Resilience and success with dyslexia/learning disabilities
Stories are important pieces of a journey with learning differences (such as dyslexia, ADHD, dyscalculia, or another learning disability). Stories draw us in, make us feel like we are not alone, and offer a perspective of another person’s journey.
Stories have the potential to take what people with learning disabilities can sometimes feel shame and discomfort about and normalize it. As the famous saying goes - what is most personal is what is most universal - we realize that we are not alone when we don’t hide our learning struggles and experiences.
When Colby Sharma joined us for a SYT Learn Live Call, he shared some of the stories of his experience with a learning difference, and some of the lessons that he has learned on how he took adversity in his life and turned it into opportunity and resilience.
Here are some of the key takeaways from Colby’s talk:
Share your story: There is great value in sharing your experiences with others. Whether it is with respect to learning differences, or other adversity, sharing what we have been through can help others feel less isolated. There is so much power in shared experiences.
Choose your response: As humans, we have an agency within us to choose our responses. Colby says that you can choose to feel scarcity or choose to feel abundance. Everyone is going to encounter different types of adversity, but what we do with that experience is what matters.
Mentorship is the key to success: Mentors can provide incredible guidance, support, the experience of someone who has already been through what you are going through, and someone who can see the potential within you. They can help us to refocus on what matters the most, and not lose ourselves in the journey.
Take incremental steps: Incremental steps still move you forward. The little things add up to a big goal. Small steps do not have to be a negative thing as sometimes it is the little steps, or the step back (to see a different perspective or the bigger picture), that help us get what we really want and propel us forward.
Learning differences can pave the way for success: We can succeed because of diversity, not in spite of it. Learning differences can help you be more creative, more vulnerable and more relatable. Even though he didn’t see it while going through it, Colby says his learning difference was doing things FOR him. Early challenges can help to build resilience and prepare you for something great.
Everyone has something to share, and by sharing stories and experiences, we can help people who are on their own journey. Taking little steps, choosing your response, and seeking community and mentorship will all help to SHIFT your experiences of adversity into opportunities.
“It’s important that we share our experiences with other people. Your story will heal you and your story will heal somebody else. When you tell your story, you free yourself and give other people permission to acknowledge their own story.” - Iyanla Vanzant