S3E6: Asking for Help - Overcoming Dyslexia's Obstacles

Want to develop a deeper understanding and empathy for individuals with the 5Ds? Discover the solution to achieve this and gain a new perspective on dyslexia challenges. Let's uncover the key to increased awareness and support.

In this episode, you will be able to:

• Understand how dyslexia affects daily life and gain insights into living with dyslexia experiences.
• Raise awareness and advocate for dyslexia to create a more inclusive and understanding environment.
• Discover effective strategies for overcoming dyslexia challenges and thriving despite the obstacles.
• Gain valuable insights into dysgraphia and practical tips for managing handwriting struggles.
• Explore the experiences of professional athletes with dyslexia and the unique challenges they've overcome.

Transcript:

00:00:03
Okay. Welcome back to Word Blindness, Dyslexia exposed. I am Juliet Hahn, here with my co host, Brent Sopol. How are you? See, I am.

00:00:11
Huh? No, see, I actually. No, no. I looked. I looked back, and that's how I always say it.

00:00:16
I think you're just like. I actually looked back because when you said that, I was like. Did I say it weird? Did you look back or listen back? I listened back.

00:00:23
I. I did both. I looked back. So you saw thunder. Okay.

00:00:26
And heard lightning. Okay. Exactly. But I did, because I was like, oh, I did say that. And then I was like, wait, I feel like I always say that.

00:00:34
So I did listen back. So it's something that you're hearing, which is kind of funny in a different way, because that's how I. I think maybe you haven't listened to the beginning. You haven't listened to, and all of a sudden you're like, wait, so I'm gonna throw it back at you. This is my stalker.

00:00:52
Every day. Yeah. So.

00:00:56
So you. Right. So you haven't listened. Okay, well, welcome back. And I am.

00:01:06
Because how else would you introduce yourself? This is. No, because then that would be like, look at me.

00:01:14
Seriously, how would you introduce yourself?

00:01:19
I am not D. Juliet Hahn. I know. I. Fuck you.

00:01:28
That's a double. Fuck you. Okay, well, we are in January. We always like to preference because we've added a lot of episodes that we recorded before the new year. And then we took a nice holiday break.

00:01:47
Tried to. I tried to take a holiday break. You're like, no, we got a tape. We need to tape. You know, I told you I'm going to stalk you.

00:01:53
I got to continue to stalk you. So you did. Oh, God. Oh, I see where this is going. Well, so we've had.

00:02:02
How many interviews did we do before the holiday and. Right. You know, and it's crazy how many after, you know, getting where you are. What do we. You know, we're in season three.

00:02:17
Three. Three. Our tape. And obviously towards the end of January, but how many dyslexics are willing to now come on and talk. Right.

00:02:28
This season three, we're gonna have more episodes because we've had, you know, here and there. We did the dyslexic awareness month. That was our first year. And we had four. Right.

00:02:40
So October, we had four. And then we've had, like, ones here and there. We've talked about having people on. And then it. Like, there's a lot of times it didn't line up or we were like, okay, it didn't work.

00:02:52
But then all of a sudden we've had a lot of people kind of come out and be like, you know, we've been listening. We're really connecting with the podcast. We, you know, we would like to share a little bit more about our story and which is obviously, that's why we started this, you know, why we do this, you know, weekly, is to make people okay with it. You know, we've talked about this, you know, a number of times about, you know, advocating or for yourself. You know, you can't have it advocate if you don't understand.

00:03:27
Yeah, that's the first thing. And then you, you can't talk about it if you're not okay. And I think that's, that's the problem. Probably the biggest, you know, issue you in dyslexic world. And we talk about this all the time.

00:03:46
You know, the embarrassment. The embarrassment makes us not okay to talk about it. The people that want to talk about it that are, you know, killing, killing the kids one at a time are the people that are, you know, pushing policies. The researchers, you know, the scientists, the people that don't have it all they're talking about because it's great. It's a great thing because they're not us.

00:04:12
And I had a call with a buddy of mine, Shane. You know, he's living in South Carolina. Yeah, he won. You know, he's obviously very dyslexic. It's him, his wife and golf pro.

