I Won’t Let Dyslexia Define Me

A Dyslexia Decalogue

They diagnosed me with Dyslexia for over 50 years, and in those times, things were pretty hard for someone with a learning difficulty. Most teachers didn’t know how to identify the problem or work with kids like me.

For most of my third grade, I was the dumb or lazy kid that couldn’t read or do the math. Also, I got distracted almost all the time, and it blew my teacher’s mind.

After repeating the third grade, my new teacher identified some signs of Dyslexia, and she helped me overcome the problem and how to deal with it.

Since that day, I learned how to live with my Dyslexia and work each day to conquer the challenge.

I accept I can’t change the past, but I can work each day to improve. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I repeat my Decalogue on why “I won’t let Dyslexia define me.”

1. Dyslexia is not a dirty word or a curse.

Embrace with grace all that you face. Understand that it is not a disability affecting learning and intelligence all your life. But a difficulty creating an obstacle to a specific form of education and does not affect your IQ.

It’s all happening AROUND YOU, and not TO YOU.

If you are hiking through the woods and encounter an obstacle, you have two options, either stop your journey or conquer the challenge and move ahead.

Dyslexia is not a dirty word or a disease. Accept that you have Dyslexia and decide when is the best time to share your “dyslexic” condition with others.

2. I can’t read, but I can listen and learn.

Whatever you want to achieve, you will need specific skills or knowledge to get it. That’s where learning comes in, but if you can’t get the information by reading, then find other ways to get it.

Find alternative ways to get the information, like Audiobooks, YouTube videos, or online university programs.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the skills at this moment. It would be best if you found where to get that skill.

3. I confuse my right from my left, but not what’s right from wrong.

Sometimes I have trouble following the GPS instructions. When someone asks me to turn left, I turn right. But when I see a city map, I can mentally follow any route in my head.

The truth of who you are and who life wants you to be, both travel by your side by side. You have the power to decide what path you travel on.

Keep your goal in mind, never lose your Northstar, walk firmly through life, help all, and harm none.

Live your life filled with love and free of hate, doing what’s right and avoiding what’s wrong.

4. I mess up with numbers and dates, but I cherish every second of the day.

Just one number I know by heart, and I let Siri help me dial the rest. Not only that, I recall perfectly the day my children were born, but I get the dates confused.

I have trouble writing some numbers, but I know that life is precious and far too short to waste it on meaningless details.

Once, I learned that doing what you love and loving what you do is the best job globally, no matter your paycheck size. Nothing is worth enough to waste your soul.

I also know that people are more than numbers, hashtags, or emails. And that the sweetest thing anyone can hear is the sound of their name.

5. I’m not dumb or lazy; I take my time and do things my way.

In the third grade, I learned not to compare myself with other people. I am not better than anyone, and nobody is better than me.

Don’t be an apple if you are a banana; you will always be a second-rate apple, and you will become an overripe banana.

Don’t outdo others, but always aim to become a better you. Forget about “woulda, coulda, shoulda,” and stay in the present.

6. My brain works differently, but I can see outside the box.

Trust yourself and trust the process: Trust life’s wisdom and the struggles.

Like the ants that see UV light or the cats that see in the dark, my brain sees the world through a different filter, not by letters or numbers, but by colors and emotions.

Don’t cage yourself inside a box. Look for the solution beyond your boundaries. Don’t let the problem trap you; find the crack and solve it as no one else has ever thought.

Keep life pure and free of judgment to yourself and others. Find a road to peaceful places and share them with your brothers.

7. I stumble when I speak and mispronounce some words, but I always know what I want to say.

Often when I have to talk in public, it seems like my brain runs faster than my words. I mispronounce some words when I try to catch them.

And the cue cards or scripts don’t help at all, I tried with keynotes and slide notes, but the results were the same.

One day my sister-in-law taught me the secret I’m about to share: Never read just the words; use images to help you with the ideas.

Always try to see in pictures, transform your thoughts into videos in your mind, and describe them as clear as you can. That way, your brain is so busy feeding you the images that it won’t be able to run ahead of you.

Think twice before you speak. And search for the perfect image to describe your thoughts.

8. I have messy handwriting, but my heart is always in the right place.

When people say my handwriting is terrible, I say that it’s not awful, but biblical: “When I write an idea, everybody understands, after a few hours only I can read it, but the next day, God only knows what I wrote.”

Studies suggest that gifted people have terrible handwriting because their brains work faster than their hands.

If so, I must be a genius because sometimes I miss letters in a word, and others I write an extra letter “I” or “e,” and my letter ‘s’ goes from a snake shape to an arrow or even a simple line.

No matter what you write, always remember to write it from the heart. Always think of the substance and not the form. Besides, thank God for word processors!

9. I can’t focus for a long time, but I always keep my goals in sight.

At school, my mind used to roam. Most of the time, I was always thinking about something else, and no matter what the teacher said, there was a word or a picture that sent my mind away.

People used to tell me I had some attention deficit, and they were right; I have ADD (Advanced Distraction Delight); I love to let my mind wander.

They used to tell me I had the memory span of a goldfish as a bad thing, but now I have discovered that it is not a curse but a blessing since scientists found out that goldfish can remember things for at least five months.

Never mind if you have the memory span of Dory the angelfish in “Finding Nemo” or the memory of an elephant. Never forget what you want.

Knowing where to go gives you a guiding light, a motivation, a purpose. Be proactive and take responsibility for your acts. Keep your goal in sight and go for it.

10. I’m not alone in the world; there are many others like me.

When you are growing with a learning difficulty, you feel like nobody understands you, lonely and left behind. Entirely apart from the rest of the world.

But as you grow up, you understand that there are millions of people like you who have the challenge of Dyslexia. As you learn more, you know that you’re not alone. And many other individuals had overcome it.

Start reading about it. Start a conversation and teach the rest of the world that Dyslexia is not a nasty word or a curse.

Learn from the lives of others diagnosed and how they challenged the world to win over Dyslexia. Here’s a list of 200 famous people with Dyslexia organized by profession.

As Marelisa Fabrega says:

“We all want to succeed. I’m sure the following is true for you, as it’s true for me: You yearn to fulfill your full potential. You want tomorrow to be better than today. You want to be the best version of yourself. You want to have a fulfilling and meaningful life. At the end of your life, you want to be able to say, ‘I succeeded’ (however you define success). If you fall, get back up. If you make a mistake, learn from it, modify your approach, and try again. If you feel discouraged and your enthusiasm and motivation are waning, look for ways to refuel. If you’re tired, rest. Then get back up and continue on your journey. If you need to go slower, slow down. But don’t stop. If you want to succeed, you have to be able to follow through.”

Outtake

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

I hope my Decalogue helps you when you are down like sometimes I feel.

Imagine for one moment that you travel to a different place where you are judged and ridiculed because you can’t read or speak the language. This is exactly how someone with Dyslexia feels, but for most of his life.

Unless we all commit to understand people with disabilities and learn from them, we will never see how wonderful the world could be with their help.

Now I have the quest to help as many other people with Dyslexia as I can. Help them overcome the challenge and make the rest of the world understand that we don’t have special needs:

“We are special people.”