On December 12, I went for a test for dyslexia – and I found out that I had it. It was a surprise, because I always thought I was dumb!

When I went to school, I found it very hard to learn.  I could not pick the sounds of all the letters. I did not understand why I never knew what was wrong – because at that age you don’t care about much. When I was at school, I could not pick what the teachers were saying, a lot of the time. I just thought it would come as I got older, but it never came.

The only way I got away with the dyslexia for so long, is when I had to fill in papers, I used to tell people I had left my glasses at home and I could not see!  I ran my own butcher shop for twenty years, but my wife did all the paper work.  

One day when I was watching TV, I saw the number for Read Write Now! so I decided to contact them.  To my surprise, they were very friendly.  To this day, I am glad I did it. I have been doing it for six months and I am improving all the time.  I still find it a bit hard at work when I have to write people’s names, but it’s a lot easier to spell some of their names now.

My age was forty-nine when I found out I had dyslexia. It was a bit hard to take, but it was good to find out.  By forty-nine, you do not have any confidence left!

I always look at what I’ve done and think that I would like to thank Julie. Because before I went to TAFE, I had no confidence in myself.  Julie has given me a lot of support. That is what everybody needs. Thank you very much for everything you have done for me. I’ll never forget that.