The Adult Side of Dyslexia

First, some background. I have been a correctional adult education instructor for six years. For fifteen years prior to that, I taught high school and college English literature and language.

During these six years, I've become more and more aware of adults with dyslexia in my classroom. They struggle with reading and writing, and I struggle to help them.

I picked this book to read, thinking it would be about methods of teaching adults. Instead, I discovered painful memories told through the tearful voices of adults who have dyslexia. I couldn't stop reading.

I was less than halfway through the book when I started telling my colleagues about it. I couldn't stop taking about it. Even my non-education colleagues were interested.

As we move toward recognizing how dyslexia shapes adults and their learning, this book is an essential tool for gaining empathy. I learned the absolute necessity of sitting and listening to my students, rather than trying to tell them what they need. We teachers like to think we're the experts. This book reminds us that our students are the experts.

I will be recommending this book to my director and the other state directors. It should be required reading for all adult educators, especially those of us in corrections.

In this book Kelli Sandman-Hurley provides an enormously helpful insight into how adults are remembering their childhood growing up with dyslexia (diagnosed or not), all based on her interviews with dyslexics from all walks of life.

My take-away is that it’s crucial that schools and parents do not hold off screening for dyslexia if the signs are there; once it’s suspected, ensure proper action is taken immediately. Ensure that the child understands that they are not stupid, and make sure that they are provided with the right intervention and accommodations for their particular situation.

“It is not the child that needs to change, it is the intervention”

As a society have much to learn and improve on, in how we identify and help dyslexics of all ages. It isn’t acceptable that children and adults do not speak up due to fear of being marginalised (e.g. when applying for school places or job promotions).

Thank you for writing this necessary and eye-opening book about living with dyslexia!

As someone who lives with dyslexics, I found this book very open, the people who took part clearly were able to express their issues with dyslexia especially as an adult it was nice to see such an array of people. People talking about their dyslexia just opens up the world of how it effects each person differently is brilliantly eye opening. Educators would have you believe its just a reading problem but for those who live with it know its so much more than that.

Theres also another chapter that's highly recommended to read, its Traumatic Teaching Practises, this chapter enraged me, as someone who had to go through this with my eldest child, I saw how they treated him I saw how they punished him and I saw how they blamed him for something that was out of his control, they blamed him, they took his breaks away they took his spirit and his confidence, by the time he was heading to high school he was a shell of his former self and it all came down to traumatic teaching and the lengths they went to to really hammer home just how useless he was... in their eyes.

Its hard to educate schools when they think they know best, the thing is, as a parent you can't make them see it, you come off neurotic and unhinged, I just remember writing letters, and endless meetings for provisions and each time they blamed his dyslexia and epilepsy on me, so they moved past blaming the child and blamed the parents instead. At no point would they hold themselves to account. Thankfully, thanks to his epilepsy becoming medicated and a ton of confidence work from his high school he is now a happy exceptionally confident young man, he is in top set for all subjects and he feels completely supported, and because of that he heads up the schools anti bullying team. As irrelevant as this seems in a book review, its not, because the stories from all these people in this book talk about a toxic teacher who bullied them and made them feel less than!

This book should be in every single school classroom across the globe, because it only takes one teacher to destroy a child, but it also only takes one teacher to notice when something is slightly off, so please educate your teachers, have this book on coffee tables, open the dialogue between staff and parents don't leave it to a five minute window during parents evening

Its a well researched well written book with real life accounts. You can get this from all good book sellers, please use your independent shops where possible, they need our support to stay afloat, so go independent!This book is an easy 5 stars. Publication date is 17th November 2021, by Jessica Kingsley Publishers and the ISBN Number is - 9781787754751.

This short book is an excellent resource for parents and educators of dyslexic children and adults, as well as for anyone close to someone who is dyslexic. The author presents a number of excellent suggestions for making life better for those with this disability. She writes with compassion, based on a wealth of interviews with dyslexic adults and obvious experience. The dyslexic adults she profiles range from prison inmates to an Academy Award winner.

Though this book can be read in one or two sittings, it is nonetheless an excellent piece of writing and resource. It is succinct and straightforward, well worth your time.

It was really great. I am not dyslexic but i know a few people who are and this book provided great insights into dyslexia and how the education system impacts students with dyslexia. Greatly recommend.