Since my last post, I have been wondering… Have I actually created a sense of privilege or entitlement in discussing my being neurodivergent? Let me explain.
With the world very divided now with everyone wanting to have a say in what is right and wrong, I do not want to present my earlier piece highlighting me, being a dyslexic person, requiring special privilege. I wish to share my experience and somehow make those like me who fall under the spectrum of neurodivergence feel that they are not alone.
I enjoy the discourse concerning neurodivergence. So if someone asks me what it means for me as a dyslexic person, especially in the workplace context, I am happy to share my struggles and how I have used my own strategies to overcome my own learning difficulties. I do not require pity or people being overly precious about me. I just want to let others know that I AM JUST UNIQUE (QUIRKY). I will welcome it when an organisation changes its practices and accommodates people who might need support as they try to combine their uniqueness to a commonly accepted work environment.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I only recently chanced upon the term – Neurodivergence. I do not claim myself as an expert but rather as a person who happens to be categorised under this term. So to reiterate, my choosing to talk about this topic, I reckon, selfishly, is to feel it is alright to be dyslexic. Nothing more than that.
While I appreciate that labelling will be inevitable, I do not want to be pigeon-holed because of my learning difficulties. Of course, awareness can be created only through open discussion about neurodivergence. So it is, in fact, a conundrum.
What then? I believe the choice is yours for many who identify or have yet to discover being neurodivergent. How you want to address and broach the subject is really up to you. For me, at least, talking about it is a form of acceptance.