00:04:28
You spend half the time here in Illinois and half the time in, in Arizona, you know, with weather. And his wife would run the, the pro shop in his schedule because he sure couldn't do that. And he talked about some, some interesting things on the call yesterday, and he said he, he'd be happy to come on, you know, and that's a guy that I never, never thought would, would, you know, and he's, you know, he's, he, he, he's struggling. He said, Brent, you know, got a lot of great things going. They end up bought a golf course with an investment group and they just bought another one.

00:05:05
They're doing this huge, huge community. And but he's like, I've lived in the negative my whole life that I can't see a positive.

00:05:21
I'm like, oh, no truer words of have been spoken.

00:05:27
You're not alone. Because that, and that was, it was an interesting way he put it. I don't know. I've never, I never heard it put that way because we're always work harder. We're always dumb.

00:05:41
We're always lazy, right? All negative words are going to fail. We can't do this. We can't do the simple thing, you know, And Shane's. I guess he's probably.

00:05:56
Probably a little younger than. Than you and I, you know, but doing great, you know, for what they're doing and what they got, what they bought and just huge community, new golf courses, like, just. Just amazing. He's like, I can't enjoy it. We.

00:06:09
And you know what's really interesting, as you were talking, I was thinking, because my other podcast I have, we always say, like, people. People actually do enjoy talking about themselves when they're comfortable in what they are doing, right? So I have. I'm constantly like, oh, my. I can't keep up with that, Right?

00:06:27
And then I look here and I'm like, we're looking for people to come on that are dyslexic. And how many times have we had people say, I listen, I'm not ready. And it's so. It's so different, right? It's so different than you're talking about your business and you're doing this.

00:06:45
This is like you're talking personal, raw stuff. And I think a lot of people.

00:06:52
Well, we know a lot of people are just not, like, they're not comfortable. They're not ready. They don't know where it's going to go. They maybe haven't obviously dealt with a lot of things. And one of the things that I thought was really interesting, because by the time this comes out, the episode with Bradley and Montgomery will come out, and both of them said they were talking about the.

00:07:11
Bradley was talking about his friend Frank that when he went to Fletcher, he was like, oh, I've overcome dyslexia, right? I don't have it anymore. Montgomery, before he went to college, said the same thing. He was like, mom, stop. I don't have it anymore.

00:07:23
You know, Southport helped me. And then that first year where on the soccer field where it came out again, and he's like, holy, my dyslexia has never gotten the way of my soccer because it's always been so natural to him. But then everything was different. It's got to that next level. And I think there's so many people now listening to this that your friend one of them.

00:07:47
Because I said to you, interesting. Is this, like, the first time you think his dyslexia has ever. I don't want to say reared its head, but got in his way or. Or, you know, it's. It.

00:07:57
It what? The path that he was on it maybe was a gift and it never got in the way. And we, we talk to so many people that talk about their dyslexia as a gift. And yes, that is amazing because it can be a gift. But where, what happens?

00:08:10
You know, back in those times, how many times have we had people being like, oh no, I don't want to, I don't want to talk about back then. Well, you know, like me, I, I want to watch the same TV show, I'll never turn on a movie. I want to, I'll eat the same food. Why? Because I know it's okay.

00:08:28
I know I can do that. I know I can handle that. You know. And Shane, 100% yo, you know, a very successful career working at some very high end golf courses. He just, he, you know, he was here but then he was down in Denver.

00:08:45
He was the head guy at Cherry Creek Country Club. Big money, right. Downtown Scott or downtown Denver. And then they went out. Then they went out, you know, so he was in his space, he was in his element.

00:08:59
He. Now that you are building the course, now that you're, you know, part of an investment group now you got investors, you got this, right? Yeah. Paperwork. Yeah, you have paperwork.

00:09:13
You've got other things that you've never had. So people, you know, how can you do the same thing over and over again? You know, go back to my hockey. I had whack job routines, rituals, whatever, you know, however you want because I knew it worked. I never did something else because petrified that it wouldn't work.

00:09:42
So I'm not even going to try it. Go food to how I'm driving there to this. Yeah, I know it works. I'm not trying anything else. Why would I try anything else?

