It’s come round to that time of year again where it’s dyslexia awareness week each year there is a theme, this years is dyslexia matters. Some of you reading this blog will be thinking “But I’m not dyslexic, why should it matter to me?”
Dyslexia matters to you, me, everyone out there, everyone at some point in their lifetime across all walks of life whether it be school, college, university, work will meet people who have dyslexia, when you watch your favourite TV show or listen to your favourite artist, there is a good chance one of them might be dyslexic too. As it is a hidden condition you never know who you might walk past in the street might be dyslexic or of course have any other hidden condition or struggle. At some point in life a dyslexic might help you for support in some shape or form maybe not just with reading or spelling but maybe with remembering instructions, directions, time keeping, general organisation of day to day life. You never know who is dyslexic so it’s so important to have an open mind and show a little bit of understanding and empathy. Understanding is a common theme of my blogs and I think it’s so vital. A little bit of understanding goes a long long way and can give someone a bit of a confidence boost no matter who they are. Focus on the positives focus on the many incredible things people can do. When you focus on someone’s strengths you never know just what a positive effect they can have just as you never know the power of negative words. Words can hurt, a lot of dyslexic and more dyspraxic people can take words literally, it’s a bit of a joke between me and my boyfriend how much sometimes I take people and situations literally. Words can have a massive result on confidence, self belief and sometimes leading onto mental health issues too.
It’s time we celebrated difference, it can be such a positive thing, celebrate the differences in the people and what they can achieve. A lot of dyslexic people have to work 10x harder than everyone else to sometimes do day to day tasks that most simply might take for granted, life can often have that spaghetti feeling or feeling of chaos. But to get through that takes a lot of determination and resilience especially when faced with ignorance or adversity. But with the right help and support people can do whatever they like in life. Now from reading all of this do you see why dyslexia matters? Dyslexia matters to me because I would not be Rosie without it, it’s helped me get to where I am in life and given me the strength and determination never to give up no matter what life has hit me. Here is a video which I did for Dyslexia Action at Easter on why dyslexia and dyspraxia matter to me I also talk about how Mollie King from The Saturdays has inspired me. Please share both the blog and video to help anyone you might know and help raise awareness of the cause and week.