Inspired by a third-year course at Carleton University, Mikaÿla Perrier created and self-published an online guide to navigating adult dyslexia in November.
What is Adult Dyslexia — A Guide for Adult Dyslexics, is now available for free as an e-book.
In her book, Perrier describes dyslexia as “a specific learning disability that is hereditary and results in brain differences that affect a person’s ability to read and write efficiently.”
Perrier, a fourth-year cognitive science student at Carleton University, was diagnosed with dyslexia at eight years old. Perrier said she felt it was important to create a resource for those like her and to spread awareness about how the impacts of dyslexia don’t stop as you get older.
Perrier’s guide includes different strategies and advice that she herself has found useful, in hopes it’ll help someone else.
“I realized there was this big gap where there wasn’t much content for adults who had dyslexia,” she said.
Growing up with dyslexia wasn’t an easy task for Perrier, who struggles with reading and writing, until she was able to use technology to her advantage.
“Give dyslexic people YouTube, audiobooks, screen readers, carte blanche and we’ll figure it out,” she said.
Perrier said difficulties navigating symptoms increase in adulthood when responsibilities expand, including grocery shopping and paying bills.
“In adulthood, I think a lot of us have found ways to compensate for our reading differences whether it’s using screen readers like I do, or finding jobs that don’t require you to read pages and pages of writing,” she said.
Connor Nelson, a good friend of Perrier’s who is also dyslexic, said Perrier’s guide has been helpful as he learns to navigate dyslexia as an adult.
“I hadn’t really read anything before that has spoken to dyslexic adults specifically,” he said.
Nelson said since reading the guide, he has created a portfolio of his achievements as a reminder of all he has accomplished.
He said it’s very easy to focus on the things he struggles with, rather than the positives. After reading Perrier’s guide, he was able to take action to combat this negative thinking.
“Anytime I do something that I’m happy about I’ll [write it down and] put it in a jar to profile my accomplishments,” he said.
His experience reflects Perrier’s hopes about what the guide can do for dyslexic adults.
On March 22, Perrier will be hosting a virtual workshop with the Paul Menton Centre on navigating adult dyslexia, where she will discuss the guide with attendees.
“I would like people to have confidence because another big thing with dyslexia is that it’s an invisible disability—we don’t see it until we speak about it,” Perrier said.
Perrier worked under the supervision of Tamara Sorenson Duncan, an assistant professor at the School of Linguistics and Language Studies at Carleton. She teaches courses about communication differences and disabilities.
Sorenson Duncan said it’s important to learn how to support people with different learning abilities by understanding other ways of learning and their skill sets.
“Communication is such a fundamental part of everyone’s quality of life so when people experience differences in that, it can be really hard if they’re misunderstood,” Sorenson Duncan said. “Trying to understand how different ways of learning, how different skills, how different support might be needed is fundamental to ensure everyone has the best quality of life.”
Like Nelson, Sorenson Duncan emphasized the importance of celebrating one’s strengths amid the hurdles that come along with dyslexia.
“I think the work [Perrier] is doing is a great step towards awareness and gaining an understanding,” she said.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated Tamara Sorenson Duncan was an associate professor at Carleton University and misspelled her name. In fact, she is an assistant professor at the university. The Charlatan regrets the error. The article was last updated on March 15.
Featured image provided.
