Hello you lovely lot thanks so much for all your positive feedback and comments on my previous blog. This blog continues from the last one I wrote really and I wanted to share with you some of the issues I talked about during filming which also ties in with the recent debates in the media about the existence of the label dyslexia and a lovely interview I recently read that Mollie King talked about her dyslexia in.
A lot of the reason dyslexia and other hidden conditions such as dyspraxia are poorly understood is because they’re seen as just someone struggling with spelling or hating reading aloud or is just clumsy, how many of you reading this have ever thought of this truthfully? How many of you think because someone is achieving well academically or got a degree that they don’t struggle still? In the filming I talked about lots of the other effects of both conditions some probably relatively unknown to people and I think it’s these issues which completely contradict the statement that they aren’t real conditions the bigger picture needs to be seen. As an adult especially a lot of anxiety and the feeling of being overwhelmed which can lead to panic or anxiety attacks or emotional outbursts or sheer panic I call it the spaghetti feeling. Everyone is late once or twice or forgets where we’ve put something or maybe spills a drink once in a while. (My non dyspraxic boyfriend has been known on many a time to be clumsier than me.) Organisation and memory come into so much of every day life that most people take for granted such as in cooking or making sure you leave the house with everything, or the panic of being late nearly missing a train seconds before the doors close or having your mum play chase the bus because you were trying to remember where you’d left your bus pass or purse or phone, whilst your boyfriend is texting you to stop procrastinating, they’re all real life examples which have happened to me on many an occasion and when you add severe anxiety into the situation chaos often is the end resort. A lot of dyslexic and dyspraxic people experience chaos before even stepping foot out of the front door on a regular basis. Having understanding people around you is a godsend and my mum has helped me in so many pickles over the years. But sometimes outside immediate friends and family who know you really well are a lot of people who perceive it as lazy ness or carelessness or the disgruntled look of ‘why did you do that’ or you’ve got a degree why are you still struggling with things like this. Even though many people me for one have many coping strategies and have overcome many difficulties the brain is still wired in a different way in many ways a very positive way I like to think although I do wish my long term memory of being able to visualise and quote senarios happening years ago in great depth much to everyone else’s bewilderment helped me remember where my phone was two minutes ago or having to go up and down the stairs 5 times each time forgetting what I’d gone down for.
I found mollie king’s interview for Dyslexia Action very very relatable and quite emotional in places please do have a read of it even if you don’t struggle with dyslexia as it’s a real eye opener and I’d very refreshingly honest about how she struggles in daily life despite achieving grade a grades for a level and being in a successful girl band. She also talks about having a weak memory and hopefully it will give people a better knowledge and understanding. Also many people forget about the battles a lot of people face to get help and support and the sheer determination it takes to overcome these gbarriers in a lot of ways I’m very grateful for my experiences they’ve made me a very determined person, and very understanding and empathetic too. I also love helping people it’s what I love the most in life more than Pepsi max and I hope these blogs reach out to people and obviously the filming does too. When people question the existence of dyslexia/dyspraxia people should step into another persons shoes think what it’s like to live in chaos sometimes but at the same times have random exuberant bursts of creativity and thinking outside the box. Now where’s my phone? I’m sure I had it a minuite ago. It must be here somewhere.
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