Jane Hemmings was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was a curate. She had always had suspicions that she had dyslexia with lots of clues starting from school age.
Dyslexia is not linked with intelligence. Dyslexia is a common neurological learning difference affecting reading, writing, and spelling. It’s often identified in school-aged children. It can cause challenges with memory, organisation, and information processing. It is often hereditary, with symptoms including slow reading, letter confusion, poor spelling, and difficulty sequencing. People with dyslexia can be incredibly creative and have incredible problem solving skills. Many people with dyslexia are great creative thinkers, problem-solvers, and have brilliant visual-spatial reasoning.
Jane shares her experience of dyslexia: “I write a lot of reports for work. Accuracy and spelling is hard. I had to come to terms with the fact I will make mistakes and I have to check and check. It’s difficult to decode words, spell them, sometimes to say them. It’s difficult to remember words too. When I read something, I don’t necessarily remember the details. I remember better if people talk to me.
“I started telling people I had dyslexia when I started my curacy. But I wasn’t diagnosed. I had always been suspicious at school. I was told I was lazy because I understood things but my written work wasn’t up to the same standard. I was called stupid at school and my parents were told not to expect much of me.”
Dyslexia has been a benefit to Jane, she has an extraordinary emotional memory and remembers the things people tell her.
She may appear chaotic but she has a brilliant visual map in her head. She explains: “I have a visual map of everything I do in my head but I might look chaotic in the way I do things. But I get it done. Dyslexia is a really useful and creative part of my brain.”
How can church leaders make it easier for people who are dyslexic?
Jane suggests:
- Have things clearly stated.
- Bigger print or font helps with processing.
- Keep information concise.
- Share anything written in advance so we have time to look at things beforehand. Sight reading is difficult for us.
This story is part of our Neurodiversity Celebration Week.