Dyslexic Traits: Leaning in and not Falling Over

Nathan Whitbread

Neuro Divergent Coach

I’m Nathan Whitbread and I run a coaching and training business, that equips individuals and teams to overcome obstacles and increase their effectiveness.

We work across commercial, public services, and not-for-profit sectors.

TL:DR (To Long: Didn’t Read)

Dyslexia: strength amplification, difficulty management.
Embrace who you are.
Connect with your tribe, find effective partners.
Action matters more than timing.

As a man of nearly 50, I stand here reflecting on what seems like a pretty long life of managing and dealing with, as well as celebrating many of the traits of dyslexia and the other associated Neurodivergent conditions that turn up in me.

(I mention this because cooccurrence is the rule rather than the exception, so don’t be surprised to see other traits in dyslexic individuals.)

Although I’ve had dyslexic traits all my life, I wasn’t diagnosed until age 35, so I had to navigate much of this space without understanding what was happening. This has been frustrating and joyful, with many laughs and tears on the way.

From early life, dyslexia has made me quite different in how I approach things, make friends and form relationships. This has impacted me in many exciting ways, opening opportunities and creating heartache and frustration. I think there’s something significant here about noticing and supporting others to notice what they’re great at (so these can be amplified) and helping them build strategies and cope with the things they find difficult (so these can be managed).

One of the things I always found challenging was writing. As I dictate this blog, I reflect on how difficult it has been to put the words on the page and then to read them back and realise they bear no resemblance to the ideas I had in my head. Many tools have changed this for me more recently, which I wish I had access to when I was at school and in other educational settings. As it feels like knowing how this works, I could have had a very different journey through education. Would it have been better? I don’t know because I had to overcome and, as a result, build relationships and find new opportunities. Still, those opportunities could have been even better with the proper support.

This came to a head for me in one of my first jobs. Someone took some work I produced, put it on an overhead projector, and then went through it line by line, demonstrating all of the errors to me and a group of colleagues. I think I recognised at that moment that I have a choice to be proud of who I am or embarrassed by the things I cannot do. I would always encourage you to be proud because your ideas matter regardless of whether they have the correct spelling, full stops and commas in the right places.

On the flip side, one thing I found incredibly easy is always to see the big picture of what’s going on, which has served me very well in many situations. As a word of caution, it can be tricky when you can see what’s happening and others aren’t ready to see that. So, I think there’s something significant about understanding your traits and getting the right skills to use them appropriately to support others.

No one likes a brilliant ‘Alec’ (No offence to Alec intended), but people do appreciate insight when it’s offered in the right way.

In my life, I coach individuals and organisations to help them be most effective in this space. I’ve learnt one answer does not fit all, and we must talk about strengths and difficulties to carve a path forward that allows people to be their most effective in life and work.

I’ve always seen dyslexia as an opportunity and not a disability; with all opportunities, what matters is how you embrace it and the tribe you build around you to help you do that.

As a final thought, working this out with others is the thing that has changed everything for me. I would encourage you to find partners and a tribe to work with who can support you to be your most effective.

Tools used to write this:

Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Grammarly Professional Edition

Microsoft Editor

Gobbling tools (getting TL:DR nice and tight)

The time it took to write: 26 minutes (without tools, I suspect 3 hours)

Please feel free to contact me here:

Nathan Whitbread

Email: nathan@theneurodivergentcoach.co.uk

Website: www.theneurodivergentcoach.co.uk/

Blog: www.theneurodivergentcoach.co.uk/blog/

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