"Embracing Dyslexia (documentary film)"
A film long overdue… Now we can really being to study the subject, in a more objective way than what we have been doing up till now.
I used to try and spot out the mistakes, the misconceptions, the myths and the lies. That’s what the system of the society we live in always did and taught me, while I was growing up as a dyslexic. Now I know better. Embracing, understanding, looking at both or all sides to a story and synthesizing the various parts of it is harder work but immensely more rewarding and mind-opening. It takes self-confidence, the willingness to shift and the passion to be of service than to remain a critic. It takes the heart's desire to make the leap into wisdom verses replacing it with opinion. Yet, this won't be an easy read...
To doubt, means to be willing to see all possible sides of a matter. But it cannot be an intellectual, theoretical process. It needs to be heart-felt, practical and courageously accepted, where security and previous knowledge seize to provide concrete answers.
Today, we know more about dyslexia than we did twenty years ago. Yet, how much is still unknown compared to what we do know? Can we accept that what we know today, will someday be rejected and that we will have to "start over"?
Still addicted to seeing a "problem" and seeking a "solution", we tend to miss out on a lot that we could have learned along the way. We need to ask ourselves why we need to fix the problem... to fit in the norm? to better meet society's expectations of us? to continue supporting the educational system which needs total re-evaluation? to continue preventing ourselves of seeing the totality of ourselves verses aspects of us? We still have great difficulty in answering the "why" questions...
Labeling and categorizing is what we do in our linear thinking process. The real issue is not whether or not we will label, but what we do with a label that we KNOW speaks of a part and not the whole. It's not whether we accept the label or not, because rejecting still keeps you in fear. The point is to go beyond duality... yet what is beyond duality?
The diagnosis is subjective. There are many more dyslexics than are diagnosed as most diagnostic tests are based on learning difficulties and competence according to the requirements of the system, which is not seriously doubted as to its purposes and methods.
Here's an example.
I woke up this morning and various thoughts started pouring into my mind. It’s not always like this; sometimes there are more, sometimes less, and sometimes not even one… and that’s an achievement believe me! This morning, I noticed that I couldn’t choose a single thought and pinpoint it down. All sorts of them just jumping around in my head, but nothing stuck. Add to that, my dreams of the night before and all the information that was coming in through my senses from my environment but also from within, and you can picture the chaos...
You need to know what to do with this kind of situation because it is the “norm” for dyslexics, otherwise you might get lost in the labyrinth and start naming yourself as incompetent/incapable/ADD/vague daydreamer and so on, which of course has no value in the practicality of everyday living. Thankfully, I've been there before...
I have become a keen observer, so I waited, accepting and observing. I knew that little pieces of a giant puzzle were being presented and would eventually fall into place. Can I know beforehand so that I can easier place them in their right place? No! I first have to allow, observe, accept and then begin to receive clarity. "All" I can do is keep my core intention intact, know my life's purpose and wait for all the rest. There are signs, messages, details waiting to be acknowledged everywhere. It's really a whole mysterious world (and perception). Much more than I could ever describe or place in a rigid structure.
Are we talking about dyslexia or spiritual awakening?
Well, the problem is that if we start excluding from spiritual awakening (just because we don’t really understand the term), we become really lost and misguided into trying to "fix problems", whereas it is our WAY of thinking that remains closed and focused on duality.
Yet, very often, doubting and daring to think outside the box, brings us to the uncomfortable position of having to change our habits, our ideas, our belief structures, and maybe even turn our lives around. We are taught to seek security and fear the new...
- Read at grade level? Why?
- Go to school at a specific age? Why?
- Learn the things you have to learn? Why?
- Learn the things you need to learn when others expect you to? Why?
- Who thought of the “schooling structure” and why?
- What do I as a parent really want for my child? If I want her to be happy with her life, am I?
Much more needs to be doubted…
Ok, so you are getting special coaching and special intervention within the school and learning structure. And that’s a good thing, yet, still not available to all, unfortunately ! But what about beyond that? What happens to everything else in your life?
- You forget a friend’s birthday or telephone number.
- You mix up the dates and go to parties when they have already passed
- You forget that math test or project that had a deadline attached to it
- You see someone in the street and forget their name, even though you know you know them.
- Someone asks you something that you didn’t expect to hear and your mind goes plank, even for simple things like, “what’s the time please?”
