MyDyslexiaStory: Jack Law
Thursday 31 March 2022
Mum and Dad realised I was having challenges at Nursery and in Reception. My teachers were concerned too because my oral skills were really good but I couldn’t read or write much. My head teacher diagnosed me as severely dyslexic in year 1 when I was 6.
“Being dyslexic doesn’t stop me from doing the things I like”
My challenge was I couldn’t understand why I was unable to do things that others could do easily and it made me feel dumb. My teachers and my mum and dad think I am good at poetry and I came second in a recent competition in school. I am really good at trampolining and gymnastics too. Being dyslexic doesn’t stop me from doing the things I like. I recently learned about other people who are dyslexic at school when we had a lesson about neurodiversity. I already knew that Richard Branson is dyslexic but I found out that Tommy Hilfiger is too. He wasn’t diagnosed at school so didn’t get any extra help yet he is really successful, he thinks his dyslexia causes him to think differently to other designers and that is why he is so successful!
Learning can be fun!
Mum and Dad arranged for the school to have a specialist Dyslexia teacher to come in twice a week. Her name is Sarah and she makes my learning fun, we played Wordle last week. She still did my lessons on Zoom all through lockdown and I learned lots during that time as it was Mum helping me. My Teaching Assistant helps me in school now and she says I write better when I walk around which is what I did when I wrote my poem - I said the words and she wrote them on the computer for me. My mum did this for me during lockdown and found I was good at writing as long as she wrote the words for me.
This is my poem - Lonesome Woodpecker
The vibrant woodpecker all alone in a thick green oak forest, Scared of there being predators behind every tree trunk, No predators around, just him and him alone, Just a lonely woodpecker, All alone in the trees, nothing to do, Just pecking away at the gargantuan tree’s.
Feathers as black as night without a glimpse of light, Beak as sturdy as stone, Quick as a flash from tree to tree, Just him and him alone.
He thought it would be nice being alone, But he thinks ahead and knows being alone means you will die alone, No one to mourn his death. A fear of dying alone, he searched high and low for a friend, Countless days go by without a sight of anything, just trees and luscious green leaves, Crestfallen, all alone.
My advice for someone who has recently been diagnosed with dyslexia:
Getting help is really important. Don’t worry about finding it difficult to read and write. Take your time and make use of technology. I use Chromebook in school and love listening to my books on audible at home.
It is not always a bad thing!