Euan Crawford and His Experience With Dyslexia - “Dyslexia Doesn’t Define Me, It Just Assists Me”

Euan Crawford is a 20-year-old photography student at Edinburgh College. He shares how he's faced prejudgement towards his academic abilities and explores how accepting Edinburgh is towards neurodiversity.

When Euan was diagnosed in primary school, he thought his diagnosis was interesting and nothing to be ashamed of. However, this began to change as he got older:

"I definitely viewed it as more of a positive thing for the younger years of my life, but then going into exams, I realised how my brain works is slightly different and slightly slower."

Euan explains that dyslexia has not only impacted his ability to read and write, but these activities are unenjoyable due to how much energy it takes from him. This lack of enjoyability has affected his success in school, particularly in STEM subjects. He also notes that teachers would prejudge his academic abilities due to his dyslexia:

While he believes his teachers had a basic understanding of dyslexia, they failed to adequately support dyslexic students. Despite this, Euan admits that he performed better in creative subjects, likely because he comes from a creative family. However, even in art class, he was referred to as' a very messy artist'.

Although academic support for neurodivergent people was flawed, Euan recalls that neurodivergent support in his high school was good in aspects outside of this, such as support for mental health.

Euan goes on to explain how he always felt accepted at home; his mum also has dyslexia, which has enabled a better understanding towards the condition while growing up. Despite growing up in an accepting household, he shares that he faced some negative judgement from his peers in school:

"The people that I wasn't friends with in school just thought I was a bit dim."

In the workplace, Euan strongly believes companies use neurodiversity awareness as a 'badge' in which they want to appear inclusive solely for their image: 

"I think that was definitely something that a lot of the bigger companies that I've worked for in retail do, but I think the place I currently work for see it as a positive thing." 

Although Euan thinks some companies hire neurodivergent people to 'tick a box', he shares that he's never had a negative experience in the workplace due to his dyslexia.

He reflects on how college has been more favourable for him, as it made him realise that the way he thinks isn't inherently negative; he views things much more visually than others. The college environment has allowed him to thrive:

Euan's Photography Portfolio

However, taking a different educational journey rather than going straight to university was looked down upon. Euan attended Boroughmuir High School, one of the best-performing public schools in Scotland. Therefore, he acknowledges a clear pressure to attend university, alongside more funding being placed into STEM subjects above creative ones.

However, Euan explains that he feels there's a misconception about neurodivergent people performing better in creative subjects: 

"It's definitely a thing that's pumped into schools: they're dyslexic, they must be creative."

Leaving the academic conversation aside, Euan goes on to contemplate how accepting Edinburgh is as a city towards neurodiversity:

Drawing the conversation to a close, Euan sums up his condition in a single sentence: 

"Dyslexia doesn't define me, it just assists me."