Josh Cope’s Dyslexia Life Story – so far…

This dyslexia life story by Josh Cope, Trustee of UK Youth, is a great example of how a young person, determined to succeed in life, pushed his way through the dyslexia pain barrier to come out the other side with a great sense of pride in being dyslexic. Share

Well done Josh, you are an amazing person and Dyslexic Brian takes his hat off to you

Once you have read this story pay a visit to Josh’s blog: my blog www.joshcope.wordpress.com

Josh Cope’s Dyslexia Life Story – so far…

In school I was told I was slow.  Slow reader. Slower writer. Slow runner. HORRIFIC at playing any Game that involved hand eye coordination. So there wasn’t much to keep me engaged at school. My parents thought I had dyslexia from a young age, but the school, for whatever reason, didn’t test me. My mother would beg the head teacher and in the end I had an hour with a SPLD teacher, but still no test. Then when I reached college things changed, the teachers could see that there was obviously a problem with my reading and writing in particular and at the beginning of the first year of college I was tested and they told me I had dyslexia.

Not only does dyslexia affect your ability to read and write. But one of the biggest problems (I still struggle with) is organisation. As a child with dyslexia you also have to put up with the bullying and Being in such a small secondary school there were little resources available to me. So my parents paid for me to attend the DDAT centre in Cardiff. What a great program!!! They helped so much and I think it’s a program that should be available to everyone.

Since leaving school I have started college and also work for a charity called UK Youth. I could never apply myself to the subjects in school but when I find a topic that excites me I always find ways of expressing my views. Since starting working for UK Youth my confidence has grown dramatically. I feel confident enough to stand up in front of a room filled with CEO’s and fell totally comfortable. As I write this I am on my way to meet Her Royal Highness at an event where I will be giving a talk on youth empowerment.

I wanted to write this blog to tell people, and hopefully inspire other young people to get involved. Last week i managed to meet Pixie Lott (what teenage boy wouldn’t love that).

Learning about what dyslexia is, really help me understand why I face the issues I do and now I feel proud to say I’m dyslexic and I can look at things from an alternative angle. This has prompted me to look at the educational system and how we are failing our young people and how it can be changed.

You can find out more about my views about education reform at my blog www.joshcope.wordpress.com and my twitter Josh_io .

Josh Cope Trustee for UK Youth Director of Shine week (www.shineweek.co.uk)