On my social Media scroll this morning I stumbled upon this comment.
‘Labels are for soup… people are way more complex than this!’
This comment was in response to a brilliant post all about the importance of proper assessment diagnosis written by the wonderful Dr. Helen Ross. The comment is actually really valid… people are way more complex than soup… and this is exactly why we need proper in-depth assessments carried out by experts, not just screens carried out by computers!
I can only speak from personal experience but my diagnosis at 34 years of age was life changing. Dyslexia is so very much more than a label for me. It’s part of my identify and as a result of that label and understanding myself and my brain, I have been able to work with dyslexia and my strengths rather than against them… and ask for help and support with my weaker areas. My whole being is in a better place for this diagnosis as well as how I cope with and manage life.
Interestingly I once used tins and soup in a training session! It was hilarious 😆 I had 3 tins with NO labels! I knew one had soup, one pulses and one pineapple slices! I also had 3 plates, a fork and a tin opener! During the training I opened each tin and poured the contents onto a plate and tried to eat the contents with a fork! Obviously I could do this with the pulses and pineapple but couldn’t do this with the soup! In fact, the soup didn’t even stay on the plate and spilt everywhere, making a general chaotic mess!
That was me pre ‘label’ … ‘dyslexia diagnosis!’, not quite sure what I needed or why I was struggling the way I was.
My point was… labels don’t just tell us what’s in a tin, it gives us a clue on how we need to eat that food, and what tools to use to get the BEST from it!
A silly demonstration really but did start some interesting discussion!
So… what are your thoughts, to label or not to label, this is the question and if you have a label does that make a difference?