Living with Dyslexia

Hopefully most of you haven't noticed this, but I have a learning disorder that actually affects my writing greatly.

It's called Dyslexia.

In case you didn't know, dyslexia is a language based learning disorder that mainly affects reading and writing but can have effects on other parts of daily life. It can be extremely annoying at times, especially since it can cause many people to struggle with telling their left from their right.

Now in all honesty dyslexia is actually pretty common. You probably have known someone with dyslexia in your lifetime. I actually know many people with it. But despite how common it is, there is no cure or way to minimize its effects. It is still a struggle everyday at times.

Dyslexia has many symptoms. Too many to list here in fact. If you're curious about all of them I suggest you go to the Mayo Clinic for a complete list. The symptoms I live with is a mild speech impediment, trouble spelling, trouble learning a foreign language, difficulty understanding rapid instructions, trouble with time management, and mild memory issues to name a few (most of which are only made worse thanks to my ADHD).

When most people hear all of that they normally assume that I have poor grades or they basically laugh and say that I must be lying. I personally find this really funny. Obviously I'm not lying about this, I have no reason to, but I am also an A/B student who has taken multiple AP classes and is even learning Spanish, despite everything you read above. And yes I will brag a little bit about it. Mainly because I've impressed myself with how far I've come.

When I was little I couldn't talk correctly. I had a severe speech impediment that actually caused me to be held back in the 1rst grade. From there I did struggle some in my classes and at time thought I was worse than the other students. But thankfully I have a supportive family that was proactive and got me into speech therapy and extra help. They got me interested in learning and specifically reading, thanks to the Harry Potter series. Because of that I slowly started getting better. And once I had moved to where I went to middle and high school I basically blossomed. Because then I didn't just have my family, I had best friends that supported me and helped me in class. Because of all the support I had I managed to be an A/B student who takes advanced classes despite my learning disorder. I am now going to college to get a degree. I am currently writing for the Odyssey, obviously. And I'm trying to write my own book, despite the fact that many people have told me I can't because of my dyslexia. So yeah, I'm going to brag about a couple things.

But another reason I brag is so that other people with dyslexia, people who where once like me thinking that they couldn't do something, can see that they can do whatever they want. They write books, dance, program computers, whatever they want to do. They can do it. They just have to work hard and put their mind to it. Because yes living dyslexia sucks badly, but it just makes us more unique and our accomplishments feel more rewarding.

So if you have dyslexia, don't let it bring you down. Anythings possible. I personally laugh with mine, it makes it seem less like something that's wrong with me and more like something that makes me me. Hell maybe that will help you too.