Ten things I gained from being dyslexic

Two years ago, I enrolled in graduate school working towards my master’s in business administration part-time, while I continued my career at Kimberly-Clark. My journey back to school has been rewarding, inspiring and married with challenges, some unexpected. In my 10 years working, I rarely thought about being dyslexic, since work doesn’t come with lengthy reading assignments or midterms. My return to the classroom forced me to face my dyslexia, a challenge that went ‘nameless’ most of my academic career yet awarded me the title of “Special Ed” and plagued me with self-doubt. Returning to school, forced me to pull up old documents to submit for extra time on my accounting exams. This journey has allowed me to unpack my story and society’s assumptions and stigmas about ‘learning disabilities,’ being “SP-Ed” and dyslexia. As I have reflected on my ‘learning disability,’ I have realized my struggle with dyslexia has been the root of my professional and personal success. New research supports my experience and in 2012 Brocker and Fernette Eide published: The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain. Edie and Edie found that “dyslexic people perceive the written word differently, but also may excel at spatial reasoning, interconnected thinking, and display amazing creativity.” Yet society labels dyslexic children as having a ‘learning disability.’

As an adult student, when I shared my ‘disability’ with follow classmates some would say, “Oh, I’m sorry." It made me realize, I don't feel sorry and I have gained strength and power in my perceived weakness. Anyone with a challenge or perceived ‘disability’ will relate to the benefits of being different. I have received so many gains from my dyslexia; here are the top ten gains:

1)????BIG THINKING and create connections. Dyslexia has forced me to find connections and patterns in sentences, stories, letters and words to make sense of information. My mind works differently and while my ability to spell and phonetically sound out words is weak, my ability to connect ideas, find patterns, and think big picture about what I read, hear and see has allowed me to thrive in marketing roles and lead group work in graduate school.

2)????EMPATHY for others struggles not because I feel sorry for them but because I understand what it is like to be different and struggle to keep up.

3)????SPEAK UP. So much of how I learn is auditory. Thank god for Audible Memberships! In high school my mom would get my required reading books on tape to listen on a portable tape player. I am an audible learner and this has made me more audible as a person that is willing to share my ideas with a group. This has been a key benefit as I’ve advanced in my career since its allowed me to show my contributions and confidence.?

4)????ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED without self-judgement. Being dyslexic forced this upon me, it is a constant struggle for me. My junior year as an honors student, I had lost my ‘special ed’ title by negotiating accommodations and extra time with teachers as needed. Then Mr. Nolen realized I would not be able to negotiate extra time on the SAT test. He pushed my mom to sign me up for a psychological evaluation without my consent (I was 17 and not happy) to prove I deserved extra time. The results revealed an honor student had a 5th grade reading level, yet a college level comprehension score. To say I felt exposed was an understatement and I was forced to take the extra time on the SAT exam. Today I am more confident in my abilities and find it slightly easier to ask for extra time to complete assignments or take tests when I need.

5)????EMBRACE IMPERFECTION. I’m always striving for progress and improvement. I am never shooting for perfect since it seems uninteresting and unattainable. I will never be a great speller but I’m a good story teller. I will never have perfect grammar but I’m constantly improving my vocabulary by listening to books or having conversations.

6)????PERSEVERANCE. My earliest learning experiences were terrible. My mom told me in 1st grade I would describe what sounded like a panic attack when I was asked to read aloud. Thankfully I did not attach my worthiness to these experiences. Yet, since these struggles started so early for me I never questioned whether I would quit, I just kept trying new ways to help myself figure it out. My challenges pushed me to get creative and keep trying until I figured out the content or how to spell the word.?

7)????WORK HARD & PLAY. My dyslexia has made me a hard worker because at a very early age I realized I had to work twice as hard to keep up. The only way I could sustain this level of school work was balancing it with PLAY and turning work into play. During school, I always played sports. I made school playful by seeking extra credit by drawn pictures, cook authentic Indian food, or dressing in costume. Professionally, this skill has invited me to work on collaborative teams solving business challenges. Last year I was part of a cross-functional team that was developing a smart-dispensing system and my contributions are now part of the products patent.?

8)????DISARM others assessments of my potential. Being dyslexic requires owning your own abilities in a bigger, bolder way. I remember a high school teacher once suggested I ‘drop’ a more challenging class with a lot of reading because of my learning disability. It required a strong believe in myself to stay in the class and make it work. My struggles have required I dig deep, surround myself with supportive people and in the end, always believe in my own potential more than the opinions of “others.”

9)????FIND YOUR STRENGTHS and build from there. My inabilities have let me find my abilities and build on my strengths. Since I am not a great reader, I keep more information in my head by memorizing stories and connecting similar situations. This has helped me become a confident presenter that does not need to read off notes (especially since reading out loud is a nightmare for me.) This has helped me professionally to build trust with colleagues and customers, who can see my intelligence and may be willing to overlook a typo in an email.

10)????BE CAUTIOUS of LABELING PEOPLE. Today our world seems obsessed with labeling people and events, partly thanks to social media and the constant flood of information we are forced to digest. Being dyslexic encouraged me to think beyond labels, and connect with people to find the good and abilities in each of us. We’re all more unique, special, and capable than our ‘labels’ may indicate. While I often do judge a book by its cover, because I am selective with what I read, I never judge a person by their labels. People are so much more then how the world has perceived their abilities or potential.