The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) is celebrating Dyslexia Awareness Week with the theme of ‘Breaking Through Barriers’. The theme looks at how those living with dyslexia have overcome obstacles in their lives, this could be during education, work or general day-to-day living.
At ScoutsCymru we encourage people to do more, be more and learn more. This is why, as an inclusive movement, we celebrate how diverse and awesome every one of our members are.
Scott started playing rugby for Llanelli Juniors at 8 years old, he had his first game for the Llanelli Scarlets at 18 years of age against Penygroes RFC in 1990. Scott went on to play 146 games for the Scarlets scoring 69 tries for his beloved home club, this was under the guidance of Gareth Jenkins his only Llanelli coach and mentored also by his father Derek. Scott played for Wales 52 times and scored 12 tries, Scott loved playing under Graham Henry’s reign and still calls him coach to this day as a mark of respect. Scott also played for the Barabarians and went on two British Lion tours in 1997 and 2001 he scored 5 tries and 1 test try.
Scott currently works in the media, he occasionally works for Sky Sports, Real Radio, The One Show, A Question of Sport, Soccer am and has just finished making the series of School of Hard Knocks. Scott also has done column work for the newspapers and currently does motivational speeches for the workplace and after dinner speaking all over the world. He has also appeared on radio and tv covering events such as Rugby World Cups and Lions tours.
Scott is a patron of the Princes Trust, Make a Wish foundation and The Welsh Dyslexic Association, Scott also speaks occasionally around the UK about Learning difficulties to adults and children, Scott has done this for 12 years he has even spoke in the houses of parliament on 3 occasions. Scott’s speech has inspired teachers, pupils, adults and parents to realise that you can make a success in your life despite being dyslexic.
Scott said: “When I was at school, I was told that I was thick, stupid and lazy. I didn’t know that I had dyslexia. It made me want to hide away at the back of the class, hoping that the teacher wouldn’t notice me.
“Rugby was the only thing that kept me going. It was the reason that I woke up in the morning with a smile on my face. Luckily enough, I was quite good and was able to make a career out of it.”“The biggest thing you need to have is self-esteem, the ability to feel good about yourself. I couldn’t stand up and talk at 28. I could play rugby in front of 75,000 people but talking to everyone after the game was terrifying.
You have to get over things, you push yourself to do better and now people can’t shut me up.
You need to practice what you want to do and there is no shortcut from A-Z. You have to find the determination to keep on going.”
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty which can often co-occur with dyspraxia, dyscalculia and ADHD. It’s estimated to affect at least 10% of the population and often runs in families.
Every person is unique so it’s important to find out what their individual strengths and difficulties may be.
Individuals can become frustrated and have low self-esteem because they feel less able than their peers. They may also feel misunderstood if others do not appear to appreciate or recognise their difficulties which, in some cases, may lead to challenging behaviour.
