Author:
John (You know ...)
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Date Posted: 05:19:16 07/05/09 Sun
"I feel so alone." No, you're not alone. I, too, have been herded through life by my literacy difficulties. It appears I didn't know what you already seem to. Nonetheless, I've been successful in a number of 'careers’. I've also met a number of people who have had great success in their careers in spite of dyslexia.
"I am 25 and I have been diagnosed with dyslexia since I was 8 years old." Either you're quite self-aware, or you've been very well taught and you've learnt the lessons well. The way you say this indicates you have an important understanding. Firstly, you are person with all sorts of attributes and talents. Secondly, you just happen to be diagnosed as having dyslexia.
"During school … I was always bright …"
You clearly know your talents.
"Now I feel like my world is falling apart …" At the moment your confidence has been shaken. It appears you have taken a new position and you feel out of your comfort zone. One could view that as a difficulty, or as a positive challenge, enlivening and energising your life. I see you in a very positive light because of your energy and courage in stepping out of the comfort zone and looking to a new challenge.
"Two co-workers tell me that the help I got at school amounted to cheating …" I presume you use assistive technology. Good. I didn't have that advantage. What I did was change courses and subjects, like water running downhill. I took the path of least resistance. I took a degree in physical sciences, but biochemistry and biological/biomedical applications were my real interest at the time. It took me five years to get a basic three-year degree; I never did pass secondary school English. The system I was under allowed for compensation calculated on the grades in other subjects. After decades in routine laboratory work, I stepped outside the box and made a world first observation in analytical toxicology of human specimens.
Do you see the point I'm making? I have literacy difficulties, as well as other learning difficulties that I have only just become aware of. In spite of this, I was observant, an analytical thinker, and just discovering what I later learned to be a strongly intuitive natural tendency. Elite scientists in my field around the world failed to observe and recognise what I did.
Take confidence in your strengths. Do consider whether you are placing too much stress on yourself -- but do maintain the courage and confidence you have already displayed. You have choices. You have obviously had success in your previous career as a teacher. The grounds you describe for your success are equally applicable in a career as a librarian. Think of all the people like you and me that you could assist as a librarian.
Another positive aspect of dealing with your co-workers is that they are a lesson in how NOT to be in life. The example you show them, in disregarding what may be jealousy or fear of you as a threat, could be the lesson they need in recognising the invisible abilities in others. The demonstration of your resilience alone could give them a revelation in human understanding.
"It's no different to someone getting a degree that drank their way through their degree that is not dyslexic." You're upset. When you look back at this sentence I’m sure you'll see that an emotional, irrational reaction doesn't help you solve your issues. That's what this calls for -- you to solve your own issues through your own choices, and you do have choices. Your career path is your choice. Your career path is not YOU, it is just what you plan to DO.
"Please I feel so alone." You are not alone. Lord knows how many of us characters are reading this forum -- and how many of us are just out there acting on our choices. Join us.
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25 and struggling