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Start your own Business
Been ill for last few days had man flu, for a while back to the days of brain fog but the clear thinking which is lovely is back. The one thing it made me do is sit down and think about things in general where my business was going and the things that buzz me and my talks. In business in the current climate all business people have to think outside the box think different ways of selling your product, dyslexic people we really think outside the box because we have to. So come on start your own business and become an entrepreneur and have your own destiny in your hands get started now.
A Clear Brain
Last Saturday I went to a business event up near London. It was about juice plus a capsule you take twice a day. I know about juice plus because I have been taking them for a couple of weeks, after a few days of taking them I found that my brain fog had virtually disappeared. I can only say what happened to me but instead of having 20 odd days a month with brain fog and since I have been taking them I’ve only had one day of brain fog which is so much better as far as I`m concerned. It is so important as a Dyslexic to have a clear brain so we need to do everything we can to make things clearer including what we eat and exercise.
Talking to School
Yesterday I went for a meeting at a school near Canterbury. They wanted to talk to me about working with their students who are dyslexic. They asked a lot of questions how my dyslexia affects me. What both of us will be working on which I’m quite good at is joining up people to work together. They would like me to talk to their dyslexic students about running a business with dyslexia and my book Go Play in the sand, John. And mentor the students, and what I would like to do is get local businesses to help to mentor the students as well. In America the mentoring system is used a lot. it is so refreshing to see good schools looking at things from a different angle.
My talking career has begun.
Today at Christchurch University in Canterbury I was invited to talk at a British dyslexia event. To talk about my life and my book. Scary I got there at 9 a.m. the receptionist said you must be John Tipping which was the first time I had been recognized. So we went into a small room where we had coffee and I talked to a few people and at 9.30 we all went up to a lecture hall and Janette my friend for quite a few years started talking about the work she does in the British dyslexia Association. I learnt so much of what they’re trying to do in changing people’s thinking about dyslexia. I was speaking at 11.45 my turn came and I was introduced. As I was getting up my head was screaming inside but I got up there and took a deep breath, and guess what, off I went like if I had been talking to rooms full of people for years I talked for half an hour and then took questions. I loved every minute of it.
The Eye Test
Last week I went to the opticians to be tested, for tinted glasses I was really surprised during the test it was making a difference. It didn’t make any difference to the words but the speed I was reading I didn’t have to concentrate on the words I just read what was there. I’m picking my glasses up tomorrow and it should make a big difference to the speed of reading, I’m sure I will talk about it again. Last Thursday I had to go up to London for a business meeting, it was the first time I had been on the Underground by myself. Even now quite scary but I did it, and for me a big achievement. To read the signs and to go on three different lines. It’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.
So Much Happening!
I have asked Jill to write this for me. I am feeling pretty tired at the moment and writing my blog is quite hard. So, as I have things to say I have asked her very nicely to do it for me.
It is Dyslexia Week coming up starting 9th November. It is also Enterprise Week the week before. I am going to be doing a talk for a group at the University. I love doing talks but I never feel I am very good at them because I always feel there have been things that I have forgotten to say. People seem to enjoy them though.
My book is going really well and all of a sudden we have had loads of orders which is great. We sell through Waterstones and all the other bookshops, but we also sell from the publishers site. Just follow the link through from my book. I havejust spoken to the Kent Messenger and hopefully they will be doing an article about my journey in the local paper. Perhaps also on the radio as well!
I am also having a meeting soon about going into the schools to help out in all sorts fo ways with the dyslexic kids to encourage them to stretch out and have big ambitions despite having reading problems. This is my real passion in life so I am very excited about that.
I am going to be on ‘Sheppey Island Discs’ soon. That is going to be fun. You can have a choice of music and then a luxury item and then A BOOK! Not sure that would be much good for me, but if I keep going with my reading, who knows!! (Jill said my luxury item could be the remote control - she calls it my ‘Noo Noo’ as I always have to have it by me! Very funny!!)
I am definitely improving in my reading. My teacher is very strict and so is Jill. I have to read every day which doesn’t sound much but to me that is really hard work, especially when I am tired. I have read about David Beckham last week and this week it is a poem and a recipe, all specially written to teach me how to say the sounds. It is a work book really with exercises for writing as well (which I am particularly bad at).
Work is busy at the moment with my UV Shield Window Film Business. What recession!! I am going up to London tomorrow to see one of my favourite clients to talk to him about Security Film. I have window filmed his house and his offices and I am hoping he will be able to point me in the right direction for getting more work in London.
Off to post off some more books and see another client so must dash.
