Lived experiences and perspectives of dyslexia

I'm thinking about why adults choose to come for dyslexia assessments, and how dyslexia is viewed by those who experience it.

Hello friends

I’ve been revisiting our November read, The Adult Side of Dyslexia by Kelli-Sandman-Hurley. Every time I pick it up, it makes me think about another aspect of my practice as an SpLD Assessor. Today, I’m thinking about why adults come for dyslexia assessments, and the impact of not being diagnosed or supported from a young age.

There is a range of experiences in this book, and they are reflective of stories I’ve heard in my own practice. In order to write this book, Sandman-Hurley worked with people from all walks of life, from teachers, to philosophers, to opera singers, prison inmates, artists, nurses, bus drivers, software engineers and more. Over the past ten years, I’ve assessed a similar kaleidoscope of people. Aside from the many different jobs that they have been in, I’ve had people come to me who have described struggling through school, but not having the opportunity to explore the reasons why. There have been individuals who have survived very tough childhoods, who were marginalised for various reasons. In contrast, I’ve worked with people from extreme privilege who have sailed through their education, but might be at a point in their careers where things are not as well-structured and this has prompted them to stop and look at their lives in a new light. There is such a wide spectrum of experiences when it comes to dyslexia. As Sandman-Hurley writes, ‘what the adults in this book all have in common is dyslexia; what they don’t have in common is how the external forces in their lives have shaped their dyslexic experiences and their perspectives.’