Dyslexia Awareness Week : An Interview with Ryan.
It's
Dyslexia Awareness Week, folks. It's the perfect time to consider our
dyslexic friends and their very different reading abilities – and
in my case, interview one of them!
I
must start by saying how much I feel for – and admire – those
with more limited reading capabilities. I cannot imagine struggling
to read, in fact, I suffer from the opposite...
Below
is a transcript of a nice chat I had with my friend, Ryan. He is one
of those unusual humans who does not have any social media accounts
BUT his girlfriend, my little sis, does. Here
is her Instagram and Twitter (he
features a lot in her photos, obvs!).
To
begin our little chat, I gave Ryan a copy of Non Pratt's 'Unboxed'
(my
review can be found here!), a recently released shorter novel published
by the utter babes at Barrington Stoke – a fantastic publisher who
call themselves 'the home of super-readable books'. They work hard to
make sure those with differing reading abilities are able to enjoy
literature as much as possible. They use simpler fonts, wider
spacing, tinted pages, and even thicker paper in order to minimise
the confusion for dyslexic readers.
Ryan
immediately noticed the thicker pages, saying he sometimes finds it
difficult when he is able to see through pages – the lettering and
sentences can get muddled.
My
first and most burning question was how Ryan actually saw words
printed on a page. I felt so awkward asking, but he was kind enough
to describe as best he could.
'It's
like...a block. Just a solid block. The words are all crammed in
close together. Yeah, it's hard to separate.'
This
is easier, though. This book [Unboxed]. The line spaces are good, and
the page thickness helps a lot.'
I
then asked, as he had his phone nearby, if he finds it easier maybe to read off a screen.
'It's
easier, I think. I do sometimes take longer texting--'
This
is where my little sis interjects: 'yeah, he does.'
'---but
generally it's okay. Like, I can read a page of something on my
phone.'
I
was interested in something I'd heard about certain colours being
better to read - as in, if a word is written or typed in a different
colour, it's easier for some dyslexics to read. I asked Ryan if he
found some colours more readable.
'I
don't think I did, but when we were asked in class if anyone was
dyslexic and needed the lessons written on the board in a different
colour, that was good. I know it helps others.'
Touching
on the topic of school made me think back to when I first realised
dyslexia was a thing, like, at all, and that it was actually quite
serious. This realisation came about when some of my peers in classes
would be excused during a test - they'd sit outside the classroom at
a separate desk, or sometimes in another room/office altogether, and
take their test with a supervisor of sorts. I asked Ryan if he ever
had that, a special consideration and appropriate allowances made.
'Yeah,
I took tests separately. You could choose if you had someone with
you, too. Like a teacher or an assistant - they'd read out questions
for you if you wanted. And then I got extra time as well. There were
a few of us who got put in another room.'
'So
was that nice?' I asked at this point. 'Like, a little crew? I'd like
that.'
'Yeah,
we all knew each other. We all got on.'
As
we wrapped up our chat, I had to ask my friend when it was he
discovered he was dyslexic. And then how long it took to be properly
acknowledged. I personally know of one girl at my school who was
considered a bit batty because she claimed, at 14 years old, that she
couldn't read. She would actually cry at times because we'd all be
storming ahead with the assigned texts and she'd still be stuck on
the first page. Nobody knew what it was that held her back, that
troubled her - then she was effectively diagnosed as dyslexic. And
it all made sense!
However,
I know that for many it is not that quick. Sometimes it takes years
to figure out what's up. A somewhat scary example can be found in
Henry Winkler, the beloved Fonz - he only found out that he was dyslexic
because his step-son needed help reading and writing as a teen.
Ryan
had this to say about finding out...
'Okay,
so I found out I was dyslexic in, I think, primary school. I remember
being taken out of class by some people with my teacher and they said
I had to do some tests and then that's when they just said I
did have it.
'I
got a bit of help in primary school but when I got to secondary
school they didn't really help me at all; they said they were more
concerned about the kids that had it and misbehaved all the time,
whereas I just kept quite quiet so they didn't really bother with
me...
'The
teachers knew in primary school so I'm guessing my family knew at
that point, too.'
Thank
you so much, Ryan, for letting me get nosy about your dyslexia. It's
opened my eyes even more to how it affects some people - and how we
must help!
The
heroes this week are Book
Life, the school books publishers, and of course a big shout-out
to Barrington Stoke once again. Another loving holla at Amber @ The Mile-Long Bookshelf for getting me involved in this, she's a bit of a
superstar tbh. See her vlog about this week!
Posters for Dyslexia Awareness Week, like the cute one below, can be found right here.
Also, for your chance to win a free copy of Julia Donaldson's book 'Mr Birdsnest and the House Next Door', just tweet @BookLifeSocial and use the hashtag #booklifedaw2016.
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