Thinking Out Of The Box

To look at me I seem a normal person well despite being very tall and maybe not when having a bad hair/skin day. But to look at me you would have no idea I had dyspraxia/dyslexia. Look around you there will be so many people who have hidden conditions both adults and children. But so many people are misunderstood or don't recieve the right help because their difficulties can't be seen. They can often be labelled lazy, untidy, careless even stupid. Time after time being said "I know you can do better" or "why is this so untidy you obviously don't care." A lot of people don't even consider that someone might have a hidden condition which might limit them from doing things or struggle slightly with. Often the many positive qualities that person may posses may be forgotten about and simply focus on the negative. This can be really detrimental to a persons confidence and self esteem which already may be low. When you meet someone or meet children try and be understanding, you never know what hidden condition they may be hiding and bring out the positives in them at the same time.

Happy Mothers Day to all the lovely wonderful mum's out there. I thought I'd write a blog to talk about how much I appreciate all the help and support my mum has given to me over the years and how she's helped me overcome many difficulties. Also offer some hints and tips to maybe any parents out there who may be struggling getting their child help and support.

My mum has helped and supported me so much personally and whilst I was doing my degree and masters degree too. She's offered so much emotional support throughout the battles to get me support and understood. A lot of people who don't have a learning difference don't realise how much of a battle it really is. They assume people automatically get support such as extra time in exams or a laptop when you go to uni. There's this natural assumption that once you get the label of dyspraxia, or dyslexia or both or any other learning condition that the support is just there. People also assume that conditions like dyslexia aren't an issue any more because there's a lot more people diagnosed with it. Yes there is a lot more awareness out there than there was years ago but people still have to fight just as hard to be understood.

When I was at primary school my mum was made out to be an over protective parent by the teachers, when she went in to complain that I wasn't getting any help in P.E at school she got told that the help had been turned away when it arrived at school because the school didn't offer help like that. Countless times the words "untidy" or "careless" or "re do" were written over my work because of the state of my handwriting and spelling. The amount of times she's driven at ridiculous speeds to make sure I've got buses or trains or gone out of her way because I'd forgotten something. She helped me endlessly during my degree and masters degree proof reading my work, often proof reading work that she had no idea on the topic she was reading about. Sometimes staying up till the early hours in the morning with me helping me write the night before a deadline.
When I got forced to drop qts at uni she provided so much emotional support and understanding.

It didn't sink in until I graduated how much my mum had done for me. It's not that I wasn't grateful when they were supporting me through school, it's just that moment really brought it home. Yes, I had earned my degree/masters degree through my hard work and dedication, but there had been a team of people behind me, ready to catch me when I tripped, to fight my corner when it needed fighting, and who gave me the strength to fight for myself.

When you're a parent of a child who has a learning difference it can often be a very overwhelming feeling. I often have in the past have had a variety of parents come up to me when I've been volunteering talking about how their child's school isn't being very sympathetic towards
their child's needs and how the school doesn't embrace learning differently. If you're one of those parents reading this now there is light at the end of the tunnel and there is lots of help and support out there Dyslexia Action are an amazing charity who do so much hard work and all who work there are so understanding. I was talking to my mum earlier whilst negative experiences in the past by people not understanding me have had emotional affect and knocked my confidence at times, they've made me a very determined person and determined to prove people wrong and show what I can achieve in life. Nothing beats the feeling of doing something that someone said you could never do, or seeing a child do the same thing.