Listen to the experts

Colin

Colin is the Convenor of Dyslexia Scotland West Lothian

Written quote: Colin

‘No two dyslexics are the same and I think it’s very important to point that out. Dyslexia affects us differently. We’re all individuals. We’ve all been affected differently, and we all struggle with it in a different way.

‘The word dyslexia is Greek and it means word blindness. Now this is a misnomer I think, and it’s something I feel as a dyslexic I would like to put right.  You get non-reading dyslexics and you get reading dyslexics. Now, I can read although I found it very difficult to learn to read, and my Dad taught me to read – I’m forever grateful to him for that.  But I can read. 

‘My writing skills are poor. They are laboured. I mix up my lower and higher case letters. I don’t understand punctuation. I don’t understand weight, volume, time and distance. I have discalculis. My dysgraphia affects my ability to write quickly and coherently. I have a very poor short term memory and a shocking working memory, but I have a brilliant long term memory. I’m one of the world’s greatest talkers. I’m a confident orator. So, dyslexia affects people in different ways. 

‘You have to prepare for things. Whenever you’re planning a journey, you have to be meticulous how you prepare it. You have to work out timings of trains and buses. Even with this meticulous timing, there are some days when it can go absolutely wrong. You get the times mixed up, dates mixed up, months mixed up. 

‘I’m also involved with the Cross Party Group on Dyslexia at the Scottish Parliament. I’ve been involved in it for a while and I attend the quarterly meetings down at Holyrood. Now there’s no point in sending me solely an email copy of the agenda. I have to be able to read it. So to read I prefer a hard copy and I need it to be on brightly coloured paper (usually a colour that screams out at me) and with large black type on it. Anything with small type, it’s a turn off. I simply can’t read it, or lose track of what I’m reading. So the key for me to the Secretary is to send out a hard copy of the agenda at least a week to ten days before the meeting, and please send it on coloured paper with large black type. This may seem slightly infantile to some people but for me it’s absolutely critical. It gives me an opportunity to be able to understand what’s coming at the meeting and to be able to read and retain information.’