My Dyslexia Story: From Illiterate to University Lecturer 

I'm sharing my story, because I hope it will help somebody, who is struggling like I did. My background is the reason why I feel so passionately about the topic and why I have been making and will likely continue to make educational content on dyslexia.

Hey, I just found your channel recently ( new subscriber) and as someone who got diagnosed with adhd in college, I discovered that I was borderline dyscalculic after a recent neuropsychology evaluation. Your story is very inspiring, unfortunately I never had any real support system or teachers as my parents were in denial about my problem ( I am from India where the education system is very metrics based and academic failures are othered and kicked out of mainstream education, moreover LD is a very big stigma due to limited understanding and poor teacher training). I went through hell for much of my childhood and adolescence with teachers branding me a lost cause. Now I hold a degree in child development and am due to pursue masters and a research based career in cognitive developmental neuroscience starting from this year. Your videos are a gem and shines light in the much ignored corners of the classroom. Thank you so much!❤

Thank you for allowing yourself to be vulnerable and sharing this with the world. Much of what you went through I can relate too. I never had to leave my home country and I can only imagine the stress that caused you and your family. I did have to attent speacial education classes due to my dyslexia. I was bullied by my peers and called stupid by my teachers. I was lucky enough to have supportive partners that placed me on a specilized school for learning disabilities. But that broke my self image as some of my classmates where autistic, or had down syndrome. I know the determination you speak of. I was also determined to prove my teacher's wrong. That I am smart and could go to university, which I did. I also know what it like to be your own worst critic. Even when you succeed, you always think you could have done it better. You are an inspiration to the dyslexic children that are stuck in a school system that was never ment for them. Keep doing what you do! Its more meaningful than you know!

Thank you so much for these wonderful insights. They mean a lot. - In 6th grade Spanish class the teacher yelled at me saying, “You are so F***-ing stupid!” The good news is, my mother complained I never had to go to Spanish again and got a C! The C brought up my GPA! - But here’s the wild thing. I'm 68 years old and only months ago figured out that my problem was a combination of dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia. Now I’m telling my friends about it and I’ve found 3 dyslexics my age that similarly don’t know much about the subject other than they have it. Nobody knew about these things 50-60 years ago. We were stupid or under-achievers. - It's been absolutely fascinating to watch all of your videos, and those of others, that bring me so many revelations. - I can’t tell you times tables reliably above 6X. But like you, I had the last laugh. I have had a very successful career, running very large companies, controlling billions in assets, and I am married to a top of her class MD. - It took decades of trying to prove myself to myself and others before I finally let it all go. I just laugh at myself, and live in gratitude every day. Thank you again; what a riddle you helped me solve in my lifetime!

You have actually helped me so much and I’m actually learning a lot from you! Dyslexic people are actually very smart !

I was so ashamed for most of my life about my dyslexia and could never take a compliment about my intelligence, I just thought that people were being kind. I see now, how it truly is a blessing and how lucky we are to have dyslexia. I mean we share the same hardwiring with so many legends! How cool is that?! Thank you for sharing your story with us!

I hate being dyslexic. People either don't believe it or tell me to use it as an excuse. I don't understand why they don't want to understand that I can't understand some things. By the way, thanks for sharing your story.

The fact you are a acedemic with dyslexia is bad ass to me as a dyslexic. A music teacher gave up on trying to teach to read sheet music, and just let me learn music by ear. I always been bad at school though.

