Be a Brilliant Dyslexic Student — Sage Perspectives Blog

By Sarah J Myhill

‘Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb the tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.’ - Albert Einstein

Dyslexia is a learning difference with a combination of strengths and weaknesses that affects around 15-20% of the population. It is mostly genetic in origin and therefore with you from cradle to grave. 43% of dyslexic students are diagnosed when they reach university as they adjust to the increased academic workload. Many adults in the workplace are undiagnosed.

Albert Einstein was dyslexic, as is Richard Branson, who believes that those with dyslexia hold the ‘skills of the future’. He may be right as over 50% of entrepreneurs are said to have dyslexia.

I am passionate about raising awareness of the strengths of dyslexia and of effective study strategies that can support academic achievement. My recent book allows me to share my knowledge and experience, reaching a wider audience and hopefully boosting the confidence and grades of more students and pupils across the UK and internationally.

“Everybody has strengths and weaknesses. In many countries, dyslexia and other learning differences are not recognised or supported and in the UK knowledge and support is patchy. This can drain the self-confidence of very able children and adults and can be a waste of wonderful, creative talent that only needs some understanding, education, and support.” – Sarah J Myhill

Dyslexia results in difficulty with specific areas of learning such as reading, writing, spelling, memory, and speed of processing of information. However, there are almost always compensatory strengths in creative thinking, visual skills, and problem-solving abilities.

When you have dyslexia and processing takes longer, you need to think about how you learn and what works best for you. With motivation, determination, self-belief, and knowledge of some support strategies, you can achieve your potential and your goals.

I feel I have been able to bring my creativity and visual training as an architect to my current role of dyslexia support tutor, by avidly researching a wide range of evidenced-based study skill strategies and presenting them to students in a visual and dynamic way, mostly in the form of workshops, delivered 1:1 or to groups. With experience I have been able to see what techniques really work and condensed the information into digestible strategies that are easily absorbed and put into practice to help students achieve their best academically.

Students today do not want to read text heavy study skills books, especially dyslexic students. My book has taken from my experience and been designed to both increase awareness of dyslexia and showcase the effective study support strategies that have been tried and tested with the students that I have supported over the last 7 years. Most of these students have left with good degree results, showing that support and hard work does pay off.

The book is an accessible, positive study guide for students with dyslexia and for those who suspect they might have it, to empower them to achieve their academic goals. Designed in the format of a workbook with activities and checklists to fill in, it is packed with information delivered in a visual way, on what dyslexia is and how to recognise and work to one's strengths. Areas covered include reading, writing, memory, concentration, and time management techniques, which would be helpful for all students not just those with dyslexia.

In this age of technology, of Instagram and TikTok, short attention spans and instant gratification, we are all finding it hard to concentrate, not just dyslexic students. It is said that what is good for dyslexic students is good for all students and I have certainly found that many study strategies, such as getting the big picture before diving into the detail, chunking time and reviewing information within 24hours of hearing/learning it to help embed the memory, are of benefit to us all.

learn more

Book Details
Be a Brilliant Dyslexic Student
Sarah J Myhill
June 2022
ISBN: 9781529790818Z

About the Author

Featured

Sarah J Myhill is a Specialist Dyslexia Tutor and Lecturer at the University of Buckingham. She is a qualified architect and lighting designer but had a career change in 2015 due to some vision difficulties and achieved a postgraduate qualification in Language, Literacies and Dyslexia in Higher Education from University of Birmingham. She also holds Associate Membership of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA FE/HE) and Association of Dyslexia Specialists in Higher Education (ADSHE). Sarah is also qualified to use the ACE+ to identify ADHD in young people.

In 2022 she published a study skills book ‘Be a Brilliant Dyslexic Student’ with Sage Publishing as part of their Super Quick Skills (SQS) series and qualified as a mindfulness teacher with Mindfulness Now in 2023.

Sarah gives talks, lectures and workshops on dyslexia awareness and supportive study skill strategies, topics include, concentration, mindfulness, memory techniques, mindset and mind mapping, along with reading and writing strategies.