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James' Dyslexia Story: Embracing a Dyslexic Brain
James’ story starts in Ireland, where he lived with his family until he was 5. Starting his school life in Ireland, James learned to read and start shaping words using phonics.
By the time James moved to England, he was actually ahead academically. He knew his alphabet and could even read a little. But English schools didn’t use the phonics system, so he had to unlearn everything he understood and relearn it using the ‘whole word’ method.
It soon became clear that James hadn’t been learning how to read at all, but instead had been learning to form the correct patterns from the games and songs he’d played in class. He had a great memory, but his ability to read and write wasn’t as it seemed.
"One teacher told me I was stupid. My mum stood up for me, she said 'if you tell someone they're stupid enough times, they'll start to believe it.'"
Throughout school James hated reading. Standing up to read in class was one of the humiliating things he had to face. He even got out of class for reading things wrong – his teachers assuming he was just being the class clown, rather than struggling.
In high school, James was sent off to ‘special class’ during assembly where he was made to practice his spellings. Some of the kids were probably dyslexic like him, while others had more severe learning difficulties. They were all treated the same, both by their teachers and by their fellow pupils.
James spent a lot of time in school holding his head down to avoid bullying, while in class he wasted days staring at the wall or out the window, or else stood outside the head teacher’s office. There was only one teacher he can remember treating him with kindness, and that was his teacher Mrs Westall. While most of his other teachers had him labelled as ignorant or lazy, she always found something to keep him busy. She was his saving grace and he now credits her as being the reason he managed to pass his English exams at all.
James wasn’t officially diagnosed as dyslexic until he got to college, where his math teacher Ernie opened the GCSE resit class by saying: “Look guys, I’m dyslexic. So if when I get tired I put my es the wrong way round or miss letters out, I don’t need you to tell me, so long as it makes sense.” James instantly recognised this in himself.
"By complete chance, I did a job for Mrs Westall and her husband recently. It felt so nice to say thank you in my own way."
When James got home and told his mum he thought he might be dyslexic, neither of them had any real idea what it meant, though they later discovered that she was dyslexic too. Having the label of dyslexia could have made James feel even more cornered than he felt before. However, James didn’t see it that way. For James, being dyslexic explained so much of why he’d struggled, that it actually gave him a sense of freedom.
James was done with academia. But leaving school without qualifications didn’t make the working world very welcoming. By 21, James had had more jobs than most people have in a lifetime. He fitted seatbelts at a factory, worked in a warehouse with his dad making windows, he was a minicab driver and a bus driver, he painted lampposts, worked at Heathrow in the cargo department, delivered flowers, and even drove a community bus helping OAPs get to their day-care centres. He had a great work ethic but got bored easily. He wanted something challenging to keep his mind busy, but whenever he tried to bring new ideas to his roles, he was shut down and left.
Luckily, James had the gift of confidence. He wasn’t going to let the world put him down. He knew he was smart. It didn’t matter than he couldn’t pass the same tests as everyone else. He was determined and hungry to find a rewarding way to put his mind to work.
"If you are who you are despite the things you've been through, you're a survivor. If you are who you are because of them, you're a victim of it."
When James was 26, he got a job in cabling. He’d finally found something where his dyslexic thinking really came into its own. Where his neuro-typical co-workers would look at a difficult cabling job and immediately write it off, James was about to think around the obvious barriers to come up with new and innovative solutions.
James climbed his way up the ladder and was soon put in charge of training other engineers, moving around departments, and giving PowerPoint presentations to new starters. He always used his old maths teacher’s opening – as long as it makes sense, it’s not spelt wrong!
In 2010, James took yet another leap of faith, and started working for himself. As his own boss, running his own show, James had to learn how to do everything from accounting to sorting his own insurance. It was intimidating at first, but James of all people knew that where there’s a will, there’s always a way.
Now 44, James runs his own highly successful cabling business. He also gives talks about the challenges and wonders of working with a dyslexic brain, keen to help people with dyslexia embrace how brilliant it is to think differently. Because after all, without his dyslexia, he wouldn’t be where he is today.
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