 #MyStory #RaiseAwareness
If you want to read more about my story you can do so by clicking on my blog links below.
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