DYSLEXIA - Your Advantage!

I have recently listened to the IGP’s speech in Kano and I was amazed at the responses of people. I guess a lot of people are still not aware about the word Dyslexia. It is also known as reading disorder and it is characterized by trouble with reading despite normal intelligence. * Different people with these symptoms are affected in diverse form, which could include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, writing words, sounding out words in the head, pronouncing words when reading aloud and understanding what one reads. This could be familial or environmental.

The problem with our society today is that people associate fluency with intelligence, forgetting that intelligence is what makes the real world. The school systems, most especially in the developing world, are not helping matters.  In my former days at school, I experienced serious issues trying to memorize and see the meaning of language. My worst nightmare was when I had to read a passage aloud in front of my fellow students, I still have those difficulties today, but it is a lot better than my elementary and secondary school days. I have improved because I found a better method of reading, thanks to the internet, audio books, documentaries and other learning materials that simplifies reading.

Looking back, I used to believe I was not intelligent because other people were better at reading than I was. Besides, I believed I was lazy at reading, I actually tried to improve myself, by reading very hard, making friends with the A students. I even went to the extent of asking them questions on how they read and grasp words easily, but none of them were able to answer my questions. My university was a lot easier because of the internet and one fundamental factor which was the fact that there were no wrong or right answers to issues. This enabled me to come up with ideas and it also shaped my thinking pattern. I graduated with a second class upper and top 5% in my set.

I once attended a job interview where we were made to read a certain essay and make a presentation afterward. The essay was so confusing to me that I was unable to grasp even a single sentence. Luckily it was a group task and I was able to capture a summary from the members of the group. At the end, I made the most valuable contribution to the group presentation. Dyslexia is simply a reading disorder; it does not bear on one's intelligence.  

I discovered the word dyslexia recently, after about 33 years of struggle. I took an online diagnostic test and discovered that I have had it all my life. The astonishing thing is that most icons like Walt Disney, Picasso, Richard Branson, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, and Bill Gates among other eminent personalities have dyslexia. I also saw a documentary titled, ‘The big picture: Rethinking dyslexia’ and learnt that Charles Schwab a business leader, David Boies a top attorney in the united states, and Tyler a surgeon, all have dyslexia. This goes to show that people with dyslexia can pursue any career as long as they figure out the right method to learn and achieve their goals.