So many dyslexics underestimate themselves, (me included!)
I have been thinking about why this might be and I have come to simple conclusion. The broken education system is to blame.
Culturally and socially, the moment we suspect or hear someone has dyslexia an invisible limit is placed on them. Expectations are lowered and the subtext becomes an undercurrent that this person will struggle , be difficult to teach and literacy skill will impact their progress… as students battle through an exam-based, literacy-heavy curriculum the sub-text becomes the reality and the truth.
UNLESS you are in the privileged position of winning the dyslexia diagnosis lottery, where a parent is in a position to fund independent support and intervention so the individual understands how dyslexia manifests itself in them and the person becomes free from its limits as they work with the strengths and get the support they need to be successful.
The education system grids dyslexics down so that they leave education often not even knowing dyslexia is the reason for their struggles, feeling that despite their best efforts their grades don’t reflect their effort and all the wonderful brilliant things about them remain undiscovered or minimised and unimportant, becasue they are not measured or needed in an exam.
BUT the time they leave school a DYSLEXIC has already hard the internal narrative hardwired into their brain that dyslexia is difficult to manage, places limits on you and is difficult to escape from…
… and we wonder why dyslexic lack confidence and self belief and have low self esteem.
This cycle has to be broken so that people with dyslexia are identified and supported and given the chance and opportunity to thrive and to fulfil their potential.
People with dyslexia really are capable of anything … but only when they are identified and supported in the right way and have developed the confidence to know this is true!
If you are a dyslexic who underestimates themselves, let me know below!