It might sound shocking that he has waited this long to have his dyslexia confirmed – but it happened to me, too. I was 46 when I learned I am dyslexic – and am still unpacking all the ways it has affected my life, from my finances to my parenting and my self-esteem.
Like Oliver, I struggled at school: I had terrible handwriting, I frequently wrote numbers and letters back to front, and it took me years to learn how to tell the time, to distinguish between clockwise and anti-clockwise, and to learn how to tie my shoelaces. I was nothing like my big sister, who got 10 straight As in her GCSE’s and went onto become a lawyer.
Jamie Oliver revealed how the learning disability has shaped his life and led him to feeling “worthless, stupid and thick” (Photo: Heidi Gutman/ABC/Disney General Entertainment)During my secondary school years, I struggled with grammar and pronunciation, despite the fact I loved words and books (and English Literature was one of my favourite subjects). I still mostly enjoyed school, especially the social side where I was something of a class clown and excelled at drama.
It wasn’t until I had children, and tried to teach them to read, that my dyslexia really showed up again. I struggled to teach them phonics the system schools now use, which correlates sounds with letters in the alphabet. The sounds, methods and words all felt alien to me. I just couldn’t grasp or even pronounce some of them.
There was a lightbulb moment a few years ago when I was trying to teach my son, now 13, to read. He had speech and learning delays and was diagnosed with dyslexia, and also autism and sensory processing disorder in 2019. His educational psychologist suggested we scrap phonics (she said dyslexia made phonics harder to understand) and go back to the old school, rote learning method, and bingo – he got it.
The consultant I saw, Laura Gowers, founder of This is Dyslexia, a teacher and a special educational needs coordinator, told me that I have what is known as “stealth dyslexia”. She said that I have developed a skillset of strong compensatory strategies to manage my dyslexia. Adults like me may, for example, be able to read fluently but unintentionally add words in, have difficulty pronouncing words, or have to read text several times to truly understand it.
square LIFESTYLE Spicy olives, edamame and tinned sardines: 13 of the best posh picnic snacks
Read More
Oliver says he now believes his dyslexia contributed to the financial difficulties he faced (in 2019 he had to close 22 out of 25 of his UK restaurants, leading to a thousand job losses overnight). I now think it has cost me money, too. I’ve been self-employed for 16 years and I still find managing finances, keeping on top of invoices and tax returns an ongoing issue.
Part of that is down to my concentration issues. Unless it’s something that captivates my interest straight away – a great quote or picture, for example – I don’t retain it unless I concentrate really hard and even then I often get distracted. I frequently lose things or forget what I’m doing.
Then there’s the fact I have never applied for any form of disability benefits for my autistic son, who is visually impaired and goes to a specialist school. I’m not sure if he will ever be able to leave home, have a job or drive, but I can’t face filling out the pages and pages of forms. One of the therapists at his school had to help me complete his ADHD referral.
The advantages of having dyslexia are now evidenced in compelling research. Many successful leaders and chief executives have credited their success to having a dyslexic brain that thinks differently and more creatively – from Richard Branson to Steve Jobs. One theory is that having dyslexia can give you a strong drive to prove you’re not as stupid as you are made to inwardly feel.
I’m glad that things are getting better for people with dyslexia – and hope that documentaries like Oliver’s and articles like this will raise awareness further. This condition can bring a myriad of benefits and different perspectives too. And wouldn’t it be boring if every brain was the same?
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( At 46, I was diagnosed with dyslexia – I’ll never get back the time and money I’ve lost )
Also on site :