A bit of a moan

Being a dyslexic journalist. After graduating from an English and Drama degree I thought the last thing I would become is a journalist. I found it hard enough keeping up with the reading at uni let alone trying to make sure my grammar was correct. I also have Irlen syndrome (apparently) which makes it hard to actually read things because letters go in and out of focus and just become a blur most of the time. So my day to day work as a journalist is somewhat challenging. Working in a hot seat open plan office is the first of the obstacles. To me this is the mother of all evils and I can't think of an environment that would be any worse to work in. It's horrible. Firstly because of all the noise. I find it really hard to concentrate when there is lots of back ground noise around me. I also find it weird that every week I'm sat at a different desk so any kind of software that may help me to do my job better becomes redundant because I move all the time. I miss out words in sentences and don't even notice. As I'm going through the negatives I may as well keep going. I'm not the best at articulating what I want to say either. I'm sure this is not only a problem for dyslexics so I will not dwell on this. 

Things that make life easier? If I could work from home I would. This is a given. My own quiet space where I can actually try and concentrate and have all the nice software that helps me. I have learned to be organised. If i'm not organised, my life swirls into more chaos. I am not naturally organised but because it makes such a big difference by being so I think I'm on the edge of obsessive compulsive! I'm not sure which is worse. 

I guess an attribute of being dyslexic is creating thinking and when working in journalism this is something that comes in handy. So that's alright I guess. I avoid reading, that's a biggy. I also find the actual word dyslexic really hard to spell.We all have challenges in our life we must overcome and we all have our different issues. You have to try and make the most of what you've been dealt. And although it seems very unnatural for someone who is dyslexic to work with words I'm going to give it my best shot. I advise you do the same. If you have any advice for me, let me know.