00:09:54
I know it works. Yeah. And there's so, you know, it's so interesting because we were, I'm trying to think of where I was and we were talking about change in routine and I am very routined like I was actually I think it was when my dad and his and his wife were here, my stepmom because she, we. I actually had her listen to the raw edit like before we edited the episode with Montgomery and Bradley and Montgomery was talking about. And I don't want to give too much away.

00:10:25
Well, there are people already listen to it. But he was talking about, you know, all of the things that he couldn't do. And she looked at me because she's like. Can you pause for a second? And she's like my heart is absolutely broken right now.

00:10:36
She's Like, I can't even fathom going into things, not knowing. Like. And I was like, Cindy, that's everyday life. But what's interesting is. And this is where, this is where like I would love like a psychologist like us to talk.

00:10:53
By the way, how can I help you? Yes. No, Right. We Play 1 on TV. Actually, one of our recent Instagram posts, Ryan Hill, who is.

00:11:02
I don't know if you've been following. He's everywhere. I think he's in. I think he's in Japan right now. Skiing.

00:11:08
Yeah. And yesterday was his five year anniversary of going into cardiac arrest. Oh. And so he commented on your. On our post for word blindness of the.

00:11:22
The episode that also has already gone out, the one on the mental health with, you know, with athletes, with Grayson. And he said, you guys should really talk to my brother. He's a psychologist. I think he said. I forget what he said, but it was a word that I, I had to read like five times.

00:11:39
I was like, I need to look that up. And so he was like, you should really talk to someone about that because. Or talk to him just to have him on. Because there's a lot of interesting things and one of the things that I find very, very fascinating and I always am like, is it self confidence? Is it the.

00:11:57
I know you're going to read it and be like, what? I read it really fast. I think it's. I think it said pd. It was something.

00:12:04
And I was like, I don't even know. That was like a avenue. But the thing that I find geriatric. Geriatric. Which is old people, right?

00:12:14
I don't know. Isn't that the circus people?

00:12:19
I don't think so. I think it's old people. But I didn't, I didn't know that there was geriatric psychiatrist. He could be helpful on a lot of mental health stuff. Yeah.

00:12:33
So I thought it was interesting. But I also thought, Elizabeth, this is something geriatric. Young. Old. I think it's old people old.

00:12:42
Yeah. So I. So I think that is that. But what I find really fascinating is when people talk about change. Like, I love change.

00:12:55
But I'm also. And I always think, is that my attention deficit, like I get like more. And I'm like, oh, I love. Let's change. Yeah, let's dive this before you go too far back.

00:13:06
So you just said you're very routine, right? I am very routine. Yeah. Okay, so let's.

00:13:15
You're very routine now. You love change. Okay, now you're talking two different things here. Do you love your routine in your life? But you like change of a.

00:13:24
I think I'm gonna go from rye bread to white bread. No, I like. No, I like, like big. I like unknown being. Like, I don't know where it's gonna go.

00:13:32
I love that dreaming. Like, I could pick up and move dreams. I do. I love to like, pick up and be like, I could move to any place and I know I would be fine. Cause I would figure it out.

00:13:43
I'd figure out my routine. I'd be a little uncomfortable. I. It'd be new attention hat. Look at me.

00:13:51
I don't think that's what it's like. Listen you. I don't know that. Maybe it is. Maybe that's what it is.

00:13:58
I love that. But then I don't like. So I was talking. This is what I was talking to Cindy about is like when the kids were little and I. We've talked about this before.

00:14:07
I was so strict and so routined because if I let it go to the other side, it would have been a free for all because I am really fun. Like, I am fun, but if it got too fun, forget it. You said you're fun. I say I'm fun. It would go.

00:14:27
It would go sideways. So I had to be very like, this is the time you go to bed. This is what we. I had to be so routined with them so I can control that situation. Right?

00:14:39
Sounds like what it sounds like, Paul. Right? Totally. And it was like a very weird. Especially for Hahn, who was like, oh, my God.

00:14:48
You were like this wild person that was like, oh, yeah, I'm up for anything. The second kids came, I was like, they need to be in bed here. Because I knew if they weren't. If they weren't rested, they were going to be. They wouldn't have slept.

00:14:59
They. If they did. If they had too much sugar, they're like, I was so. And that's where my anxiety. Like, I'd be like, okay, I have this tomorrow for them, so I need to make sure it's this.

