Karen is a Dear Dyslexic Community Member, who shares her story of how Dear Dyslexic has supported her.

How did you first hear about Dear Dyslexic?

I was at professional development for the Australian Counselling Association. Someone, there was speaking to me about Dear Dyslexic.

What was your situation at the time you first found Dear Dyslexic?

I was working in the disability sector and also with children at a Rudolph Steiner School as the extra lesson practitioner and in private practice. I was enthusiastic that tired and stressed as you know we always have to work extra hard to compensate.

I wanted to work with and connect to other people and bring awareness.

At the time I was giving a professional development presentation about developmental delays, learning and trauma and the relationship between these three things.  I am dyslexic and have a developmental delay and trauma in my background.

However with all my experience as a counsellor and helping children I haven’t spoken to any other adults who had dyslexia.

 What sort of solution to your situation were you looking for?

I was hoping to find other people to talk to about coping in the workplace with dyslexia. I was hoping to find people that are understood and could give advice.

 What made Dear Dyslexic stand out over other options around to help you with this?

Because Dear Dyslexic was also aimed at adults it was fresh but I really liked that.  I also liked that they had podcasts. It was good to be able to look at the website and listen as I was feeding a bit anxious to meet people straight away.

  

Was there a particular Dear Dyslexic resource that stood out for you? 

The podcasts because I could listen to the safety of my own home. At 56 years old there is years worth of experience in the workplace in relation to dyslexia and that can be overwhelming when you take the lid off.  Even as an experienced counsellor there is nothing like hearing your own truth echoed acknowledged and validated. This had helped me make space for the needs of my nervous system even though I’ve made many improvements to my situation over the years. Not being understood or given an allowance or even not telling people because of judgment has been challenging.

 

What's your story about using the Dear Dyslexic resources? We'd love to hear it, contact [email protected] to share.