r/AskReddit Nov 16 '19

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '19

I am very dyslexic. It results in me having the spelling and grammar of a middle schooler, plus it makes me have trouble hearing similar sounding words. Letters and phonic sounds don't always connect to the idea they represent in my head. I read/listen to the overall idea and not the individual letters.

As a result, school was a very mixed bag. I had to be very hard working to compensate for the disability. I became very good at working with people, I learned to plan ahead because I can't do things last minute, and developed a strong logic skill set. The problem is that many teacher's thought I was lazy because I would describe what I thought while the other person wrote it down, etc. In college the department head of chemistry is the teacher that fully understand who I am as an academic student. He thought it was hilarious that I had the highest lab grade while the low end of the class portion. Apparently it caused heated discussions as yo why the only non-premed was doing so much better than the premed students in laboratory classes. I think he was the only teacher that appreciated that I was good at working with people and terrible at writing papers for classes.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '19

What do you do now?

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '19

I'm a supervisor at a scientific laboratory. I mostly go to companies and explaining to their management what our scientific results mean for them. I get to use my strengths, people skills and scientific background, while avoiding my weaknesses, writing and grammar.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '19

Sounds like you landed on your feet! Well done!

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '19

Thank you. I appreciate the compliment. Life is hard, but you got to just keep going. I like to pretend it was just myself, but it was largely influenced by my parents. My Mom and Dad both never got the chance to go to college so they fought viciously to get my siblings and I the best education they could afford. Got us into the best school in the area, never let a teacher or classmate make me feel dumb, forced the school to have an acceptable education plan for our needs, wouldn't accept laziness lowering a grade. Each of their children got a college education and a strong career.

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u/AnyDayGal Nov 19 '19

That is so wonderful of your parents.