00:15:09
I was so. I don't want to say tightly wound because I don't know if someone might be like, okay, you might think you were tight, tightly around, but, like, that's tightly wound. Do you know what I mean? But for me, I was tightly wound in their routines. However, I could have picked up and moved and gone anywhere.

00:15:25
And so I like that kind of change. I like, like experiencing like, new jobs, new this, new that, which is. It's kind of like, well, my mom always Said you're like one way this way and then your other way. Like, none of you. You don't make any sense.

00:15:38
You're a nut job. Takes one to no one. Well, I'm complete a whack job, but do you know what I'm saying? Like, so it's an interesting thing, but are you the same sort of where you have, like, yes, you have to eat, you have to watch the same show, all of that, but you can pick up and go anywhere. Like, talking about your Russian years, I was like, here's.

00:16:00
You know, and so I was, you know, I'm going back. You know, obviously, I got traded at, you know, at 16 years old, different house, different team. You know, I was always on and, you know, always had, you know, different team. Yeah, I think I was on the same team, you know, a couple years because age, and I was always playing up, up level. So I was always.

00:16:28
I was always changing. You know, My nickname when I played pro hockey was Samsonite. I got traded so many times, you know, all the baggage I had with me, right. You know, you know, I lived. You know, I don't even know how many teams I probably have to go.

00:16:42
I was like, seven NHL teams, pro, you know, 12, 14 different pro teams. You know, how many different countries. I had no choice. But was I ever. No, not now that we're, you know, we're talking about.

00:16:56
I was never comfortable, right, Because I never obviously never connected, but I never had anything. The only thing that I had with my routine, right? So maybe that's, you know, can I pick up and leave? Yeah. Yo, grandma.

00:17:12
And I go, 100. I got grandma. But it's. I had to. I was forced into that my.

00:17:19
Right now. My whole. My whole life. Whole life. But.

00:17:22
But it was the anxiety and all of that stuff was really. Because it's like, this could end. So, like, if you think about it, was it more of that part, but you actually are okay with the change part and all of that because, you know, you have routines. You can rely on your routines, but it's more of like, is this gonna be my last game? Am I gonna have to go to the real world?

00:17:41
Like, if you think about it, you know, I mean, it's so, as you say, the onion. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Peel the onion bag. I don't like.

00:17:50
I don't like change.

00:17:55
You know, I don't. And, you know, thing about it is, I've always had it, you know, for an example, you know, people like, oh, what do you want to do if you could travel anywhere in the world and it was free. Where'd you go? I'm like, nor. Right.

00:18:10
Because I never had being home right. So I don't know.

00:18:20
Can I pick up and go? Yeah, I know, I gotta. You should see all the friends come flocking through the door here all the time. No, Grandma's like, well, you gotta slow this down here. No.

00:18:31
You know, Vince came over. Oh, that's where you live? Oh, yeah. We've been friends for a couple years. You decided to come because you had to get a.

00:18:39
Parking tickets or some, you know, safe place is home.

00:18:48
But going somewhere new.

00:18:53
Hate it. You know, Elizabeth got the taste of it when we had to go downtown for. For NBC. You know, I always gotta be early, so if I'm running late or just cutting in time, my anxiety, yo. And that's all from, you know, from my hockey, you know, I didn't get.

00:19:12
I wasn't just getting there. And, and, you know, and, and being there and just knowing that I'm there. Just people just show up on time and they have no problem being late or I do. Yes. But you also talked about.

00:19:32
That's also. Because you don't, like, you don't want to feel stupid. Like, oh my God, I need to ask someone, like, for help. We just. Who do we talk?

00:19:40
I just talked to this recently. There's times where I know the price is wrong and I won't even correct them because I'm afraid to. Right. There's times where I go and open up an email. I won't because I'm afraid what it's going to say.

00:19:56
Mm. So I live a pretty up life and of fear. Right. And right. Whatever.

00:20:10
Those. All those other words that come in, you know, and I'd look at them in dictionary, but I wouldn't find them. No, but it is, it is a very, an interesting way as. As you're painting it. Because there's times where, like, right.

00:20:27
I might know something is wrong. But then I'm like, well, maybe is it. Or I'm questioning myself because I'm like, I, you know my math. I am so awful at it that I'm not going to be like, I don't know. Because I need to.

