Dyslexia

In my final year of university, I have been diagnosed with dyslexia. Some may see this as a disadvantage, and for a while I did too. it’s a learning disability, which in my case was constantly being flagged in my work and bringing my grade down. 

Before the diagnoses I would be frustrated and confused as to why people understood thing's so quickly, got on with tasks efficiently with little to no confusion. for all my life I put it down to me not listening properly and being a little 'slower' than average. It effected my self-esteem in some ways. I never understood how people could spell words that didn't look how they sounded? silent letters? "Ph" sounding like 'F' - I just didn't get. 

Spelling has always been a weakness and has been something that always lead me to fall behind. However, through practice and strategies that remind me how to spell certain words I have gotten better. I know with practice I will constantly improve; through repetition it will only get easier. 

Reading is something that I have also found challenging, and to this day find it very difficult. I know how valuable it is, which is why I push myself to read. I don’t find it easy to carry onto the line underneath when reading, it often jumps, and I lose my place. I may have to read some sentences or paragraphs  three or four times over before I understand it. With more difficult literature I have to stop and research what a word means, leading to hours gone out of my day which for some people is a very straight forward task that they can complete with ease.

Throughout the diagnosis experience I was disheartened with how I had been through the whole education system and it had never been flagged up. I feel as though it would have been so much easier to understand how my brain works and understand how I work so I could have gone through school catering towards this disability.

Its not all negative. I see it as an advantage, especially for design in landscape architecture. My drawing is my strong point. I can produce perspective drawings efficiently with accuracy. I can paint well, and have an eye for design, identifying when things don’t look balanced. My strength is also problem solving which has some logic and research behind it.  From studies which I have read, dyslexics often have a better ability problem solving than the average person. This is due to finding simple tasks complex, leading to much more thinking time, failed attempts, and strategies tried in order to over come a problem. So dealing with this in every day tasks has lead dyslexic people to improve on the problem solving skill. Which has made me into a good designer, and I am thankful for that.

Finding you strengths and weaknesses in life is so valuable, and with the diagnosis it has made me aware of these. This has allowed me to improve on my reading and writing, and also harness my drawing abilities. I have been able to communicate better through my drawings, especially in the initial concept of design where I can draw an idea rather than write it out. I think this is important for everyone though, finding what you are good and what you are not so good at, and working in a way that suits you and your abilities.