I feel so sad that this is so normal for us dyslexics. I remember being forced to stand up in class when I was 8 and tell my class how stupid I was and to appologize for holding them all back as my teacher needed to spend more time getting things through my “thick skull”. The next year, another teacher hit me across the face in class because I kept getting a question wrong and she kept repeating the question more aggressively like that would make me get it. This was all in the 90’s in the UK. I got diagnosed at 11 and we moved to New Zealand in hopes things would be better but I was horrifically bullied by my teachers. My classmates took it as permission to bully me to so I got into a lot of fights and was expelled at 16. I was so depressed and felt so useless that I refused to do anything with my life for a few years, I just thought whatever job I could get would only prove how much of a failure I was. I ended up becoming a drug addict and that was my life until 2019 when my brother died and I got clean. With new direction I applied for university and failed the entrance exam. They put me into a class called ‘University preparation’ which is essentially the last 3 years of highschool condensed into a single year. I downloaded the course syllabuses and taught myself everything I needed to learn in 6 months and got straight A’s on everything that year. Now I am in my second year at uni, having completed 12 courses so far, I have got A’s on all of them, top of the class in 5. But it feels so empty as you say, I built this armour to shield myself from other peoples opinions and from school performance marks that I just stress the whole time that people will find out that I’m really just stupid

You and your parents are so inspiring. I appreciate that you never give up, and you're helping others find solutions. I still struggle to accept my accomplishments as a dyslexic writer. I'm still waiting for someone to point out my mistakes. You've inspired me to go to a therapist and work it out. Thank you

This was very encouraging for me. I'm dyslexic. School has always been a lot of work, and I've never been "good" at it. The help I received made a world of difference, but school was still a lot of work and very difficult at times. I didn't want to go to college (and didn't at first, for years I was working and building my resume), but at the age of 24, I recently finished my first two semesters of college with A's in all my classes. I still don’t know how to accept that or the positive feedback I've received. To hear that you have had to work through learning how to let positive feedback in and change how you see yourself, comforts and encourages me as I am going through something similar. Like you were saying, it sounds good but it can come with some hard stuff to work through. I hadn't heard anyone acknowledge that before. I'm so glad that you’ve made it to a place in your story where you are grateful things worked out the way they have. You have helped a lot of people. God bless.

Thank you so much Arjie for your videos and for your personal sharing here! I live in Canada and I am 52 years old and I have never had any educational testing however because of your dyslexia information and You might be dyslexic videos, I will be getting a psycho educational assessment in a few months. Because they are very expensive tests I had to try many different agencies to help cover the costs ...it felt like a lot of doors being closed in my face but now I will get one a lower cost at a local university by Masters students learning the process but they are of course supervised by their professors. So thank you again! I really like your videos you have a caring, kind demeanour and I trust your intention and quality of information. i am pursuing a masters in counselling psychology right now so your information is extremely helpful and video format is excellent !!

Excellent video. Telling your story will enable others to tell theirs. It is more impactful than facts: even though both stories and data are important. The worst thing any teacher can do is underestimate someone. I’m lecturing tomorrow on the importance of access to audio and tools like immersive reader. As a dyslexic university teacher mother of dyslexics, please tell your parents that they are epic!

I have Dyslexia, I also have Dyscalculia.

All I can say is - thank you - I'm no longer feeling alone in this world of math and reading. My self image is getting better all the time because of you, thank you again.

How lovely, love your mum to hide it away from you, she was right you didn’t need to know that!

i must admit i really did not like the moment i could leave school i did, when i first went to college i resived little to no help until i decided to go back to study horticulture. at that college they helped me a lot with my dyslexia and i even managed to receive some awards. but i did have a nagging feeling did i deserve it, but ii do tend to have a negative opinion of myself, i did not even go to my graduation but i think that was more i feel overwhelm and over stimulated in large crowds specially with noises and bright lights i just shutdown or tend to freak out. one thing i liked about college was i actually found friends for the first time in my life which i still have amazingly.

Thank you for sharing your story. It took me 8 years to open up about my journey with Dyslexia. I'm becoming more open about it 😌

Awesome, I feel A LOT of your story! School people (and classmates) thinking I am dumb, some teachers but not all of them. Math wasn't a problem unless it involved a story I had to read. If I was graded only on the questions I could answer (in the time frame given), I would have had all 92% or higher. What is encouraging and discouraging is that I believe I was trying/working so hard that no one noticed the dyslexia. And growing up in the middle of nowhere with all the teacher only basically trained to teach their 1 or 2 subjects and not at all trained to spot dyslexia in more than one form was not conducive to recognizing students that needed a different teaching approach for their learning compacity. Thanks for sharing Arije!

