Assessing dsylexia: Minnah’s story

Minah tells her story of her journey to assessing dyslexia

I have always loved bright colours, nature and other beautiful things, so it came as no surprise to my family when I became a florist in my home city of Leeds as soon as I left school. I did well there and I was an assistant manager within three years. I met my husband-to-be soon after that, and when we got married I took the leap to start my own budding floristry business. I knew I had a knack for working with flowers and with my customers, but I felt hindered when it came to the marketing side of the business, especially social media. This was incredibly frustrating because I knew it held me back from being able to grow my brand.

I poured my heart and soul into capturing the beauty of my creations in photos, telling a story through colour and arrangement. But when I had to translate my thoughts or the story behind the flowers into words for captions or descriptions, my confidence would crumble. My writing style just didn’t match my visual style – it was too simplistic compared to my competitors, and I felt a bit like a child with crayons rather than an adult with a keyboard. I even had a comment saying, “I hope you don’t make as many mistakes on your order as you do in your comments,” which led to a huge feeling of shame. I stopped posting as much on social media, engagement fell and my business began to stall as a result.

The path to assessing dsylexia

It was my husband who suggested a path I had never considered: his niece had recently been diagnosed with dyslexia and he thought I might find some similarities in our experiences. It was a real lightbulb moment. My niece had been diagnosed by Aim Forward, so I went to them first.

The first phone call I had with them was warm and understanding, and within a few weeks, I was sitting in a room with a qualified assessor who worked with me to unravel the difficulties that had become my stumbling blocks. During the diagnostic assessment,t I was asked to complete lots of small tasks which helped the assessor understand my strengths and weaknesses in different areas. I did get a diagnosis of dyslexia, but more than that, I started a journey of self-discovery with my assessor. I felt lighter afterwards because that feeling of failure was lifted. I now knew that my brain processes information differently, and I lacked the support I needed.

Once I understood what was going on in my brain, I thought, “Right, now what can I do?” I had a needs assessment with Aim Forward, which explored the tools and techniques that could help me better manage the things I needed to. I couldn’t believe how much assistive technology there was to help dyslexic people. Some apps help me read aloud what I’ve written before I publish, so I can check if it makes sense, and others that let me say what I want to write and transcribe my words into text. It really did feel like a whole new universe had been opened up to me.

Assessing dsylexia with Aim Forward

Working with Aim Forward has allowed me to completely reshape my social media presence (you could say that it has bloomed!) I knew it was working when I got a comment saying, “You’ve just said it perfectly,” after I posted a story about preparing flowers for a wedding.

The practical solutions that Aim Forward recommended are so helpful for marketing my business, but I have also embraced a newfound identity through this process with them. I’ve shifted from a place of self-doubt and shame to one of confidence and ownership. I no longer see my dyslexia as a hindrance: it’s now part of who I am. When I trip over words or get something a bit wrong, I don’t shrink away. I just say, “Oh, that’s my dyslexia.” My business is thriving and I’m thriving with it. The understanding, support and tools provided by Aim Forward have elevated both my business and my sense of who I am.