The Exchanges

Q When did you realize that you had dyslexia and did, were you aware that there was something different in the way you processed information before you got the diagnosis or?

A The diagnosis was back in school. So when I was. 16 or 17 years old was when I was diagnosed. Um, but before that time, I, I was actually, I'm in school, I was actually very poor, all of my subjects, and I was just struggling and kind of mumbling my way through the, through the school years, and so it was, It was quite a tough, uh, tough kind of education for me because I didn't excel in any subjects. I could barely do a lot of the subjects, um, particularly the, the key ones that, you know, math and English and sciences, uh, which, you know, require you to retain a lot of information and, and, uh, and that was how success was really defined in those subjects. And I really, really struggled with, with that. Um, but unfortunately before my diagnosis, I always just, Was, was assuming that I wasn't very good at school. Um, and that was just me. And it was, it was really obviously disheartening for me. I was in all the lowest, the lowest classes for these, uh, for these subjects. Sometimes my classes were just like two or three people in them. Um, and yeah, they weren't very fun. You know, we're, we're learning the basics all the time. We tended to be given, um, extra time in the exams, but then extra time meant that you had to arrive early for exams. Um, and that might, you know, going into school earlier and you can often get into school earlier. So I never used the extra time. A…

AI assessment note: “when I was. 16 or 17 years old was when I was diagnosed.”

Q you were able to label it. How did that change? The way you saw yourself, how did that change the way you saw your life trajectory? Um, you know, I, I know that you started a web design agency. I think that was maybe out of like your enjoyment of art, as you were saying, as you got into the 16, 1718. Why don't you talk a little about that?

A When I got the label, I was, you know, 1617 years old. I could actually read up on, on what the label meant and that was really helpful. So I could do a lot of research. And I read a lot about dyslexia and what that meant. And that was really helpful for me because I could quite quickly realize, hey, this isn't all bad news. And this is the coping mechanisms. And these are all the famous, you know, important, clever people that have dyslexia and have been successful. So you're not going to be, you know, unsuccessful just because of this label. And there's all these like things that it opened up. It was just like a box of, uh, of information I could suddenly go to. And I could like, This is all the things, all the resources, and it was amazing for me to be able to do that. And quite quickly after that, you know, maybe six to 12 months after getting the diagnosis, I could then start actually building on the strengths and playing on the strengths. Although it was difficult, I could start to identify, you know, what my strengths actually were and then, you know, use those to my advantage. So exactly like you just mentioned, I started when I was 17 years old. A web design agency, and that was, you know, purely based on the fact that I could Design on, on the screen. I could, uh, you know, create things, which I love doing. I loved creating things. I hated, you know, writing an essay…

AI assessment note: “I could quite quickly realize, hey, this isn't all bad news.”

Q meaning, but, um, generally reading is fine long term, but, um, or long, not long term. Generally reading is okay, but, um, it can also present issues at times, so. Videos are great to handle that. Getting, getting information presented to you visually. Um, so yeah, very, very interesting experience so far. Um, and so Do you find that being dyslexic makes running a business harder or easier for you?

A The obvious answer would be no, but the, the answer I've experienced is yes, it does make it easier. And it's only because I've managed to cope and figure out how to handle the dyslexia though. I think if somebody diagnosed me last year, I'd like, oh shit, like it'd be really difficult, you know, trying to figure it out, trying to manage the, The dyslexia and the challenges that come with it and run a business should be really hard. Um, but thankfully I've had, you know, a long time like you to kind of figure out and deal with the, Deal with all the problems that it brings and then also come up with solutions. So yeah, the, the, the answer today is yes, it does. And I think the biggest thing probably for me, Sean, is the organization that it brings. The fact that I can organize a bit like you, you have to really, really focus, um, by really focusing and organizing stuff, you know, I can like, I can stack up an entire, you know, project planner, for example, I can, you know, consume it all and figure it all out. And I do like, um, shorthand notes and stuff as well, which it helps again, cause there's less words. You don't have to read as much. Um, but doing all of that and actually allowing me to really laser focus on the, On the challenger or the project at hand actually does allow, I think, me to deliver, um, you know, a more successful outcome for business. A great example, I…

AI assessment note: “the answer I've experienced is yes, it does make it easier.”