Hi Arije, thank you so much for your content. I live in Belgium and my son has been struggling with concentration and learning to read, write and spelling. The teacher just told me that she thinks he is dislexic or might have adhd. We are going to have him tested and find the best way to help him.

This is very encouraging. My son who is a senior in high school, stated the other day that he doesn’t have anything any college would want because his sat scores are very low. There’s more to intelligence than being able to read. His ability to understand, retain, and utilize information is way above mine and I can read perfectly. I tell him all the time that he’s really smart but the way public schools are set up, it’s a hard job convincing him of this fact. I feel bad that we couldn’t afford a more specialized system of education for him.

Mooi verteld Arije. What a journey and kudos to your parents for advocating for you and helping you succeed. I am the mother of a dyslexic son and recognize some things you tell about. I've also written a children's book about a dyslexic boy at elementary school to promote dyslexia awareness in children and adults.

Thank you for sharing your story. Another story from Eric George about his experience at The Higher Education for Learning Problems (H.E.L.P.) Program created by Dr. Barbara Guyer at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, lead to my own diagnosis of dyslexia at age 45. I am 70 now, and wish I had known earlier. Keep sharing! Garry J. Brown, DO, MS 6/24/2023 08:30 Pacific

Thanks for sharing. Not sure where I would be without the obstacle of Dyslexia. I certainly don't avoid challenges, such as climbing 😅

Thank you sharing your story. Your parents are brilliant and I am so glad you had them to support you. Your kindness and determination is truly inspiring ✨️

Thank you Arije for being brave and sharing your story. It’s not easy to do and I applaud you for doing it. Self-esteem is a tough thing, especially when you’ve been through the dyslexic route in school. I’m so happy for the generation now who has the knowledge, if they want to understand, what their learning disabilities are and how they can combat or compensate for them. Bravo!

How is the understanding of dyslexia in education today? I believe 99.9% that I am dyslexic too. In elementary, I needed special ed for reading and writing. I'm good with wriiting today but sometimes struggle with reading. I often have to pause videos in order to read the message. I remember how written instructions made me nervous. I used to avoid them like the plague. In math, I was pretty strong where I made it to multivariable calculus in college.

💗😊💕Take care, from a fellow dyslexic.💗😊💕

I’m sorry I have to complain I can’t understand your dad or your mum be really nice if you had a audio version of what they’re saying lol

I'm from Chile, I have dyslexia and I want to thank you for your videos, they serve a lot

I just popper back in and I see you have 23k subscribers now!! Congratulations man! I'm glad you didn't give up! Keep going. Your channel is important for us!

Thanks for making me feel accepted

Thank you.

Your story is inspiring, Arije. Thank you for allowing us to hear it ❤

Thank you for sharing. I think teachers dismiss dyslexia students a lot of the time and we feel deflated. I’ve learned to embrace my dyslexia now. My only issue now in uni is there’s a lot of reading to do. I don’t enjoy reading. Any tips ?

I actually moved from Germany because I was worried about how the school and Uni system handles dyslexic and dyscalculic students. I do not agree with the way Germany tracks students especially at such an early age. It would be interesting to hear how you were placed in German schools and how you got into Uni and what your experience was in German Uni. What accommodations and support do German Unis give?

Your mum and dad are fabulous people. They have been very active in their support for you. Thankyou for telling your story. Your channel is terrific.

Not letting even the positive feedback seek in- finally I understand why. Thank you. ❤

My reading is impeccable, it’s my comprehension that’s the problem.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Thank you for your story

Thank you for sharing your story. I remember I was told I was not living up to my potential and that I could apply myself better.

❤