Dyslexia Can Dent Your Confidence
(Jill Writes)
I am so pleased that John has now got the confidence to write his own blog. I will still be getting involved but my posts will be in italics. John has written his post using his Dragon Speak. It took him ages to do it, but he DID IT.
Before I met John, I didn’t know anything about dyslexia. I just thought it was when you got your letters jumbled up. Now I know differently. It can also affect your speech, short term memory, sequencing, numbers, to name but a few. And of course it can dent your confidence big time! So posting a paragraph is no mean feat for John and I’m proud that he has taken the step. Now I just need to remind him to do it!
I’m writing my own blog
I’m writing my own blog now, I don’t know what to say but here goes. Yesterday I went for more lessons to read I do feel I am getting somewhere but it feels slow. Today I went to Canterbury to a drop in centre run by dyslexia East Kent . It was really strange walking in to the room and seeing my book on the table. I spoke to quite a few people about the software on my computer which I’m using now to write this down and realised how much other dyslexic people need this type of software it transformed my life.
Passing On What I am Learning
The lady who is teaching me to read (who by the way has the patience of a saint!) has said to me that in return I must teach a child to read. Well, to be fair I didn’t fancy that, but I did think it would be a good idea to find someone who has problems reading and help them. Some time ago I came across this guy called 
Mark and we get on very well - we are quite similar in a lot of ways. He doesn’t read properly and struggles with sounds so I decided to ask him if he would like me to teach him. By the way, have you any idea how ironic that is - I am teaching someone to read!! I have to keep pinching myself.
Anyway - we have had our first lesson. I go to his house one week and he comes to mine every other one. I have drawn letters for him on cards but my teacher has now given me some cards for him. Funny, he struggled with the sounf ‘ix’ just like me. I don’t now though!
My teacher has given me a set of books to read. I read them to Jill in bed! She really likes that - no idea why. Anyway, they are kids books and are very simple but they are building on the sounds that I am learning. I can see how they would be fun for the kids as well. Lots of people say ‘don’t you find it patronising reading children’s books? Why the hell would I - I am learning to read words and that’s what matters, not what the subject matter is.
It is Dyslexia Week coming up at the beginning of November and I have been asked to give a talk on what it is like living with Dyslexia. I will also be able to promote my book which will be cool. I am hoping to do a book signing at Canterbury Waterstones. We are just waiting for the manager to get back to us.
Rugby season has started - thank goodness. We went up to Twickenham to see the London Double Header last Saturday. It was a good day even though it rained most of the time. We had great seats. Jill got us 10 tickets through her Rugby for the Girls website that she runs. Our Under 15 boys are back in training again. I used to be the coach but I just help out now as they needed someone who was still playing to coach them. I tried to become a qualified coach but couldn’t get through the assessment. Wonder why?
I was on the radio the other. Our local radio station KMFM phoned me to ask my opinion on the new ruling that 16 year olds would not be able to leave education for a further year. I gave my opinion as an employer but also as someone who would have hated being made to stay on another year. However, if they are receiving life skills in that extra year that has to be worth it.
We are very busy fitting Security film in my UV Shield Business. It helps deter burglars. The work is mainly in London so I am doing quite a bit of travelling. But it is worth it. Still having time for my reading practice though - just about……
Conquering the Vowels
A E I O U. You can throw them at me in any order and I can now SOUND THEM! Why is after 42 years I can now do it. I have practised and practised and they nowmake sense. You see, before they were just shapes. I knew what they were called - I could say their names - but I couldn’t sound them out. Now I can! Dare I believe that this is the start of a miracle? I have just had the one lesson because my teacher has been on holiday but bless her, she kept emailing us on her Blackberry to make sure I was OK. She knows how difficult it is to concentrate on something that seems so simple to everyone else but can seem like a mountain to climb to someone who is dyslexic.
I has been an interesting week. I have been busy doing all sorts of things. One minute I am at a networking meeting promoting my book (I sold 18 in one day on Friday!). It is weird because as I pass the book over I look at that person and think, ‘ooops, they are about to find out about some of my most inner thoughts and feelings’. But so what! What is the point of writing your life story but only putting in half of the story. There may well be a few people who are a but upset by things I have written and I am sorry about that, but it forms part of my life and I am just writing about my own feelings. If they want to, they can write a book about their feelings too - no one is stopping them!
So, one minute I am in my suit at business meetings and then the next I am in my U V Shield T shirt
putting up Security Film on some windows and then I am digging a hole putting in road signs. Never a dull moment! Here is a picture of me and Sam, my Step-son who comes out to work with me. He is only 15 but has loads of practical sense so is a great asset. We have a good laugh when we are out working. He’ll be back at school soon so I will be back on my own again.
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