Living with dyslexia - A successful Sidmouth woman's story

Living with dyslexia has had a huge impact on Julie Steeples' life but despite the challenges she has created a successful business in Sidmouth.

Julie, 50, the owner of Sidmouth Fabrics, sat down with Nub News and representatives from Dyslexia 4 Adults today to explain the challenges she, and many others, face on a daily basis and how she has adapted to life with dyslexia.

One in 10 people have the features of dyslexia and many people will be living with it but have no idea.

"Primary school was awful,"explained Julie. "All I can remember was being destroyed by my teacher. He completely decimated my interest in art. It was hell by the time I went to secondary school. At 13 I was very angry and aggressive.

"I never read a book as a child, I tried but it was soul destroying. I was pulled out of French and mainstream English.

"I can remember being put in a room alone for hours.

"I got into some really bad behaviours and ended up hurting a few of my closest friends. I felt that shame for years."

Julie felt like she had missed all of her opportunities and was resigned to the role of cooking, cleaning and looking after her younger brother.

"Being told that's all I was good for was incredibly damaging," said Julie.

"Then I became a mother and looking after my children and my husband became my role in life.

"At 29 I decided to do a City and Guilds dress making class. That was a turning point, by this time I had gone to get some help.

"I turned 30, broke up with my husband and got a job in Debenhams. I was still very vulnerable."

She went to Tiverton College to do an access course, where she was first assessed for dyslexia.

Alongside her second Dyslexia assessment at Exeter Business School, Julie was screened for Visual Stress (most evident in difficulties reading black print on white paper) and knowing she had this helped to further explain the difficulties she had.

"I came out of the second assessment and just cried," explained Julie. "I had been told for years I was thick and I was worried for my children. Now I understood me and that made a huge difference.

"It's been a battle and I still have struggles accepting who I am. It's my friends who have helped me the most, I am lucky."

Julie believes getting dyslexia assessments should be made much easier.

Helen Andrews, of Dyslexia 4 Adults, was on hand to explain how much has changed for people living with dyslexia and how much more needs to be done to help adults with the condition. She said: "In the old days if you had money to find out, you were dyslexic. If you didn't have the money, you were thick.

"Dyslexic people have a real feel for business. A lot of billionaires and entrepreneurs are dyslexic, Richard Branson for example. If you have dyslexia you belong to a special group of people who think differently. You've got a special something.

"Self-employment and dyslexia work well together. You can work on your own terms. We should encourage dyslexic entrepreneurs and not put people in boxes. You need people with this lateral thinking.

"Right now there simply aren't enough free assessments for adults or children, and the latter sometimes only have one if they have behavioural as well as dyslexic issues. We believe that everyone should have the chance to find out the nature of difficulties they have; but few do."

Living with dyslexia continues to impact Julie's life, as she explained: "The biggest impact has been with my children. I have never been able to help them with their homework. That's the biggest thing for me at home and it makes me feel so incompetent.

"At work it's confidence and writing letters. I don't shout enough about what my business does. I keep my head down because that was what was ingrained in me."

Despite these difficulties Julie owns her own business, Sidmouth Fabrics, and runs classes on dress making and sewing. She recently booked Exeter Racecourse to hold a Creative Textile Festival, featuring more than 50 traders, on September 8. She is the festival's only organiser.

Today's interview was set up by Dyslexia 4 Adults' Helen Andrews.

Dyslexia 4 Adults is a service set up to support adults and students who think they might be dyslexic and 'treat them with the respect they may not have had previously'. For 20 years the service's educational psychologists have specialised in assessing adults and students for dyslexia, dyspraxia and related Specific Learning Differences (SpLDs).

Meeting face to face with people like Julie is incredibly important for the service, as Helen explained: "Julie has a story to tell, assessment and finding out about herself has made a huge difference in her life. If you know yourself and understand what you are dealing with you can move forward in a different way.

"This job is about people and making a difference in their lives. We believe everyone should have an assessment but that is not always possible, mainly due to financial reasons.

"That's why Dyslexia 4 Adults has devised a solution for those who cannot access assessment - 'The D4A Screening and Evaluation' which helps to identify features of Dyslexia and other SpLDs (Specific Learning Differences) such as Dyspraxia.

"Julie's story emphasises the impact of not knowing you are dyslexic. How many people are living with dyslexia and have no idea?

"The system is all or nothing at the moment. You either get all the help or you are ignored. We all need to realise dyslexia is mainstream, it is not unusual.

"Right now there is no joined up system, there is no one place to discover the issues, what that means to you and how you can deal with it."

She added: "I believe adults want to know what they are struggling with. Even if it is something simple which can start the ball rolling. Mental Health is being talked about more freely than ever before. I think there is a space for dyslexia to be spoken about in the same way."

Julie summed up the issues around dyslexia perfectly, she said: "Don't be ashamed that you have a learning difficulty or difference. It's not a disadvantage any more. I can appreciate my own skills and qualities much more than I used to.

"As soon as I was diagnosed I felt an enormous amount of relief, I'm not thick. It's about learning to be you and not hiding, I've lived with this for a long time.

"I like who I am now and I've got a great business. I cannot ask for more."

If you would like to find out more about identifying Dyslexia and SpLDs in Adults, and the work done by Dyslexia 4 Adults, click the red button below.