4th October 2016
An apprentice is hoping to raise the profile of dyslexia by telling her story during Dyslexia Awareness Week 3rd-9th October.
19 year old Rheanna Stiles from Dagenham went the whole way through school thinking she wasn’t very clever and left school with no qualifications at all. She was finally diagnosed with dyslexia a few years ago when she left school and went to college
She now has several qualifications under her belt and a job as a business apprentice. To promote Dyslexia Awareness Week 3rd-9th October, Rheanna has made a short film of herself which has been posted on the college’s Facebook page.
When she first went to Barking & Dagenham College in 2012 she enrolled on a Hairdressing course and also studied Maths and English. Rheanna got lots of other opportunities whilst at college, such as work experience placements; she even won a competition which involved her being able to write articles for a local newspaper.
She explains: “I got to write about Dyslexia on four occasions and I was paid £50 an article, so I made £200, just sitting at home writing stories!
“I was then asked by the College to become at Student Ambassador. I go back to my school, and talk to their students, tell them my story and give them advice.
“My advice this year was: if you didn’t get the grades you wanted, go and do two weeks’ work experience during the summer, to get a feel for the workplace. If you don’t like it, have a Plan B and Plan C, too, if necessary. I didn’t get my plan A (which was being a hairdresser, as I have a skin condition which prevented me from doing it), but I did get plan B (doing a business Apprenticeship).”
“I’m so happy that I’ve now been offered the opportunity to work and study again at Barking & Dagenham College as an apprentice. My Mum’s always told me that I’ve always been happiest when I’m here.”
The charity Dyslexia Action is asking people with dyslexia to film a short video about their story and Rheanna has done one of these. You can view her video on Barking & Dagenham College’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/barkingdagenhamcollege/
