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About the Author - Neil Alexander-Passe
The author is a 41 yr old dyslexic, living in London, UK. He is happily married and a father to two sets of twins (10yrs and 6yrs old). As a dyslexic he had very similar experiences to those described in this book. Whilst he is today perceived as successful, as a child it was a very different story. He left UK mainstream school with very few qualifications which were significantly lower than both his two non-dyslexic siblings and those of his peers. Whilst his education took place in the 1970’s and 80’s, dyslexic was still in its infancy. The suffering he experienced was due to a lack of awareness by both his teachers and his parents and like many of his dyslexic peers he set out to educate himself to give our own children better opportunities at school. In 'Dyslexia and Depression' book you will read of the suffering that many dyslexics have experienced and in most cases it reflects his own time at school and with his family. The author not only felt it was more subjective writing about the experiences of others than his own, but felt a study with large numbers of adult dyslexics would support the hypothesis better and allow greater generalizations. Whilst depression was an element in his own childhood, he managed to find strength and resilience through visual excellence to reduce its affects on his adulthood, thus the investigation of resilience was one of the objectives of this book. In his case he found alternative routines in gaining his first degree in Graphic Design (dyslexics are known to excel visually) and a master’s degree in research philosophy (as a mature student). Such resilience and determination has allowed him a means to study for a PhD, which was put on hold for this book. This book of more than 160,000 words is nearly twice the size of a PhD, thus to research and write such a study in less than a year is remarkable achievement even for a non-dyslexic. One of the main questions the author needed to face with his 'Dyslexia and Depression' book (and talking with his wife) was since none of his children have yet to develop dyslexic, is all of his research in vain? The author began to research dyslexia and the emotional suffering in children, teenagers and adults so that he was better prepared than his own parents, for any dyslexic children. But since none of his are dyslexic, he is drawn between being relieved that they have not suffering as he did at school, and secondly being frustrated that he they do not share the experiences of suffering with a learning disorder (so are unlike him). It’s crazy he realises, but he is not sure if he should be thanking god that they are spared the suffering and alienation that dyslexia brings or resenting their easy flight through school? The author hopes with his 'Dyslexia and Depression' book, that dyslexia will be seen in a new light, with greater understanding of the secondary manifestations that can come from suffering and helplessness. The author feels that depression is a real and significant manifestation from dyslexia, and notes that whilst he was seeking volunteers for this study, there was a great influx of dyslexics with depression, thus he questions whether most dyslexics are affected by depression, to some extent, as a reaction to their suffering in mainstream education. |
