a dyslexic journalist?’

avoided the traditional path in journalism for much of her career. She preferred to work from home, rather than have an editor constantly looking over her shoulder at unedited copy. “I was subconsciously worried about being found out in some way if I went to work for a newspaper,” she says, explaining that although dyslexia never held her back, it certainly framed her career. People often view Payton’s success as proof dyslexia was never a barrier for her, but she contests the idea that her journey was unaffected by the struggles she faced. “I found a way to succeed by avoiding certain situations - like a traditional

Oing It Differently

The fear of being uncovered as a fraud is so strong that individuals do everything possible to avoid it, including reading their copy 15,000 times more than other writers.

“I’m sure my poor fatmates are fed up of hearing everything I’ve ever written,” Kelly jokes. Payton shares this obsession with reading aloud. She recounts her dread at the prospect of a proofreading test for her role at the Guardian. “I just have to check over and over and then I catch everything,” she admits. “I actually did really well, it’s just that the experience is more stressful to someone with dyslexia.”

Utilising software such as ‘type to talk’ programmes that speak your copy back to you can also be useful in the editing process. Finding alternative ways of doing core tasks allows challenges to be mitigated. There are benefts too, the ritual thoroughness of copy checking often makes writers with dyslexia more accurate than other journalists.

“You fle the most accurate enefts of the “disadvantage”

She has no doubt this is due to her endless checking and paranoia.

“Ultimately it has made me a better writer and better journalist,” she says. Knowing your personal struggles forces you to double and triplecheck to ensure nothing gets missed.

This is not the only advantage of being a dyslexic journalist. Creative thinking is something that comes naturally. Thinking outside the box is vital within journalism in order to challenge traditional perspectives. Finding unique angles to approach stories with is also a valuable tool in such a competitive industry. Harnessing these skills can be incredibly rewarding. Hope, Payton, and Kelly, have all had amazing success as freelancers where pitching ideas takes centre stage. “The creative side of my brain is fring on all cylinders, and I wouldn’t change that for anything,” Payton explains.

It can be benefcial in other ways, too. Hope reminisces about his frst stuff, it’s amazing, you’re the best freelancer we have,” was feedback Payton received from one editor. prime time slot with the BBC, reporting from the Rio Olympics in 2016. As he was wrapping up he became aware of a technical issue that forced him to improvise live for six minutes. “It was terrifying at the time but a completely off the wall experience, another thing I never thought I’d be capable of,” he says. Dyslexia meant that he was familiar with pressure and ready to adapt and embrace challenges as they arose.

Excessive planning also helps to alleviate other anxieties associated with dyslexia, and Hope is constantly tuned into sport news and related content. Building up a vast pool of knowledge has proved to be benefcial, however speaking amid a menagerie of Olympic memorabilia (from London to Beijing) he explains that this is not what he is most proud of. Despite travelling across the world to report on games, he considers the quality with which he’s now able to write to be his biggest achievement. “At age 11, I had the reading age of a seven-year-old. To go from that, to winning national awards for writing - that is what I’m most proud of.”

Overcoming barriers is central to all three journalists’ stories. “At the crux of it, I don’t feel it diminishes the existence of those possible barriers to acknowledge there are ways around them,” Kelly summarises. Dyslexia provides qualities that, if nurtured, can be advantageous.

Diversity in newsrooms is something to be celebrated, and always benefts the output of the publication. Actively recruiting individuals who have an alternative experience of life and education creates an expanded voice that better speaks to the country’s diversity.

All these advantages considered, are we ready to change the headline and let go of the misconception that dyslexia is a barrier to this career, or even the idea of it as a disadvantage at all? These individuals have redefned what it means to be dyslexic in their own lives. They are not dyslexic journalists; they are journalists with dyslexia who have proven it is no barrier to success. If anything, shouldn’t we be actively hiring more journalists with dyslexia, not to contribute to the diversity optics, but for their desirable skills?