- You need to concentrate on a project or a specific tasks and your mind wonders to so many other things that you feel you are swirling in a hurricane.
- You start doing something and lose interest half way, not even sure why.
- You postpone, even the things you like doing, until there’s no more time to do it properly, like you wanted to
- You try hard to follow instructions but you’re already lost even before they are given to you
- You walk into a shop and can’t find the exit, or you step out going in the opposite direction of where you should be going
- You have the ability to see beyond appearances, you have access to so much more information than meets the eye, and yet, what to do with it? You seem slow with the answers but does anyone realize you have tons of information jumping around in your head?
- You can “see” others’ intentions and yet you feel isolated and alone, as most people seem to function easily by excluding and choosing where you seem to be over-whelmed and stuck.
- You absolutely know what you want to say, but you can never catch up with linear time and structure.
- You are so passionate about what you’re involved with that you want the whole world to disappear and time to stop… which happens!. You feel you are being split in half and each self needs to go another way… none of this is evident in others. And you think you are the only freak experiencing this.
- You are committed to taking risks and trying out different possibilities but that sometimes means that you tire easily, you are bored with the norm, you don’t always want to follow others; you have your own way of doing things.
- What do you do with the big picture when everyone else is focusing on the details that either you can’t see or don’t matter to you?
- You’re at the store or the bank and the person hands you the change, which you can’t count because you can’t do the math.
- You fail the math tests, not because you don’t know the concepts but because you haven’t grasped the arithmetic (addition/subtraction/multiplication/division)
- You are taught to use punctuation marks in your writing and speaking (and thinking too?)… but where to put the full stop when you know that only comas make the giant mosaic of this wondrous life, and one little change, changes the whole scenery of comprehension and wisdom revealed? It’s not a matter of right or wrong, it’s a matter of shifting perception.
And there is so much more…
We think we know what dyslexia really is, through speaking with the people who experience it. And this, is just a draft of some of my everyday experiences. But honestly, how many of these people have really thought about themselves and dyslexia beyond what they think they already know through the information that already exists? How many have really doubted the impression they have of what dyslexia is? Even the word we are using to define it, will someday be changed, when we dare to shift our perception beyond words, the educational structure and duality. How many think beyond either “disability” or “gift”, excluding so much more than even they can ever imagine?
In my small experience, I have concluded that EVERYONE can learn to read, write and understand, provided they want to. That is just one aspect of the communication I achieve with the dyslexic people I work with (children and adults). More than anything, these people need someone who has been there, who has seen beyond the known path, who really is willing to shift and get out of their comfort zone for them. That’s a tough one, but a commitment I am devoted to serving.
Forget all you think you know when addressing a new human being? It can be an uncomfortable place to be, if you need to have the “right answers”, if your self-worth is at stake or your paycheck. It can be revealing, refreshing, mind-blowing, apocalyptic, creative, if you dare to remain a learner, a researcher, a traveler and an explorer. I know, when I was growing up, that I would have loved to have one person, just one, who would dare to see the world through my eyes… even though I could hardly (still) describe it! They can all learn… they cannot all become who they really are, unless recognized and helped to express their uniqueness.
No dyslexic is exactly like any other, which makes the whole process of “intervention” much more difficult. Set methods and specific structures, even though “scientifically proven” don’t always work.
Conclusively, this is not a structured article.
Existing within and thinking beyond linear structure can be quite a challenge if you are not dyslexic or right brained (although this term is hardly anatomical, neurologically or scientifically based but more of a poetic concept, which one day will be replaced). Yet, we are at a point in our human evolution where thinking outside the box has become a necessity, for every subject and in every area of our lives. Expanding our consciousness is a requirement we do not have the luxury of over-passing.
We need to make the leap into the unknown, access information we have never accessed before. We need to go way beyond all that we already know and have brought into existence. Dare we place all these people who can help us do this, who can guide the way, into a “disability” category trying desperately to fix/motivate/change/ to suit OUR way, our existing system, which is swiftly changing?
There are many more dyslexics than the 20% of the population that is currently believed to be. Standardized tests won’t reveal this but keen observational skills will definitely provide a different picture.
We need to start thinking the other way round… watch a dyslexic pick up a magazine and “read” it from back to front, or open it on random pages before they look at the back cover. Ever wonder why?
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For more information on a different WAY of thinking that will change your whole perception, contact:
autognosia.dyslexia@hotmail.com
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