NEW BOOK
Hola Amiga 5: My Dyslexic Childhood
I came for the art but stayed for the dyslexia.
Most kids gravitate toward art, visuals, and sensory experiences—and some of us never let that go. As Ursula K. Le Guin said, “The creative adult is the child that has survived.”
My dyslexia led me to both art and self-teaching. Learning differently forced me to find my own creative solutions. This turned out to be a gift—I discovered I could learn anything I wanted to, regardless of what was taught in school.
Curiosity, play, and discovery became my modus operandi. We now live in an incredible time where, if you have curiosity and desire, you can learn almost anything. This book is my attempt to show non-dyslexic people how reading felt to me as a young person. I saw letters as abstract sculptures—objects and shapes rather than text. Words appeared like Rorschach ink blots, resembling strange buildings and characters more than language. My eyes would jump around the letters, making the words unintelligible. I would get fragments of information and would have to use creativity to make sense of this input.
People often think dyslexia is purely visual, but it can affect how you think. My thought process was distinctly non-linear; I would hold multiple conversations at once, jumping back and forth between different trains of thought.