'MyDyslexiaStory: Keri Harrowven
Thursday 20 January 2022
At school I struggled with English, with reading, writing etc. When this was recognised by my teachers I was put in a 鈥漵pecial鈥� class (an extra class on top of usual lessons) where they drummed into us the rules of grammar! At no point did anyone use the word dyslexia. At parents evenings teachers would give my parents the feedback that I just couldn鈥檛 be bothered, and wasn鈥檛 trying or that I was clever, but lazy. Thankfully I had parents who believed in me, knew I wasn鈥檛 lazy and didn鈥檛 let the comments from teachers dictate my confidence or my future opportunities. It still breaks my heart that dyslexia isn鈥檛 picked up earlier in lots of cases.
The skills dyslexia gives me鈥�
Dyslexia has given me the magical combination of being creative, detail focused and analytical. I feel confident this has been of great benefit throughout my career. Now, working as a Digital Workplace Consultant at Invotra Consulting, I believe my dyslexic thinking skills enable me to uncover and analyse the detail of customer鈥檚 needs. Working with clients like Houses of Parliament, NHS Trusts and when onboarding all of our new clients I feel dyslexia allows me to creatively deliver a great digital user experience.
Achieving my full potential
I have had no formal support for my dyslexia! Although I have drawn on the support of numerous colleagues over the years to explore and achieve my full potential. I鈥檝e taught myself to recognise the shape of words. If I have never seen a word written down, I have no idea where to begin with writing it down.
I left school with only CSEs and did a year at sixth form to get my one O-level in Maths. However, when I started work, I immediately could see that I was not actually 鈥榮tupid鈥�, as my teachers had so often made me feel. I was, in fact really quite clever when it came to doing the things you need to succeed in the real world of work.
鈥淢y passion and knowledge of all things usability and accessibility continually grows.鈥�
It was when I started working with computers, with a spell check that I really came into my own. While working for the National Trust I created spreadsheets for the properties to record their daily income. This was previously done manually, on big sheets of paper. I then worked with a developer to build their first database system, to record the income, and this began my passion for delivering a great user experience.
I鈥檝e been working in digital development ever since. I went on to build the first 3 intranets for the National Trust, moving into internal communications and I am now a Digital Workplace Consultant. My passion and knowledge of all things usability and accessibility continually grows.
My advice for someone who has recently been diagnosed with dyslexia:
This is your superpower, and you can do anything you want with it.