Sally Gardner: Dyslexia and me

In Dyslexia Awareness Week, Sally Gardner explains how her dyslexia didn’t (in the end) get in the way of becoming an award-winning children’s writer – and it shouldn’t stop you fulfilling your dreams either

It was pretty tricky growing up with dyslexia, because I thought I was clever, and I know that sounds like a silly thing to say, but I didn’t think I was stupid. Yet I obviously was stupid because I couldn’t read or write. I seemed like a bright little girl but all that brightness could never come out because I couldn’t spell anything. So the cat always sat on the mat, it never did anything else, and the day was always sunny, it could be nothing else because I couldn’t spell anything else.

I got stuck on a reading scheme which I hope you guys never come across called Janet and John. Most people flew off it very early on but I got stuck on it for the rest of my time at primary school. I got as far as Janet and John Had a Ball from the age of six to 11. The most exciting thing that EVER happened to them was they got a dog, I almost had a party that day.

When I was at school nobody really knew what dyslexia was. They called it word blind.

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/nov/04/sally-gardner-dyslexia-awareness-week?CMP=twt_gu

I guess that how Sally described her experiences is how it was for people who suffered from dyslexia. It must have been awful for people who were told they were stupid, thick or whatever and to be left behind because they weren't thought to be clever.

It's Dyslexia Awareness Week so I suppose we should be mindful that actualy some people who appear to be stupid, thick or whatever are actually very clever and capable of being successful (and I mean really successful) and Sally Gardner is a prime example of that.

Well done lass.

Yes, I have a brother with severe dyslexia. Sometimes, some people even suggest that I'm...

Oh, never mind.