Q What other things have we not kind of touched upon related to dyslexia and your company and things that it's helping or hurting or, um, or anything else about dyslexia in general that we haven't really covered that you, that's interesting to you that you want to talk about?

A I think one of the interesting things I would love to talk about is just the impact of dyslexia and other neurodiverse issues when it comes to the hiring of people. So you spoke at the start about the fact that companies base their decisions on a piece of paper, and that piece of paper is, is literally the The deciding factor whether you get a job or not, and what's interesting about that when it comes to dyslexia in particular is that dyslexia does not lend itself very well to writing, um, you know, pages about you, and writing them well. You know, dyslexia, people tend to put in, you know, the wrong word, they'll put in spelling mistakes, they'll struggle with the organization of the CV, the actual structure. You know, typical CV has got a specific structure, And if you don't follow that structure, then your CV typically goes in the bin because it doesn't match everyone else's. And I find all that stuff really quite mind blowing because, you know, we're both on the call with, with issues with the way we learn and challenges and things. We're not alone. There's obviously hundreds of millions of people around the world with, with similar issues. And yet the traditional way of hiring is to ask for a couple of sheets of paper. And for everyone's, you know, structure and format to be the same as each other. And that's how we'll base our decisions on whether we hire someone into ou…

AI assessment note: “impact of dyslexia and other neurodiverse issues when it comes to the hiring of people”

Q detrimental, um, in, in our ability to communicate with each other. Um, but also to be fair, I've had coffee this morning, so imagine having ADD coffee and mushrooms. And, uh, and, and this is what this episode is for me. When we started you, I saw you drinking an espresso. Um, how does the espresso change your, the way your brain works, I guess, so long throughout the day?

A It's a terrible thing to do. So I basically shouldn't drink espresso, but I really liked the taste and the smell of coffee. Um, but it really doesn't help at all with anything. Uh, so yeah, I'll like have one in the morning and then one around lunchtime. Uh, but it doesn't help with dyslexia one bit. Just, uh, it just adds a lot of unnecessary stress and, uh, and chaos to my brain, but because I love it so much, I can't, I can't cut it out, unfortunately. It's definitely not the right thing to be doing. You want to have, like, no caffeine, no stimulants, no depressants, just, uh, no suppressants, just, just water is, uh, and, and chemicals as well. Any chemicals in your hair So I, uh, I'll have like a Diet Coke every day, obviously full of chemicals, but Yeah, these are not, these are not great for, for dealing with any kind of neurodiverse issues.

AI assessment note: “It just adds a lot of unnecessary stress and, uh, and chaos to my brain”

Q deal with it. You know, there, there was no Wikipedia in the nineties to go, what the hell is ADD and why do I have it? Um, and, and all of that. Now, uh, medication is one of the number one coping mechanisms for ADD, which I think is wrong, but is there no medication or anything that can make the symptoms easier or go away in dyslexia at all?

A Not that I'm aware of the most common roots of, of kind of cure or treatment are, are really, um, cognitive, cognitive behavioral therapy. So CBT Uh, which can help you just kind of get over some of the, the real focus challenges. It's similar in terms of ADD. When it comes to focus, it's hard to focus on, on words on the page. Uh, it's hard to focus and organize things as well. So you often, you'll struggle to, you know, imagine like a jigsaw, you'll struggle to put all the pieces into the right place, even a very simple jigsaw, because there's just a lot moving, a lot going on, and you struggle to focus on each piece. As an individual piece with all the, you know, the, the content on the piece. Um, so that helps just focus and organize your life. Uh, people that have it worse than me also really struggle with organizing their day. So just like, you know, getting out of bed, having a shower, going to work can be quite challenging. Uh, that wasn't the case for me so much. And, and anything that I did do just strengthen that. So I really worked hard and organizing myself quite early on, realized that Um, and, and probably like going back even before the diagnosis, I used to make huge lists of, of things to do each day. You know, like I literally write down breakfast, uh, put on clothes. I really enjoyed like completing all these things off. It helped me feel really structured. O…

AI assessment note: “Not that I'm aware of the most common roots of, of kind of cure”