Dyslexia: an Asset or a Liability?
I’ve treated a number of dyslexic people during my 11 years of practice and each of them have been highly memorable clients. Often, it is one of the first things a client will tell me about themselves, probably because it has for them, been such a significant hindrance in our modern world of scientific analysis and has caused them much humiliation that they could not succeed the same as others through the expected channels of academic achievement. In fact, I would go so far as to say, the majority of ‘dyslexics’, certainly over the age of around 30, have a significant loss of self esteem, do not trust themselves and their feelings and feel inadequate in many ways.
And my heart breaks for them. I would stretch my neck out and say that in all cases I’ve experienced a hugely intuitive, somatic and creative individual who is really just waiting for permission to trust what their guts tell them. While the rest of the world is blindly following the latest advice from the scientific moghuls of our time, the ‘dyslexics’ among us just know on some gutsy kind of level that things aren’t right: that, though they should be following the masses and doing what everyone else does, it just doesn’t feel right. Having been told during a lifetime that they have learning difficulties and they need special attention to be able to keep up with us, the last thing they feel entitled to do is to just go with their feelings.
Dyslexics, in my experience, are dream clients. When a client confesses to me their dyslexia, my heart leaps with excitement. These people really KNOW how to do personal development.
Not locked into a cerebral, highly analytical way of looking at the world, ‘dyslexics’, given permission to trust their intuition, just run with their own personal development. The transformations I have witnessed in these people are phenomenal. One older lady who underwent profound changes in the first few months of us meeting, now visits once or twice a year just for a reboot now and again! Her energy used to be very little girl-ish, her language very juvenile, her sense of self nil. Now she is a woman, her language is grown up, her sense of self, at times still fragile, but definitely demanding more respect than ever before. Her lack of success with reading and writing and her subsequent diagnosis of dyslexia had left her feeling worth far less than anyone else, when in fact, her capacity to grow – given the right circumstances – was far greater.
And this all lead me to muse the other day: I wonder whether, before the advent of academia, science, the media, and all of those things that move us into our conscious heads, dyslexics were in fact the shaman of our times? – the people with real insight, real intuition, and a real ability to understand life at the deepest level and feel connected to a universal intelligence.
Perhaps so called ‘Dyslexics’ were once revered for their intuitive ability to feel the universe, to feel another person’s pain or suffering, and to know intuitively what to do about it. And sadly now, they’ve been reduced to a label in a psychiatrist’s note book, a problem because they can’t access our modern world of conscious thought, the mores and times of which the majority of we poor duped neuro-typical individuals seem to just suck up without a moment’s hesitation. Dyslexics contrary to their label, do not all sit nicely in a box. The dyslexic mind is highly creative, darting around and looking for ways of engaging with the world in a gutsy way. That’s why some of our greatest entrepreneurs and talents such as Richard Branson, Ben Elton, Kiera Knightley * are dyslexics. They go with what feels right, make use of society’s contradictions and they leave their analysis to other people to do.
If you’re a dyslexic reading this article, don’t let any ideas of not being good enough enter your head, just because you didn’t leave school waving bits of useless paper in your hand! Your treasure trove is far greater than any academic could offer you. Make use of your creative capacity and start to trust your guts and celebrate your difference. If you’re a dyslexic therapist reading this, I expect you are already working in a highly individual way and are not model or script bound at all! You and people like you with open hearts and minds, are the people I’d love to have in my groups. Why not consider joining me? Take a look on the Open Mind Therapist home page.
*British Dyslexia Association
Just wanted to say how interesting this was to read. I was diagnosed with dyslexia a few years ago and whilst for many years thought I was thick actually came to realise what an asset it was when it came to writing my doctoral thesis! Creativity is the one thing that I possess which made it that bit easier when dealing with an overwhelming amount of qualitative data. I used to think I was thick and now I’ve embraced my dyslexia and think that its a gift but thank you for the great article.
Just wanted to say how interesting this was to read too, even though I was not diagnosed with dyslexia… Who knows? Maybe I have? I’m from China and I never heard of this word until I came to Canada. Back home we didn’t seem to have so many labels for so many problems.
So refreshing to read about utilising our instinctive qualities when processing others. At times i felt intimidated by academia, however I feel just has bless with other therapists. I totally agree with open hearts and minds and using our creativity. Thankyou !
I have directional dyslexia. I recognise low self-esteem and I recognise the ability to “feel-with” and engage on sentient level, but I have spent years defending myself against this, retreating further and further into my tower. It’s why I don’t cut my hair. The Prince is coming for Rapunzel (dislike that name though).
To cut the point, I am academic also. Directional Dyslexia doesn’t hold you back from achieving through language, it just makes you appear like an idiot.
So thanks for posting this information. It made me feel good about myself. yes I remember the “Daredevil”, gutsy little girl from school. Where did she go? Perhaps we could resurrect her at one of your workshops?
I have recently suffered yet another rejection (redundancy). I go through jobs like I go through hot dinners, never holding one for longer than a year, so funds are compromised, but I will probably be back on my feet by July. Another door always opens. I hope to see you then …………………….
Oh. So glad it made you feel good about you. I’ll mail you separately too about the course. Would be great if you could make it in July. It’s the 6th July 2014.