Dyslexia and Me by Onyinye Udokporo

Author:Onyinye Udokporo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2022-09-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

#FFE312

If you asked me to describe the first five years of my secondary schooling, I would give you three words: challenging, complex, character-building. Even after completing two degrees, I still see those formative academic years of my life as some of the most difficult yet enjoyable times I will ever experience. I initially (and naively) thought that my diagnosis would unlock the gates to happiness and authenticity. To some degree, it did. I was able to have a better understanding of myself, which is a good thing for any teenager. My parents and teachers were able to give me the tailored support required to help me maximize my potential. This enabled me to use my talents effectively, giving me a much-needed confidence boost. My initial reflections on life as a dyslexic teen were positive, although it must be said that there were significant negative periods too.

I had to deal with relentless bullying from some pupils, which made me fearful and grossly unhappy. I was constantly worried about disappointing my parents – they had given up so much in their lives to enable me to have the best possible education, and I felt I had let them down by being dyslexic. I had to find new, unconventional ways of learning. It took me a while to understand and accept that I was different to my peers. For the first couple of years post diagnosis, I was ashamed of my difference and desperately wanted to be like everyone else.

The bullying started when Mrs G recommended I use an overlay to read and/or to use yellow paper (shade #FFE312 specifically). I remember distinctly asking her what an overlay was and why I needed one. An overlay is a coloured filter that is used to alleviate reading difficulties that are associated with learning disabilities, including dyslexia. The magic happens when you place the thin, coloured plastic sheet over text – it stops the words from floating around on a stark white page. In order to find the colour that would work for me specifically, Mrs G ran a test on me. She had a paragraph, with little to no line spacing, and the content of the paragraph was the same sentence repeated several times. It read: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Every test I did in order to confirm that I am dyslexic revolved around this sentence. There is a reason for this – it is an English pangram, meaning that it contains all of the letters of the English alphabet.

Mrs G asked me to read the paragraph out loud while using different coloured overlays. We began with a beautiful shade of lilac; this helped to some degree, but I was still stumbling over some of the words. Mrs G then switched to a light green; this made matters worse. She then placed a rose-pink overlay over the paragraph and there was some improvement; but the eureka moment took place when she placed a deep golden-yellow overlay on the page.

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