My Dyslexia Experience

In Scott Sonnon’s book A Mountain Stands: Confessions of a Suppressed Genius Sonnon says, “Dyslexia was not my deficit, but my advantage.” By clinical definition, dyslexia is a language-based learning disability, which affects an individual’s aptitude to read due to complications identifying sounds and linking letters and words. In elementary school, I was diagnosed with severe Dyslexia. Since my diagnosis, many aspects of my life have been defined by others’ perception of Dyslexia, which caused me to have a negative outlook on my learning disability. Through the progression of my educational career, I began to realize that my learning disability was a blessing in disguise. During the initial years after my diagnosis, the stigma surrounding

During high school, I have needed to advocate for myself to receive the accommodations that I specifically need. If I did not take it upon myself to fight for my accommodations, I was holding myself back from performing at the academic level I was capable of. By advocating for myself, I was taking control of my education and future and doing all that I could to be successful in both. Likewise, my Dyslexia has taught me how to be extremely self-motivated. When I first learned how to read, I developed a very strong internal motivation. I utilized this self-motivation in high school to reach my educational goals and aspirations. My self-motivation was vital for maintaining high academic standings, good time management and staying organized, which are all important for doing well in college and the working world. Finally, Dyslexia was actually a blessing in disguises because it helped me how small details work together to make the big picture. I was willing to put in the effort to learn to read because I saw how vital it would be for future academic success. This same attitude really helped prepare me high school. I saw that it was important to maintain high academics and extracurriculars because these are important for college and developing time management skills. My perspective on my Dyslexia drastically changed during high school because I saw how it had helped me learn to self-advocate, be internally motivated and see the impact of my decisions on the