A day in the life of a child with dyslexia

Meet Caris. She’s 15 years old and has dyslexia. Having a diagnosis has helped her understand why reading, spelling, and some other skills are hard for her. But understanding why something is hard doesn’t make it go away. Follow Caris throughout her day to see how dyslexia affects her and what helps her manage the challenges.

When she was younger, Caris dreaded going to school most mornings because kids bullied her for being a slow learner and a bad speller. Now, as a sophomore, she’s doing well in class and with her friends. But like many teens with dyslexia, she still faces learning challenges and can feel very anxious about it.

Today, Caris wakes up at 6:30, half an hour before her alarm is set to go off. Even though class is hours away, she’s already worrying about World History. It’s become very hard to keep up in that class. 

As she gets dressed and checks her backpack, Caris recognizes that familiar feeling of dread in her stomach. She reminds herself that even though history is hard this year, she can still learn the material and get good grades. She’s got support at home and at school to help her build these skills. 

Caris genuinely loves to learn. But she doesn’t always love being in class. She braces herself on the way to World History. 

Caris is the first one in the room. She takes her usual seat in the front row and gets out her notebook and pen. The teacher starts the lesson and writes on the board. Within minutes, Caris is struggling to keep up with note-taking. 

The more time Caris spends trying to read what’s on the board and copy it down, the less she hears what the teacher is saying. Caris still tends to mix up letters. And she needs to break words into syllables to sound them out. 

As she gets stuck on word after word, Caris gets so anxious that she can feel her heart racing. And the more anxious she gets, the farther she falls behind in taking notes. Still, she doesn’t say anything to the teacher. She doesn’t want anyone to see how stressed out she is. 

Finally, the bell rings. Her classmates grab their things and file out of the room. But Caris is still copying from the board. Thankfully, she has lunch next period. 

At lunch with her friends, she takes out a notebook she carries everywhere. It’s filled with comforting words and sayings that help her calm down.

Caris loves her weekly dance class — and the chance to express herself through dancing. But her dyslexia sometimes creates problems here, too. 

Knowing her left from her right has always been hard for Caris. It’s extra difficult when she has to dance facing the mirror. Today, Caris keeps reversing the movements she’s supposed to be making. Her brain and body just don’t seem to want to connect. 

As she keeps making the same wrong moves, Caris feels more and more overwhelmed. It’s like the stress from school has carried over into the activity she loves the most. Today, dance isn’t going to give her the relief and sense of accomplishment she needs.

On the way home, Caris tells herself she’ll keep working on the moves during the week. She’s learned that watching videos of her lessons helps her memorize the steps so they feel more automatic. But right now, she’s drained. 

After a shower and dinner, Caris is recharged. But she’s not looking forward to her history homework. It’s a long-term assignment, and trying to do it all at once would be too much. So Caris starts by breaking it into chunks and making a plan. 

Caris worries that she missed something important in class. So she texts a classmate to see if she can get a copy of his notes. That’s one of the accommodations she gets in school through her Individualized Education Program (IEP). Caris reminds herself that she can also get extra time on assignments if she needs it. 

But first, she has a lot of reading to get through tonight. Caris reads slowly and figures she’ll be up for hours. She thinks about how much faster her classmates are, and how they’ll probably have time to relax before bed. 

She takes a break halfway through and spends a few minutes talking with her parents. They’re her greatest support system, and they boost her up when she’s feeling down. When she was younger, her dad always told her, “It’s OK to learn differently. It’s not a bad thing.” It still helps to hear that.

Explore Through My Eyes to learn more about Caris’ experience with dyslexia. You can also see what life is like with other types of neurodivergence.