Issue 24: Beyond The Challenge | Mikaÿla Perrier

Dyslexic children grow up to be dyslexic adults. I know. I am one of them.

My journey with dyslexia has been quite the challenge, filled with obstacles and anxieties that persist to this day. It wasn't until my 30s that I began to understand how to manage the adversities dyslexia imposed on me. In fact, I didn't just learn to read and write — I had to discover my own way of doing it. I still face daily challenges, but through hard work and determination, I've developed coping strategies to navigate them with more ease. As a graduate in cognitive science, I've had the opportunity to study dyslexia academically, working in a language lab and writing my undergraduate thesis on children with literacy challenges and working memory abilities. I even self-published an eBook aimed at adults with dyslexia. But believe me when I say this path was not predictable. Today, I share my journey from childhood to the present time in hopes of inspiring others like you to overcome your challenges with dyslexia.

As a child, I was deeply curious and had a profound thirst for knowledge. I was skilled in my spoken language abilities, but my academic performance didn't reflect this. I would easily learn the inner workings of things, given that they interested me. Still, I struggled to show any of my understanding and comprehension through the rigid requirements of the educational system that asks students to grasp information by reading and then show their comprehension with their writing abilities. The discrepancy between my informational awareness, creativity, and low grades puzzled my mother; she knew something wasn't adding up. My elementary school suggested to her that I should repeat my first grade instead of moving up with my classmates. However, my mother suspected there was more to the story, so she decided to have me evaluated. That's when I was diagnosed with dyslexia.

I was quite confused as to why others didn't struggle in school like I did.

The support I first received at school was limited, so my mother took matters into her own hands. She enrolled in courses on teaching French (our native language) tailored for dyslexic children. Thanks to her efforts, I managed to scrape by but still only partially thrived. I was quite confused as to why others didn't struggle in school like I did. Indeed, at the time, I could barely piece two words together, let alone string a complete sentence, and as a result, I started to think I was simply dumb.

Then, in fifth grade, my teacher, Miss Sophie, noticed my intelligence and decided to try something different. She offered to have my exam answers recorded orally on a cassette tape (yes, I'm that old!). At first, I didn't want to, as I was afraid of being different from the others in my class, but with some encouragement from my mom, I decided to give it a shot. To my surprise, my grades jumped from the low 50s and 60s to the high 70s and 80s. I finally understood: I wasn't dumb; I just struggled to express myself in written form. Unfortunately, this empowering situation changed the following year when the new teacher did not have the time to transcribe my answers as Miss Sophie did.

Then, in high school, I rebelled. I felt that no matter how hard I tried, my efforts led to very little reward. Thankfully, my principal saw potential in me, and she applied to get me a laptop to use in class. Everything changed again. I could now follow easily and take notes like my classmates, but on my computer instead of relying on pen and paper. The computer would even read text aloud to me. This experience gave me hope, and I decided to take my chances and attend college.

I finally understood: I wasn't dumb; I just struggled to express myself in written form.

I didn't read a full book on my own until I was about 20 years old. Thus, you can imagine how challenging it was to tackle all the reading requirements in higher education. I decided to study computer science and become a computer technician, thinking it would involve more hands-on work and hopefully be less taxing on my literacy abilities. However, I quickly learned that working in IT comes with its load of admin work and that office tasks still demanded adequate literacy proficiency. Then, after graduating, I began working for a school board, where I integrated technology into classrooms from kindergarten to 12th-grade high school. One of my tasks was to deploy Read&Write throughout the school board, a software tool for students with dyslexia. Being dyslexic myself, I was the ideal person on the team to teach teachers and students how to use it effectively.

This role sparked a strong interest in me, and I became enthralled in understanding the dyslexic brain—both the students' and my own. As time passed, I realized there was more to learn than I could ever do on my own, so I enrolled in university to study cognitive science. As such, my university journey began later, in my mid-twenties. Excited, though a little apprehensive, as I knew I hadn't fully mastered my reading and writing abilities, I marched forward. Writing was especially tough, and I used my computer to get through the lengthy required readings.

I didn't read a full book on my own until I was about 20 years old.

In university, I took courses in psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and neuroscience, effectively learning how humans learn to learn. Through lots of hard work and many sleepless nights, I maintained the required grade standing to enroll in the undergraduate honours stream, which consisted of writing an undergraduate thesis work. I decided to research and write my thesis on the relationship between reading abilities in children with reading challenges and their working memory abilities. Ultimately, I graduated with honours and high distinction, with a deep understanding of the cognitive mechanism of how humans read and write. Furthermore, I noticed that resources for dyslexic adults were quite scarce, and thus, through my studies and personal insights, I decided to write and self-publish an ebook: What is Adult Dyslexia - A Guide for Dyslexic Adults. All this in the hopes of helping my community better understand and manage the challenges of their dyslexia.