In 2020, when COVID hit, everything changed. Like many parents, we were thrown into home learning with our kids, and it was tough. On the first day, I sat down with my 9-year-old daughter, Poppy, to help her with English. As we worked through it, I noticed something right away—she was writing her letters backwards. That was my first clue something wasn’t quite right. Then, I saw her spelling. She was writing phonetically, adding extra letters and putting an “e” at the end of most words. I mentioned to my husband that I thought Poppy might be dyslexic. He shrugged it off, saying she was fine, but deep down, I knew something was up.  I mean I guess it was out of the blue so completely understand his reaction.

I followed my gut and spoke to the learning support team at her school. They were open to my concerns, ran some initial tests, and confirmed that something was going on. We decided to book an appointment with an educational psychologist. The testing took about three hours over two days, and I waited nervously while it was happening. When it was time to get the results, just my husband and I went in, without Poppy. The diagnosis hit me hard: dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and eventually, dyspraxia. I cried. I felt guilty for not picking up on it sooner and angry that the school hadn’t said anything before. Then came the big question—how were we going to explain this to Poppy?

When we talked to Poppy, we framed her learning difficulties as superpowers. We didn’t hit her with all the big, confusing terms, but we did explain that she had dyslexia and that’s why reading and writing were hard for her. The good news was that now she could get the help she needed, and her learning could be tailored to suit her better.  She was really happy there was an explanation and was even happier she would be getting the help she needed.

You don’t outgrow dyslexia, but you do learn to work with it. At almost 14, Poppy still struggles with spelling and reading, but we make sure she has all the tools she needs. We’re lucky that in 2024, there are so many resources out there, things like audiobooks and ChatGPT have been game-changers for her.

Poppy’s an incredible dancer, and dancing is her true passion. She dreams of becoming a professional dancer one day, and we focus on what she’s great at while supporting her in the areas where she struggles.

If you’re on this journey too, I understand what you’re going through. There will be tough days, fights with schools for the support your child deserves, and plenty of tears. But there’s also a lot of support out there, so don’t hesitate to reach out. If you ever need to chat or share ideas, I’m always here to listen.

Lisa x

Questions most commonly asked, my answers based on my learnings. 

Who can support us? In Australia there is SPELD in every state.  If you have questions and need help with testing, they can assist.

How much does a test cost? – In Australia tests aren’t subsided unfortunately and will cost between $1500-2500.

What type of support can I expect at school for my child?  Every school is different but what I can say is be prepared to fight for support.  Using assistive technology, readers, scribes and allowing to type answers instead of writing were some of the supports that were put in place for my daughter.  She also got an exemption from languages.

Can I access NDIS funding for Dyslexia?  Unfortunately, no.  Dyslexia falls under the education umbrella.