Fahima Abdulrahamn

As a Somali child in the 90s, I had to flee my country due to the war. 

 

I lived in several countries where I had to constantly learn new languages and keep up with my education.

 

My earliest memory of my dyslexia is at primary school in Syria when I used to struggle reading aloud.

 

I remember it didn't stop me from raising my hand when the teacher wanted someone to read but the teacher avoided picking me as she knew I struggled reading. 

 

I didn't know that was a symptom of dyslexia neither did the Arabic teacher.

 

To her, I was just the student who was behind in reading and I felt stupid. 

 

Fast forward to when we moved to the UK, I came as 15 year old. I learned English, did my GCSEs and A-level in four years. Yes, dyslexia didn't make it easy but it meant I had to work harder on myself. 

 

By my fourth year in the UK, I was in first year university, studying film making and TV production. That's when I found out I had dyslexia and it all made sense. 

 

I remember I had a sense of relief because finally I had an explanation to why I'm good in maths and love cosmology but struggle in spelling/grammar and reading aloud. 

 

Now that I'm a BBC News video journalist and it’s still not easy. In fact, it’s harder because as a journalist I’m expected to not make the spelling and grammar mistakes that I still make. 

 

Even on my twitter account, it’s embarrassing to constantly have typos in my tweets and I know it might make me look less of a professional journalist but I try to proofread as much as I can. It’s a daily challenge.

 

I love my job, love telling stories. I’m a visual person so instead of writing them, I film them.