What makes you #UniquelyYou: Karine

What makes you Uniquely You?

I am a solicitor and my dyslexia gives me a unique way of seeing legal issues that is extremely valuable being able to see the bigger picture and thinking outside of the box when problem solving or creating ideas. This often involves coming up with strategic solutions or asking the right (and often overlooked) questions that allow for robust considerations and sound decisions to be made. My dyslexia also helps me simplify complex information using concise text and/or hand-drawn images.

I have dyslexia and/but…

Dyslexia can affect short term memory, organisation, time-keeping, concentration, multi-tasking, the processing and storage of information, reading, writing, communication, energy levels and/or confidence. Some dyslexics manage to deploy enough coping strategies, energy and ability to overcome their individual challenges, but this often involves working very hard (and extra hours) to do so. Without effective support or reasonable adjustments, however, many are unable to achieve their full potential.

It is important to raise awareness of dyslexia because…

People with learning difficulties are no less intelligent that anyone else but people with dyslexia have often struggled with other people's misconceptions about this at some point. They also might be apprehensive about revealing that they are dyslexic if they haven't been well-supported during education or in the workplace and may have been left feeling self-conscious or even embarrassed by their dyslexia. Many dyslexics go unnoticed and unsupported because some of us are lucky enough to develop coping mechanisms that work well for us.