Socializing with a Learning Disability
Don't Be Afraid to Take A Chance to Share Your Experience
Dyslexia is a camouflaged difference that you can't see and or tell if the person standing next to you has. For instance, say you are dyslexic and you go to a party. If you could tell a person was dyslexic, you might feel more comfortable going up to them and talking to them then you would to a person who doesn’t have dyslexia. But if we want to tell somebody that we have dyslexia, we have to take a risk.
Say I’m at an imaginative party. I know that the ratio of people with dyslexia in America is 1-5, so if I want to tell somebody that I have dyslexia, there’s a 20 percent chance that person will have dyslexia and know exactly what I am talking about. But while the other 80 percent who don’t have dyslexia might be sympathetic, they won’t know what it is like living with dyslexia. However, one should not be afraid to open up about their differences. When I was growing up and hanging around my parents’ parties, I often told people and would sometimes get a response from them saying that they also have dyslexia, or know someone who does.
Now that I think about it, this is how I began helping people with dyslexia. My parents always told me to never be ashamed of who I was and the difficulties that I faced, and that talking about my problems will help people by letting them know that they are not alone. So the way I see it, when I’m talking about my dyslexia and trying to educate people – even at a party – I’m on the clock.
Sometimes what I do is start a conversation. If things are going smoothly, I will ask the person about their education. Then I will try to find a crack in the conversation to ask the question, “Do you have dyslexia?” If they say no, then I will tell them that I have it. Almost always they will respond that they know someone who has dyslexia. I will then let the winds of the conversation do the rest of the work and see where things go. If they ask how I have coped, or where I have found help that might be of use to their friend, I will mention my memoir, A Different Life: Growing Up Learning Disabled and Other Adventures, and my website, FriendsOfQuinn.com, which has resources for people of all ages dealing with dyslexia.
My main message is always the same: just because you have a learning disability/learning difference like dyslexia doesn’t mean you should be afraid to talk about it.