Page 24 - SEN106 SEN Magazine May-June 2020

Joanna Crawford reveals how she turned dyslexia from a negative to a positive force in her life Feeling good about dyslexia I love talking about dyslexia, but it wasn’t always like this. For a long time, I struggled to come to terms with being dyslexic, and it wasn’t until I was 16 that I realised it wasn’t so bad after all. I was diagnosed in Year 2, which is a lot younger than most dyslexics. Primary school was a breeze, apart from the times I was taken away for special support in school and afterwards, and most of the time I felt normal. When the 11+ came around though, problems started to emerge. I always ran out of time and failed both exams. My dream of going to the local grammar school was shattered and I started questioning my abilities. Luckily, my parents appealed my case and I was given a place at a girl’s grammar school. From here on, my journey though the education system took a rocky path. Tough times I was trouble at school. I couldn’t focus and I fell in with a bad crowd, making a name for myself for all the wrong reasons. The thing is, nothing made sense to me. I had come from an average primary school and I was suddenly thrown in with girls who had gone to private schools, so they were already miles ahead. Maths lessons were a complete shock to me and the teachers didn’t appear to care that I didn’t know how to do long multiplication or division. Lessons seemed to fly by and I couldn’t catch up. I remember breaking down during a times-table test; I just stared at the page, bleary eyed, feeling completely useless. I did have “support”, in a questionable sense of the word; I was taken out of lessons to learn how to do joined-up handwriting I was trouble at school. I couldn’t focus and I fell in with the wrong crowd SEN 106 senmagazine.co.uk 24 Dyslexia