My story - By Stephen McCue

As a child I loved school but I always seemed to struggle with writing and spelling. I also struggled with reading but gained a love of books from my father.
 
My teachers were always telling me I was a bright kid but I just couldn’t show it at exams. In the end I just stopped attending school at the age of 14. I got myself into trouble with the law like many male dyslexics but I was lucky as I excelled in music and became a musician for a long time. I also worked in a lot of low level jobs to help support my music.
 
When I was about 35 in 1988 I felt I needed a change and so went back to school. I had to start with my basic skills and was able to find funding to attend college for one day a week. The following year 1989 I was again lucky enough to get some funding to attend college for one day a week.
 
I found I loved learning and decided to see how far I could go with it. The following year 1989 I was again lucky enough to get some funding that enabled me to take an Access to Teaching course which I again passed. I still struggled with exams but managed to pass because of my course work. It was whilst I was at university that I discovered I was dyslexic.
 
I then went on to university in 1989 where I gained an honours degree in Geography in 1994. Whilst I was at university I did some mentoring of kids at primary and secondary school. As a result I went on to do my teaching qualifications and gained a PGCE in Inclusive Education in 1995. I then went on to gain my dyslexia specialist qualification and Masters unit in Multi Sensory e-Learning and dyslexia.
 
In 1995 I began my teaching career working with young people with disabilities and what was then called disaffected young people. Young people who, for whatever reason didn’t, do well at school. I designed and developed a number of new courses.
 
One was in engineering for disaffected young people. These were young people who hadn’t attended school, who had become involved in crime and who could barely read and write. The course I designed concentrated on the doing of engineering and there was very little reading and writing involved to start with. This course included mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and sound engineering.
 
I was them lucky enough to get a place on a Dyslexia training course for teacher in 1998 which I passed and became a dyslexia specialist.
 
 In 2000 I started to manage the dyslexia department at a college in London which I did for about 7 years. Whilst employed at the college I designed, developed and managed a new dyslexia project. It’s basic aim to provide access to free dyslexia screening and assessment for staff at the college where I worked. At that time I was running open advice sessions for staff and I found many were concerned they may be dyslexic or were dyslexic but didn’t know what to do about it. Many felt if it were found out they were dyslexic it would adversely affect their teaching careers.
 
It was a very successful project and the Adult Dyslexia Organisation said it was one of the most innovative projects they had seen.
 
I have a very positive outlook towards my dyslexia I just wanted to enable others to see dyslexia in a positive way. The staff became mentors for young people with dyslexia attending the college. In 2005 I gained a Masters unit in Multi sensory e learning and dyslexia.
 
I do not believe dyslexia is a disability what makes it a disability is an education system that just does not meet our learning needs. I have no problem with disability I am disabled with thyroid condition and type two diabetes. Which is a complication of my thyroid condition.
 
In 2007 I was made redundant from my post at the college. I decided to move to Scotland.  Unfortunately my employer kept all the assistive technology I had got from Access to Work. It was a big blow as I am reliant on the technology to help me with any reading and writing task. This basically disabled me as I am unable to complete application forms etc without it..
 
I began to seek work but found that dyslexia was way down the priority list within training organisations, businesses and even in the Scottish government. I met and spoke with many individuals who were dyslexia who couldn’t find any support to enable them to overcome the barriers they faced because of their dyslexia. I couldn’t find access to any assistive technology anywhere. However, I was lucky as I successfully applied a charity that enabled me to buy a new lap top and assistive technology.
 
It was in response to this situation that I founded Dyslexia Pathways, which I did in 2008.   We became incorporated as a social enterprise in 2009. I didn’t want to become a charity but I still wanted to have social aims and show that people with dyslexia are not charity cases. 
 
 We have provided dyslexia support services to over 200 students and had over 300 requests for advice and guidance on dyslexia issues through out free phone and internet site.In January 2011 I passed an HND course in leadership with the Social Enterprise Academy.
 
I plan to carry on with Dyslexia Pathways and have a number of ideas to pursue with Dyslexia Pathways. For example I have made designs for dyslexia focussed phone app. Smart phones are one of the most used communication and learning devices we have.
 
I just want to make best use of it to get the message out about dyslexia. That it is not a life sentence that with some support people can achieve.
 
I also want to set up a mentoring scheme for students at university who are dyslexic. The idea is they go into schools and mentor children who are dyslexic and show them it is possible to succeed within education when you are dyslexic.
 
Please feel free to visit my organisation’s web site:
http://www.dyslexiapathways.co.uk/index.php
 
We offer a number of dyslexia focussed services as well as operate a free advice and guidance line.
© Stephen McCue