Dyslexia Awareness Week: Understanding, Supporting, and Celebrating Neurodiverse Minds
- cbtbournemouth
- Oct 7
- 2 min read
🌟 Why This Week Matters 🌟📚📝
Dyslexia Awareness Week 2025 is a time to shine a light on the experiences of people with dyslexia, to celebrate strengths, increase understanding, and challenge misconceptions.
As a CBT therapist who supports adults with anxiety, perfectionism, and self-doubt, I often meet clients who didn’t discover their dyslexia until adulthood. Many grew up feeling “not good enough” or were told they were slow or stupid, their needs dismissed, because their learning needs and style weren’t recognised or supported.
This week is about changing that narrative. Take some time this week to understand dyslexia, challenge your own assumptions and find out how you can adapt to support those with dyslexia.
💭 What Dyslexia Really Is
Dyslexia isn’t a sign of low intelligence, slow learning or being less than others. Dyslexia is a neuro developmental difference that affects how the brain processes language.
It often shows up as challenges with:
Reading and writing fluently
Spelling
Remembering sequences or instructions
Processing information quickly
But it also can come with unique strengths, such as creativity, problem-solving skills, and innovative thinking.
🧠 Dyslexia and Mental Health ⛑️
For many adults, especially those diagnosed later in life, the experience of growing up misunderstood can lead to:
Persistent self-criticism or low self-esteem
Perfectionism and fear of failure
Anxiety in academic or work settings
Depression
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) can be an empowering way to:
Challenge unhelpful self-beliefs
Build self-compassion
Develop practical strategies for stress and anxiety
If you’ve felt “stupid, worthless, dumb, less capable” because of dyslexia, you aren’t alone but with the right support, you can rewrite that internal voice and build some self compassion.
🫱🏼🫲🏼 How to Support Someone with Dyslexia
You don’t need to be an expert to make a difference.
Here are three small but powerful actions:
Be curious and listen: Ask about their experience instead of assuming.
Offer practical support: Use accessible fonts, share notes in advance, give extra processing time.
Challenge stigma: Speak up when you hear myths about dyslexia.
Together we can make schools, workplaces, and communities more inclusive and build understanding and awareness of dyslexia.
💬 My Personal Reflection
Over the years, I’ve seen how transformative it can be for people to finally understand their neurodivergence. To hear the voice of criticism and self doubt in their minds and be able to challenge this. That moment of self-recognition often shifts from “I’m broken” to “I just learn differently.”
As therapists, educators, friends, and family members, our role is to hold space for that shift and to celebrate every strength that comes with it.
📣 Join the Movement
Dyslexia Awareness Week 2025 is a reminder that inclusion starts with understanding.
Visit the British Dyslexia Association for resources, events, and guidance.
If you’d like to explore CBT support for anxiety or perfectionism linked to dyslexia with a therapist who’s dyslexic and gets what it’s like, book an initial consultation here
Share this post to help spread awareness and reduce stigma #DAW25
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