Lynn Matthews

I have never been formally diagnosed as dyslexic - common traits are shared with immediate family members.

It was the late 70's when I left school being barely able to read and writing anything down - it was a nightmare, but I was confident. I had really strong leadership and communication skills - and a strong sense of responsibility - and a low boredom threshold.

My teachers realised these strengths and nurtured them, possibly because they realised, after I mobilised the children to go on strike, that it was probably better to have me onboard working to achieve a common goal with the teachers.

I joined the army because I really did not know what I wanted to do or how I would do it. The army really focused on developing my strengths, which enabled me to feel more confident about my weaknesses. BUT.... it was not until the mid 90's, when I left the military and worked as a Personnel & Training manager that I had even heard of dyslexia, or began to see the commonalities between how I struggled to process information and how other people did.

I mostly now see my dyslexia as a bonus. I know I can take time to write my thoughts, especially if I need to complete a form - I find the restriction challenging.

The biggest joy for me was when I left the military and travelled as I then found all these different creative outlets that I did not know existed before - it was like I needed new structures to think within and found poetry, photography and drawing - I will never forget the first of each - I remember writing a poem and drawing a picture and being literally amazed that I was creating these things.

I then brought my first PC and a whole world of amazing opened up for me. I'd been working with IT for years, but hand wrote everything - a keyboard and the capacity to write over what was written, as well as say - OK, what do I want to do and then figuring out how to do it....what a thrill!

People were very supportive and nurturing of my talents, and patient. I have a lot of people who helped me.

In 2019, I was awarded Apprenticeship Work Based Learning "Tutor of the Year".

It's hard to put into words what a massive achievement that was and how far I have come from that school leaver who had talents, but struggled to express themselves fully in formal education.

Think long-term, and find your own way to get to where you want to be. Your brain is wired in a way that if you learn to have confidence in what you can do, you will experience life to the full while working to achieve your goals.

Without a computer, this story form would never have been completed...And if it was, there would have been crossed out words, restarts and probably coffee stains. Viva technology.