QuickTalk Friday Interview Series

Cracking the Dyslexia Code

One learning style doesn’t fit all students

Photo credit: Trisha Dunbar with dad as a college graduate.

Let’s be honest: School is very hard for many kids.

That’s why I’m reinterviewing Trisha Dunbar (She/Her). It’s not my habit to interview a writer twice, and if you’re a regular of this weekly series, you know this is my third interview in a row with a neurodiverse person.

As the parent of an autistic teenager, I found the details of Trisha’s story as a dyslexic writer with ADHD related to my son’s life, especially her parent’s decision to home-school her at 14. My son is now 14, and he’s unschooled.

So, if you read my first interview, consider this as a sequel to my first story, “Ten Terrifying Questions for a Dyslexic Writer With ADHD.” This follow-up is about how her parents “cracked the code” to educate their daughter.

Scot: Tell me about being 14. You said in our first interview the school system wrote you off as illiterate and your parents took you out of school, right?

Trisha: According to the public education school system, you do exams, go to college, spend a small fortune doing exams, work 9 to 5, get married, maybe have children if you want, retire, and die. Shocker alert! There are many other paths that you…