00:20:41
Like, so there's certain avenues of my life, 100%. But I like, we talked about this as a family talking about each kid how they are with money. Right. And it's interesting to see who's maybe going to be okay with money and then who's not. And it's like, okay, I didn't predict that at all.

00:20:58
But, like, I am awful. Awful because I have no sense of it. I over tip because I don't know how to calculate. I mean, I've always. I never want to under tip because I don't want to look cheap, you know, like, so I will over tip.

00:21:10
And one of my kids is very much like that. And I'm like, it's because he's not calculating. And I know that. And it's actually not the kid that everyone is like, oh, I know who it is. No, you don't.

00:21:18
Actually. It's very Grandma's Rain Man. So she's, you know. Yeah. All these shows, thank God.

00:21:24
But I. I would always. I never did. I've never once did the Mac because I can't. No me right.

00:21:31
I don't even know how to put it into the calculator. They're like, no, this is what you do where you take the decimal. Move decimal is like taking a gun to my head. Yeah. And I tried, you know, and we've dove into this.

00:21:46
And if anyone hasn't listened, if you listen back, like, you'll hear about my first, like, real job other than babysitting on the beach when I was a cashier. And yes, I did it. Which is. It still sometimes makes me laugh because it's like, I can't believe I had the balls to do that because I had no sense. But, yeah, just like at the beach with cute boys.

00:22:09
Whatever. I think we were talking. I still to this day remember when I was in the autograph session in Vancouver and then I had to spell the name George and I had no idea. Yeah. I remember sweating, panicking, went to the bathroom and the cell phones.

00:22:35
This is pre. This is pretty. Like, look, Smartphone, where you can look it up. Yeah. And it was pre.

00:22:42
You know, was it number one where it was like, what is it? Yeah, yeah, whatever. FDG. Whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:22:51
Where's keypad? Yeah. So number two is AB. You know, so I would. I sat probably 15, 20 minutes trying to figure out how to spell George and spray.

00:23:05
Because again, we talked about this. But. And then asking like, someone's gonna go too fast. Like, there's so many times where someone's like, oh, hey, just take my cell phone or just write my email down. And I start fucking sweating because I'm like, oh, my God.

00:23:20
And I always copy it wrong. And then I'll be like. And now I will say, can you just look at this and make sure I have it right? I am comfortable saying that, but it doesn't always Feel great, right? Especially if you're in a rush and you're really trying and it's like, oh, I took that.

00:23:33
People always ask for autographs. Yeah, no, no, no problem. But I will never, ever ask who should address it to never. Because people's names are also. Everyone spells their name different, right?

00:23:45
You know, like, it's like there's 17 ways to spell Sean. You know, my body, I grew up with, he's like, you haven't seen. Seen. You haven't seen Sha. Woon.

00:23:54
You've seen Sean. So that's really funny. That's how he's. That's exactly what he used to say. But then all of a sudden, there's a new one.

00:24:03
That guy played against Sean. Who is shj? Yeah. So now, literally, if somebody asks, can you make it out to whoever I ask? You know how to spell every name?

00:24:21
Because now everybody wants to come up with all these names. And Elizabeth, I were talking about names just recently. I don't know, like, just some. Yeah. Oh, there was a.

00:24:34
Saw an article about a mom. She's deaf. Five single mom. Five. Five boys.

00:24:42
One played in the NHL just recently. They're all O's. Ozzy, Orca.

00:24:51
And I could. Couldn't even Oscar, I'm sure. Oscar, yeah, like orca. How do you spell that? I mean, is it like Orchard, the whale?

00:25:05
Right. You know what would be a good one, though, Elizabeth? Probably go with this, you know, pastas, spaghetti, linguini, right? Fusilli, awa. Fusilli.

00:25:19
What the is fusilli? Let's look it up. It's a pasta. I'll see. I got a little Italian.

00:25:26
I thought you were Jewish.

00:25:30
That's the New Yorker enemy.

00:25:35
Oh, you can hit that accent clearly dries water, huh? Wow, that was impressive, right? A little bit, isn't it? Who is it? Kanye?

00:25:50
Was it north and west? Oh, north and west, right? Yep. What happened to east and South? Yep.

