Recently, I struck up a conversation with Elizabeth Takyi, who runs Aspire2Inspire Dyslexia, a foundation which supports dyslexic adults who want to return to education and self-employment. From our conversation, I felt inspired to put together my own series, “When Learning is Trauma,” on YouTube Live which starts August 31st. During this series, Lisa McCarty, a dyslexia advocate, and I talk with experts about the consequences of living with trauma, often acquired during the child's education.
Today, Elizabeth spends her time envisioning dyslexic people to aspire and inspire others. I thought it was important to share Elizabeth’s remarkable story and background with my readers.
Born in London, UK, Elizabeth moved with her family at 2-years-old back to her native Ghana. It was here Elizabeth began her education::
"It didn't take long for me to notice I was different," Elizabeth told me. "I couldn't draw. I still struggle to draw a stick figure, but in primary school, I was hopeless. All the kids could draw except me! It was demoralizing. No one picked up on it. No one helped me. I put it down to my being a ‘slow learner.’
“The best part of being in school was playtime. Here, I shined. I chatted with everyone, made friends with many children, and I felt I could do things, but in school itself, it was a bit of a nightmare.
"I fell further and further behind. I couldn't read, I couldn't write. I struggled with every aspect of formal learning. I often questioned, When will I catch up?
"From the age of seven, I was caned for not completing my assignments. Caning across my hand was regular punishment for any child who didn't do the work. In the end, I would get my work wrong and get the punishment out of the way.
"If physical punishment of caning was terrible, worse was to come. Our school had an assembly once per week. Every class gathered to honor some students—and disown others. It was here the real damage happened.
"Being asked to stand, amongst all the sitting children, the whole class would point to me and shout out, ‘You are dumb! You are dumb!’
“These moments are the ones that left me feeling humiliated, embarrassed, and feeling worthless. I walked away from the assemblies wondering how I could or would go on. So I believed them.
"‘Ok,’ I would say to myself, ‘you are dumb. You cannot do anything.’
"By the age of eight, I became the class clown and defensive. I didn't want to be bullied by other kids, so I acted out and acted tough. The teachers got tired of my antics, so they would send me to weed the garden or do their food shopping. I wouldn't do anything but school work. No one saw anything wrong with this. Again, I was just ‘dumb.’
"Liz just won't get it, is what I recall many people saying.
"It took me a long time to get over my early schooling. Our family returned to the UK when I was twelve.
"I attended school. There was less punishment, but the pain was still there. I recall people saying, ‘Why can't you read like us? What's wrong with you?’ It is tough to live with such feelings and memories. In the UK, ‘streaming classes’ meant that students were separated into different levels—upper, middle, or lower levels. I was always in the lowest level classes.
"At age fifteen, I left school with no qualifications.
“It was only as an adult that I went back to full-time education. Here, I was diagnosed as ‘dyslexic.’ It was the first time in my life I felt i might make something of myself. I finished with low paid jobs, working for minimum wage, and few rewards. I knew I was worth much more than just filing or doing fundamental work. I'm good at thinking and problem solving, great with people, creative, and artistic.
"It took me a long to admit that I was dyslexic at work. I didn't want to be different or face ‘special’ treatment. Yet, I wonder how many more people, just like me, still struggle with aspects of their work.
“Various circumstances led me to become the founder and CEO of A2iDyslexia. Working with my strengths, I want to share and support dyslexic people around the world.”
Elizabeth hosts a Facebook live podcast every Monday at 7:00 pm London, UK time.
