We’re dyslexic — but it hasn’t stopped us from being successful

• Phonological dyslexia, also known as auditory dyslexia, disrupts an individual’s ability to comprehend and pronounce word sounds. It can also affect how words are stored and retrieved.
• Surface dyslexia, or visual dyslexia, involves difficulty in reading irregularly spelled words and relies heavily on phonetic decoding. It affects visual word recognition and can impact reading fluency and comprehension.
• Rapid naming deficit occurs when an individual finds it challenging to name letters, numbers, colours, or objects quickly and routinely.
• Double deficit dyslexia involves difficulties in both phonological processing and rapid naming, leading to challenges in reading fluency and comprehension.

So, how do individuals with dyslexia manage college, write books and apply the normal everyday reading and writing skills? And can you achieve career milestones and have a successful career?

Yes, you can. Here’s how some people have managed their dyslexia to support their careers and professions. Because of the hurdles in communication and learning, looking further afield is a must for technology apps and devices, and also finding editors that will support you. 

Nevertheless, with the right assistance, adjustments and interventions, individuals living with dyslexia can cultivate tactics to overcome these obstacles and thrive academically and socially.

Work equals reward

Jane Buckley is an author of four books and writing a fifth. She shares her challenges with dyslexia: “Ambulances, eczema, prologue, enclave, expressionless, vehemently, reverberated… All everyday words I’ve used when writing my Stones Corner Tetralogy. Do I understand what they mean? Yeah, course I do! Can I spit them out right when I’m recording my books to check for errors? Nah, not a chance!

“My husband’s been teasing me for years about my ‘verbal dyslexia’. I didn’t think it was a thing until I listened to Marian Keyes narrating her latest masterpiece. With what I’ve come to know as phonological dyslexia (even saying the term out loud is a mission) or auditory dyslexia, I’ll never be able to narrate my own audio book and that frustrates me. Now that I realise such a condition exists, I guess I feel an element of relief. I’m not the only one. I remember back in school, those cringe-worthy moments when having to read out loud in class. Or times at author events when I’d switch up passages just so I could nail them with confidence. Those nights when I’ve been in company and something comes out completely wrong.

“Nevertheless, I feel proud. I’ve written nearly half a million words over four books, held down some high flying jobs. I’ve learned long and detailed presentations from scratch for well-known brands. I’ve written reports, I’ve set goals. Yes, it’s been tough, yes, it’s embarrassing. Yet, still, I’ve lived a full life. I’ve never let it stop me because I’m a perfectionist and it drives me crazy! I’ve found strength in other ways and through hard work, I’ve succeeded. Will it ever get better? Probably not. Do I care? Not really. It’s like everything in life, you put the work in, you get the reward.”

Feedback comes easier

Síle Walsh is an Inclusive Leadership Specialist Coach and shares her experience with dyslexia: “While often people give me a look of pity when I say I am dyslexic, I just don’t feel like that about it. In school, dyslexia was the bane of my life but in work it has served me greatly. It has supported me to think outside the box, to focus on patterns and to find solutions. In my PhD, while technically dyslexia is a big challenge, I have also found that I take feedback and criticism with more ease than others and I have built up an ability to not absorb feedback as something that defines my self-worth.”

Síle has also written a book called Inclusive Leadership Navigating Organisational Complexity and she said: “I had to make really inclusive choices about the book such as the font, size of the writing and different formats that would make reading it easier.

“As well as having graphic facilitation designed to support visual thinkers and worksheets to support interactive learners. My dyslexia has definitely made life challenging at different times but it has also taught me a great deal about developing a growth mindset, finding workarounds and deciding to focus on my strengths.”

Emerging technologies

Barry Walsh is the founder of focusondiversity.ie and an advocate for Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Awareness and says: “I have several sets of words that are anagrams of each other: ‘who’ and ‘how’, ‘melon’ and ‘lemon’. Regardless of how I spell them, there’s a 50-50 chance I’ll get it wrong. Currently, I rely on text-to-speech software, a technology that has greatly advanced with the rise of AI. By having the software read the text aloud, I can discern if I’ve chosen the correct spelling of the word.

“During my first year of college, this struggle nearly led me to give up. Presentations felt nearly impossible. I would overload slides with text, then alternate between the laptop screen, projector screen and my notes, becoming utterly confused and unable to find my place. I heavily depended on my mum. I intentionally selected courses that favoured assignments over exams.

“For any assignment, I would need my mum to review the spelling and grammar before submission. This meant finishing the assignment four-seven days before the deadline so she could provide corrections, allowing me time to make the necessary adjustments.

“I write extensively for my job, yet to this day, I never feel entirely confident about the language I use. Taking minutes in meetings used to fill me with dread. My handwriting was illegible because I wrote so quickly, leading to numerous spelling mistakes that distorted the context of the discussions.

“Reading aloud during meetings only compounded the issue, as I made even more errors. When I joined Dell Technologies, I inquired about the possibility of abstaining from minute-taking. They viewed it as an opportunity to trial a reasonable accommodation: A dyslexia pen, a tool they had never previously provided to an employee but were eager to test. This pen reads over words to enhance accuracy, allows for recording information, and, additionally, they permitted me to use text-to-speech software for reading aloud during meetings. This arrangement significantly reduced my stress about minute-taking and improved the overall quality of the meetings for everyone involved.”

In our escalating, technological world, more innovative tools and tech are being developed which will ultimately support many people with dyslexia. AI tools can also be regarded as a very significant invention that will help countless individuals to succeed in their dream careers.