Disability Narratives
Advice for people with a long-term conditions or disability
Video clip: Lyn reflects on the difficulties of being dyslexic and how she has come to accept that it is okay to “be who you are”.
If I was able to go back in a time machine, I would tell the younger me that I'm not stupid, and that I'm an intelligent human being, incredibly imaginative and creative, and that that's not something to be ashamed of. Or - I spent a lot of my time trying to fit in and be normal. Which is tricky when you're not thinking in the same manner, or processing information in the same way as everybody else. So learning to - And maybe that's just part of growing mature, is learning to be comfortable in your own skin. And that would apply to anybody. It's like if you were - if you were 10 and you're fifty-something now, what would you tell the 10 year old you? Well, you know, if you're being mature you'd kind of integrate that person that you were into who you are now. But yeah, I would probably go back and say "It's alright to be who you are."
And I think, you know, mostly dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions are picked up at school now. So it's people my age and a little bit younger and older who may have gone through life not having been picked up because during the sixties and seventies such a condition really didn't exist. So, yeah. And I'm pleased I did go, as I said. So I'm pleased I've got help now. And, you know, making the most of the rest of life and study in the light of what I know now is great. It's just sad that I had more than - you know - as much of my life as I did not with that.