00:25:56
That's crazy. Where are the other two? Come on. Huh? Gwyneth Paltrow, her daughter, I think was Apple.

00:26:03
And someone. I mean, there's like. Yeah, what about Orange? Right?

00:26:10
Didn't somebody have a daughter named Cinnamon, too? I don't know Cinnamon. It sounds like a porn name. Sorry.

00:26:21
Now featuring is Cinnamon or cooking? I guess. I guess. I don't know why I went there, but sorry. People.

00:26:29
People name. So I'll always ask now, but I will never offer to write somebody right to who do you want to address? Never. If they ask me to. Can you write it to somebody then?

00:26:45
I will now ask Every single. You have. But don't you sweat? I mean, you sweat because as they're saying it, it's like you're. It's.

00:26:51
It's because our brains. And this is what. It slowed a process. And I giggled because it sounds like. But it literally comes out of the person's mouth and then.

00:27:02
Oh, in. Like, it takes me. Like, I have to then be like, okay, I have to say the letter in my. Like, it doesn't. It's not an automatic thing.

00:27:10
And that's where people don't realize, like, that's a part of dyslexic. Just whatever it is, it's part of all the five Ds mushed together. I don't know which one screams for that, how many fights I've gotten in, fans with. Right. Show some more respect.

00:27:25
That's. That's how you sign your name. So rude, huh? I mean, that's just like, so first of all, like, that's so fucking rude. Yes.

00:27:38
My writing sucks. We've had three envelopes being returned by the postman because he can't. Can't even read it. So now Elizabeth's got to write it out. Yes, yes.

00:27:48
And. Well, that's the thing with Dysgraphia Montgomery. Talking about, like, you still can't read his handwriting. So think about as you are living life and you are a normal, awesome person, this one thing that people don't understand, and they just think, oh, you're busy. Or you don't.

00:28:08
You're. You're being a dick. Right? Because you're scribble. Like, it's so.

00:28:12
I remember him coming home that one day and being like, mommy, everyone says that I scribble, scrabble. And I was like, how do I scribble? Scrabble. Mm, scribble, scrabble. So it's just one of those things that people need to be gentler with others, not just gravel.

00:28:30
Yeah, right. I mean, and it's not something that, like, if you could choose to write very clear. I mean, I. It's. I can read your handwriting, but it is like a dysgraphic handwriting.

00:28:42
Like, you can see it, but color coordinate. I think I got a few different colors on there. We got orange, we had green, we got yellow, we got pink. Yeah. You know?

00:28:51
Yeah. But it's the way you also process it, right? You have to write it. And that's where it's like. It's a mind fuck.

00:28:58
It's like, oh, hey, hey, God, thanks for that. I have to write it to process it in my brain. However, I can't write. And so it's just all these things. We need to be gentler on ourselves and people.

00:29:10
But. And maybe ask, like, hey, you seem like you're uncomfortable. It just. I don't know, there's just a lot of. And we don't ask.

00:29:19
We don't ask. No. So that is another thing because I said to you, what, this year, right? My, my. My goal for you is that you ask for help more.

00:29:30
I was actually thinking about it though, because there's in certain situations in my life that I do ask for help, but then there's others that I don't. And I was actually thinking at this yoga today, I was like, that's annoying. Like, I actually was like, that's so annoying because in this one situation, I ha. I need. I need someone to do something.

00:29:48
And I'm like, do I feel like it? And I'm like, wait, that's so weird. Why am I pausing there? And I'm like, because we have gotten let down so many times. Yeah.

00:29:58
Yeah. I'm just going to leave it with that. Do you have anything you want to add? I am. You are what?

00:30:12
Not Juliet Hahn. Fuck you.

00:30:17
All right, well, we will leave it on that. Thank you for joining another episode of Word Blindness. Dyslexia Exposed. We really hope you guys are enjoying season three. Just stay tuned because it's getting better and better.

00:30:30
So like, rate, review and share. There's me being the confident one. It's getting better. We are so awesome. That's who says, me, I need attention.

00:30:42
I am. No, I love attention. Or I like attention. I think it does. I like attention.

00:30:47
That's why you want to move. So you get all new attention. Find a new group. No, just. Ah.

00:30:55
Okay, bye. Like rate, review and share.