Email: Graham@SolihullSelfDefence.co.uk

Tel: 07808 708 203

About Me

I had a very difficult time at school as I am severely dyslexic. I was born in 1967 and have the reading and writing age of an 8 year old. I started junior school in 1975 after being put back a year in the infants. My memory of junior school is of being in my own little bubble. Other children thought I was weird and could not understand why I could not read or write.

When you ask a blind person what is it like not to be able to see, they often reply with the question “What is it like being able to see?” This is similar to how I feel about reading and writing. I find it fascinating that people can understand letters and words on a page. With one year left at junior school I was told by the head teacher that because I was put back a year in the infants, I would not be entering the final year at junior school. Instead I was told that I would be staring senior school. I felt both excited and terrified about this proposal. My parents had been very supportive throughout my schooling and met my new head teacher to explain about my dyslexia. My parents reassured me that the head teacher knew and would be holding a meeting with the rest of the teaching staff. My first day was probably much like every one else’s first day at a senior school, but during the first week I started to realise that none of the teachers knew that I was dyslexic. I later found out that the head had forgotten and had not held a meeting with the staff. This was 1979 and I was the very first child to go through this school who had been diagnosed with dyslexia. Unfortunately they were simply not prepared or qualified for this.

I remember one day in class we were all given the same book to read. The panic and dread I felt when I realised the teacher was expecting every child to stand up and take turns reading a page from the book was overwhelming. I felt my heart pounding, my body began to shake and I was dripping with sweat. By the time the teacher got around to me it felt like he was speaking in slow motion. My chest felt like it was splitting in two. I could not stop my hands from shaking and my legs did not seem to be working. I could not stand up. I was stuck to my chair; my mouth was so dry I couldn’t speak (which was the worst - like having a mouth full of powder.) All I could hear was the muffled sound of children laughing and all I could see was the teacher with a puzzled look on his face repeatedly asking me to stand up.

This was the start, the children did not understand and the teachers did not know how to help. I didn’t want any child to know I just wanted to be an average kid.

Children who are overweight or a bit different looking, often get bullied straight away, with me it was gradual and at the time I would of swopped with any of them in an instance. Now I realise that I was a lot more fortunate than many of these children but at the time it felt very different.

Being verbally abused is terrifying. It brought about the same feelings of fear that I felt in the classroom. I was aware that I would never be physically hurt however the feelings of fear were just as intense.

At the age of 14 I got very interested in martial arts. I reasoned that if I learnt how to fight, I might not get so afraid. (Well this is what I thought at the time). I started with Kickboxing Karate, enjoying this for years but still felt that it did not have what I was looking for. My search included Aikido, Filipino Eskrima, Grappling, Judo, Karate, Keysi, Krav Maga, Street Defence Training, Systema, and weapon awareness. My interest in reality based training got stronger and stronger however not one of these different styles of martial arts had dealt with verbal assault or the reality of a street situation. This is why I started Solihull Self Defence.