Armelle, who runs the Instagram page girlswithdyslexia and Chantel who runs the Instagram page socolo are running World Unmasking Day on 25 May 2022.
This will be the first time the event has been put on. The aim of the event is to provide a platform for dyslexic individuals to connect and be unapologetically dyslexic.
As a dyslexic individual myself, I was fascinated by World Unmasking Day and believe it is a great idea for the community. I interviewed Armelle and Chantel to find out why they choose to set it up and you can find their answers below.
What has your experience with dyslexia been like?
I was late diagnosed so I went through school sort of knowing I had it but not being sure. Because I struggled without having that diagnosis or education on what dyslexia was, when I finally did get assessed at 21, it felt like a huge relief.
For a lot of time people would give me what they thought were compliments – ‘but you don’t look dyslexic’ and ‘I would never have guessed!’ – but I soon realised that these were founded on the miseducation of what dyslexia was and their attitude toward it.
I’ve never always seen it as a strength – but then I’ve never seen it as a weakness. It’s just been different.
What do you believe society treats individuals with dyslexia like?
It can be quite isolating to discuss dyslexia with someone who doesn’t have it. There’s almost this expectation that you should manage it out of existence (and being rewarded for not letting it affect you), and that dyslexia is too difficult to manage otherwise.
Why did you create World Unmasking Day?
Chantel and I created World Unmasking Day because we wanted to raise awareness of how neurodivergents often don’t reveal their true selves – either because they’ve never been able to figure out who they are with their neurodiversity, or because they feel like their immediate environments call for them to blend in to get ahead or make life ‘easier’.
We’re positioning it for all neurodiversities as everyone masks differently and has different challenges. But, as Chantal and I have dyslexia (and I have added dyspraxia too), we want to individually contribute to shedding light on how dyslexics mask too.
If you could say anything to a young person with dyslexia what would it be?
Don’t take the first opinion of yourself you come across. Where there is an environment that penalises you for being dyslexic, there’s 10x more that celebrate it. Getting caught up in others’ opinions is difficult, but it’s important to not let others’ value of you define you.
What are you hoping to achieve with World Unmasking Day?
We’re hoping to achieve wider awareness of masking – helping neurodivergent people discover what they could be masking, educating on how other neurodiversities mask and supporting people at work or school to feel more comfortable removing the mask.
How can people become involved in world unmasking day?
There’s so many ways! For an individual contribution you can write a post or create a video to reflect or talk about unmasking, add a note to your email signature that lets people know you’re removing a certain part of your mask, but if you want to get involved with us then you can join a live on the 25th May! Either on TikTok or Instagram
If you could say one thing to your younger self what would it be?
Your dyslexia doesn’t get any better, but your bullshit radar does.
What do you believe are the positives of dyslexia?
There are many positives to dyslexia – first and foremost I see the world differently to anyone else. The way I process my surroundings and environment is unique – which means I bring new points and perspectives at work.
I have big-picture thinking so I love building out strategies and managing the execution of it.
Is there anything you would like society to know about dyslexia?
It’s not just reading and writing – often it’s on the fringes of neurodiversity as people view it as just affecting small parts of what it actually affects. The challenge with dyslexia thought of in this way is managers often think you can phase out your dyslexia by having assistive technology, but dyslexia actually means I process information in a different part of the brain to someone who doesn’t have it. And when are we not processing information? There’s so much we’re yet to explore about it.
If you could change the world to help dyslexics, how would you do it?
Re-evaluate the education system to make accommodations for other types of learners. Often hating school is seen as synonymous with not being intelligent, but dyslexia is simply learning differently. Flexibility to learn or work in a way that fits the individual benefits everyone!