Reading is a really big part of my life, as is writing, of course. The idea of not being able to do those things as well as I need to is upsetting to me but that’s the reality for many people living with dyslexia.
So when the nice people at the Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand asked me if I’d be willing to write something for their fundraising book “Parenting By The Stars”, of course I said “yes”.
I also said “I think you may have mistaken me for someone famous”, but only quietly to myself.
Since then I’ve learned that dyslexia doesn’t only impact on a person’s ability to read but that it can actually affect a range of things including motor skills, how quickly you can think and understand, as well as how you perceive auditory and visual inputs. Short-term memory and concentration can also be affected as well as planning and organising skills.
And dyslexia is relatively common affecting 10% of New Zealanders, though in prisons that proportion rises to a staggering 50%. That’s half of all prison inmates with a learning disability. How many of those people might not have ended up there if they’d had better support in their younger years? We can’t know for sure but it’s certainly a question worth pondering and a good reason to support the Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand which, among other things, develops resources for educators to help dyslexic kids learn and thrive in the classroom environment.
All profits from the sale of “Parenting By The Stars” go to DFNZ.
You’ll find my contribution “You are probably not a bad parent” on pg 24 of “Parenting By The Stars” accompanied by a completely scientific and realistic “parenting scale” on the facing page. There’s also a pumpkin pikelet recipe that I swear by, and cute family photo. And of course there are contributions from people who really are stars as well as from bona fide parenting experts.
I’m just super excited that something I wrote has been printed on paper. And the library nerd in me is all jazzed about my name appearing in the library catalogue entry for this book. Because that’s the kind of thing we “stars” get excited about, yo.
Top that, Kanye.