‘ Dyslexia is a gift'

Michelle Rugeroni interviewed Stuart Byrne from Dyslexia Gibraltar in October last year on her podcast ‘On the Sofa with Rouge’ and she found what he had to say about dyslexia very interesting.

When they finished the interview, it was clear more could be done to explore the world of dyslexia, for example by speaking to parents and people in business and how it affects them.
“And to really get the word out there as very few people really know what it is like to be dyslexic. What it means to be dyslexic,” Ms Rugeroni told the Chronicle.

“We didn’t want it to be a negative, we wanted to change people’s perceptions to make it into a positive.”

“Stuart spearheaded the project which was going to be a six-part documentary on the dyslexia, which is exactly what we did.”

Ms Rugeroni is not dyslexic but she wanted to learn about it and what it meant.

“Dyslexics think outside of the box, they are more creative, they have incredible visual skills and they learn in a different way. But, the end result is exactly the same,” she said.

“They are very high achievers, they work extremely hard and it was an absolute joy to talk to so many people who have done so well in life being dyslexic, having been told in school that they were good for nothing and they were never going to get anywhere.”

“It changed my perception of what it is to be dyslexic and the more people we spoke to the more I realised that I wanted to do more and I wanted to get the message out there and I had to be a voice for Dyslexia Gibraltar,” she added.

One of the people she interviewed was Leslie Bruzon, the Minister for Minister for Industrial Relations, Civil Contingencies and Sport.

He told the Chronicle that growing up with dyslexia was challenging, especially in a school environment where traditional learning methods did not align with how his brain processed information.

“I often felt frustrated and misunderstood, as my peers seemed to grasp concepts that took me much longer to understand,” he said.

“It impacted my confidence in the classroom, and I had to work twice as hard to keep up.”
“However, over time, I learned to adapt and find my own ways of learning, which made me more resilient.”

After Ms Rugeroni conducted her interviews and took on board all that was said, she noted that the biggest and most pleasant surprise was that when you fill in a LinkedIn profile you can chose dyslexia as a skill.

This changed her perception entirely and Mr Bruzon agreed.

“Now I see dyslexia as more of a gift than a hindrance,” he said.

“It allows me to approach problems creatively and see solutions others may overlook.”

“I’ve learned to appreciate how my mind works differently and to embrace those differences as strengths.”

“There’s a sense of pride in the way I can think outside the box, and I believe it’s contributed positively to my work and personal growth.”

When the series of podcasts first came out, Ms Rugeroni said a number of people thought she was dyslexic. She described herself as a “voice for the Dyslexia Gibraltar group” she noted that the impact has been great because people know who she is and people know her podcast ‘On The Sofa With Rouge’.

“They are interested to see who I am going to speak to next. So when I started to interview different people, and it was all related to dyslexia, I think a lot of people who usually listen to my podcast and would not usually be interested in dyslexia suddenly became interested,” she said.

“I had people stopping me saying ‘wow I never knew so and so was dyslexic and I never knew you could do this if you were dyslexic. I thought dyslexia was a hinderance to you’, and it is completely the opposite.”

Often, businesspeople with dyslexia can trigger transformation in that business.

She recalled speaking to Mandy Gaggero from MH Bland on the podcast who said that in meetings she is the one that thinks out of the box and is more creative due to her skill of being dyslexic.

Ms Rugeroni said that people should not be shy to say they are dyslexic in an interview for a job and that Ms Gaggero was one of six businesspeople in the community who have successful businesses in the community.

“All of them have got to where they got to by not being shy about being dyslexic, they have been fully open to everyone about that even thought they were told as children they would not get anywhere,” she said.

“So this is a massive thing and that is why we wanted to get these stories out.”

“A lot of people can be diagnosed with dyslexia and it can be a terrible shock to the family. Like it was for Stuart Byrne when he was first diagnosed and to his mother Maria who we spoke to who are founders of the charity.”

Mr Bruzon agreed and said that one ongoing challenge is navigating environments where dyslexia is not fully understood. Misconceptions about intelligence or capability can still arise, and sometimes people do not realise that having dyslexia does not mean a person is less capable—it just means they approach things differently.

“Personally, I still face difficulties, but I’ve developed strategies over the years to manage these challenges,” he added.

He advised young people not to become discouraged by the challenges and to focus on discovering how they learn best, embracing that as their strength and finding their own path.

And to parents, his advice is to be patient and supportive, and to encourage their children to explore different learning styles and remind them that dyslexia is not a limitation, it’s just a different way of thinking.

“I would add that while dyslexia presents its challenges, it’s important to remember that it can also offer unique advantages,” he said.

“Many successful individuals in various fields have dyslexia, and their ability to think differently has been an asset.”

“For those with dyslexia, the journey may be tougher, but it’s also deeply rewarding when you learn to harness the potential that comes with it.”

Finally Ms Rugeroni added that dyslexia is like other topics and should be spoken widely and openly.

Julian Byrne, owner of Piranha Designs, sponsored one of the podcasts and explained why.
“The Dyslexia Support Group has been doing a great job for many years,” he said.

“A lot of this work goes unnoticed, we wanted to help people to find out more by sponsoring the podcast and making this important work more public.”

“Clients have mentioned how the Dyslexia Support Group has helped them, or their family members, and Piranha is happy to be a small part of the via the podcast.”