Indian. Dyslexic. Left-handed. Law student.
Indian. Dyslexic. Left-handed. Law student.
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that affects someone's reading, writing, and spelling. This 'problem' can be improved by practicing reading and writing.
The development of Dyslexia intervenes from a young age. From my personal experience, imagine being a young Indian girl where having something like dyslexia is seen 'taboo' (like some sort of bad luck) and the cherry on top, I'm also left-handed.
Signs of dyslexia
- A person may read/ write slowly
- confuse spellings
- Understand information in a different way such as verbal as oppose to written and reading long chapters.
- Find it tough to carry out sequences/ patterns.
- Struggle with planning/ organisation.
To find out more information visit: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Dyslexia/
For Indian families, there is a vital focus and parental pressure on the child's education and academics. This causes children to have anxiety and stress, with the fear of letting their parents down.
My experience
Imagine being a young Indian girl in reception going into Year 1 being right-handed and then starting to write with your left hand. Here the sudden 'fear' for Indian grandparents and parents hit that 'omg my child is a lefty'. I remember my parents evening in Year 1, my teacher was Australian and also left-handed, bless her for telling my parents they had nothing to worry about.
ANYWAY, my Year 6 teacher noticed I was slow in reading, so he urged my parents to read with me and force me to read. If I'm completely honest, I was so lazy and not intellectual at all, I was just below an average student. So every day my dad would buy a newspaper after school and make me read it aloud with him. This really helped me and I started moving up in my 'reading book stages'.
(Back in primary school we used to have colours which represented the level of a book).
Secondary school experience: I never accepted myself as being a slow learner because I didn't want to accept the stereotype that my my parents could be disappointed with me. Like most students, I preferred science practicals or demonstrations/ presentations because I found it easier to learn from them over reading textbooks. Given the persona of being an Indian girl, I never wanted to address that I was slow and honestly, I did not discover that I needed extra time in exams until I really started to underperform in sixth form mocks as I could not finish exams.
My psychology teacher in sixth-form helped me to get reading and writing tests done with the learning support team at school, to discover my 'boarderline' dyslexia. I was told to use yellow paper or highlight my work in yellow because I would understand it better. From this, I was finally offered extra time in exams to complete them, this helped a lot, I saw an increase in my grades too. However, I still never told my parents, I was too scared they'd think I was 'mental'. BUT honestly, I was SO WRONG, because they are so supportive and it is actually more common to have dyslexia (even though mine was only boarder line).
At university, I studied Law (LLB). As soon as classes started I decided to address my slow reading and writing as well as my difficulty to understand large chunks of texts with my personal tutor, I was referred to the university psychologist. Again I sat multiple timed assessments with the psychologist and he tested my reading, writing, puzzle-solving skills. He also tested my mental maths (which I am terrible at, hence why I'm studying law).
Some difficulties I encountered were: how am I going to tell mum and dad?, why do I not understand this reading?, why do I take longer to complete my coursework even though I started before my friends?
All these thoughts used to juggle on my mind and were consistent during my LPC. Although studying the LPC involved a lot more case-work, there was a TONNE more reading.
Will things get better?
YES they certainly will.
In my family, I am the only 'dyslexic', left-handed child and although it has put a strain on my personal confidence and work ethic, I also see things in a different way. For example, I prefer to use colours and model maps when I work, to break down the larger chunks of readings or problems.
I set things in a different perspective to my siblings.
I prefer to sort issues and do things in a practical manner.
Yes, I do want to give up sometimes but I remember that once I plan my ideas and tasks, nothing is impossible.
Lesson: never give up, keep trying because the more you practice, the better things will get.
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that affects someone's reading, writing, and spelling. This 'problem' can be improved by practicing reading and writing.
The development of Dyslexia intervenes from a young age. From my personal experience, imagine being a young Indian girl where having something like dyslexia is seen 'taboo' (like some sort of bad luck) and the cherry on top, I'm also left-handed.
Signs of dyslexia
- A person may read/ write slowly
- confuse spellings
- Understand information in a different way such as verbal as oppose to written and reading long chapters.
- Find it tough to carry out sequences/ patterns.
- Struggle with planning/ organisation.
To find out more information visit: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Dyslexia/
For Indian families, there is a vital focus and parental pressure on the child's education and academics. This causes children to have anxiety and stress, with the fear of letting their parents down.
My experience
Imagine being a young Indian girl in reception going into Year 1 being right-handed and then starting to write with your left hand. Here the sudden 'fear' for Indian grandparents and parents hit that 'omg my child is a lefty'. I remember my parents evening in Year 1, my teacher was Australian and also left-handed, bless her for telling my parents they had nothing to worry about.
ANYWAY, my Year 6 teacher noticed I was slow in reading, so he urged my parents to read with me and force me to read. If I'm completely honest, I was so lazy and not intellectual at all, I was just below an average student. So every day my dad would buy a newspaper after school and make me read it aloud with him. This really helped me and I started moving up in my 'reading book stages'.
(Back in primary school we used to have colours which represented the level of a book).
Secondary school experience: I never accepted myself as being a slow learner because I didn't want to accept the stereotype that my my parents could be disappointed with me. Like most students, I preferred science practicals or demonstrations/ presentations because I found it easier to learn from them over reading textbooks. Given the persona of being an Indian girl, I never wanted to address that I was slow and honestly, I did not discover that I needed extra time in exams until I really started to underperform in sixth form mocks as I could not finish exams.
My psychology teacher in sixth-form helped me to get reading and writing tests done with the learning support team at school, to discover my 'boarderline' dyslexia. I was told to use yellow paper or highlight my work in yellow because I would understand it better. From this, I was finally offered extra time in exams to complete them, this helped a lot, I saw an increase in my grades too. However, I still never told my parents, I was too scared they'd think I was 'mental'. BUT honestly, I was SO WRONG, because they are so supportive and it is actually more common to have dyslexia (even though mine was only boarder line).
At university, I studied Law (LLB). As soon as classes started I decided to address my slow reading and writing as well as my difficulty to understand large chunks of texts with my personal tutor, I was referred to the university psychologist. Again I sat multiple timed assessments with the psychologist and he tested my reading, writing, puzzle-solving skills. He also tested my mental maths (which I am terrible at, hence why I'm studying law).
Some difficulties I encountered were: how am I going to tell mum and dad?, why do I not understand this reading?, why do I take longer to complete my coursework even though I started before my friends?
All these thoughts used to juggle on my mind and were consistent during my LPC. Although studying the LPC involved a lot more case-work, there was a TONNE more reading.
Will things get better?
YES they certainly will.
In my family, I am the only 'dyslexic', left-handed child and although it has put a strain on my personal confidence and work ethic, I also see things in a different way. For example, I prefer to use colours and model maps when I work, to break down the larger chunks of readings or problems.
I set things in a different perspective to my siblings.
I prefer to sort issues and do things in a practical manner.
Yes, I do want to give up sometimes but I remember that once I plan my ideas and tasks, nothing is impossible.
Lesson: never give up, keep trying because the more you practice, the better things will get.
Agree with the post! Keep shining 💖
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