A Day in the Life of an Adult with Dyslexia: How Technology Helps Me Keep Pace with a Fast-moving World

As an adult with dyslexia, I am challenged every day to keep pace with a world of content and communication that continues to grow. Every working adult today is bombarded with email messages, text messages, and documents with an expectation that these are processed and responded to in a timely fashion. There is also a requirement for learning new things to remain proficient in your job. And social interaction requires an awareness of what is ‘trending’ in the world around us. When reading and writing take as much effort and time as it does for me, there is no choice but to use the power of technology to help to meet the requirements of each day.

My day begins with a quick check with one of my digital assistants, Alexa, who talks to me about the local weather. As I head downstairs to prepare breakfast, my primary digital assistant, Siri, tells me who has emailed me overnight. I then listen to any emails that may require an immediate response. That one from my boss inquiring about an open order does, so I dictate an email response to Siri and send it off before I make coffee. I also setup a notification to speak with my boss about it when I get to work (he likes the face to face touch).

As I head to work, I turn on the New York Times daily summary which is part of my Audible subscription from Amazon. I make a note in my daily journal about an acquisition in my industry for further follow-up later.

As I arrive at work, I get a notification on my phone to follow-up face to face with my boss about that order that he sent an email about. Siri also reads me a text message from a co-worker about a potential quality issue. I dictate a text message response to Siri and send it along.

I need to review an article today and send comments to the author. I pull the PDF from an email and use the software on my laptop to read the article verbally to me. I have a couple of comments, so I dictate an email message through Siri and send it along to the author.

On my way home, I meet face to face with a business associate that I used to work with. He is between jobs and the conversation needs to be face-to-face, digital just won’t do.

As I get home, it’s time to review the packet describing our new medical benefits. I use the software Speechify to take pictures of the printed pages and then have them converted to speech. I review the benefits information and make my choices.

I am listening to the latest Malcolm Gladwell book that I got from Learning Ally. Their collection of books on tape is amazing. Gladwell references another author that I am not familiar with, so I ask Alexa about that author. Alexa reads me a profile of that author and a list of her recent books.

My day ends with a bedtime story to my Five-year-old daughter. She totally accepts my occasional struggle with a word. No digital assistance here. Just a hug and a kiss goodnight.