Rewriting story: Nigerian woman’s journey from dyslexia to advocacy - Punch Newspapers

For years, Chinelo Ezigbo carried a question she could not quite answer: why did learning seem to come differently to her? Growing up in Nigeria, she struggled with aspects of school and examinations that those around her did not fully understand. Like many children whose learning differences go unrecognised, her difficulties could easily have been interpreted as poor concentration, weak academic performance or simply not trying hard enough. What she lacked was not necessarily ability, but an explanation. It was only much later in life, as an adult, that Chinelo discovered there was a name for many of the difficulties she had experienced throughout childhood: dyslexia. The discovery let her look back through a different lens and see that some of what she had regarded as personal shortcomings were connected to how she learned. It also raised another question: how many other Nigerian children might be going through similar experiences without anyone recognising what is happening?Today, Chinelo is a dyslexia advocate, writer and speaker using her lived experience to promote greater awareness, earlier recognition and better support for children and adults with dyslexia, particularly in Nigeria. Her message is simple: Difference is not less. For years, Chinelo wanted to advocate for children facing challenges similar to those she had experienced. A supportive friend’s encouragement helped her begin turning her experiences into writing and, eventually, public advocacy. Around 2020 or 2021, while visiting Nigeria, she began writing about her life and reflecting on the difficulties she had encountered at school and during examinations. Although the personal writing project remains unfinished, it opened a door. Around 2025, she began sharing her experiences more publicly. Her first advocacy article helped crystallise the phrase that would become central to her work: “Difference Is Not Less.” For Chinelo, the phrase is more than a slogan. It represents the belief that learning differently does not make a person less intelligent, less capable or less worthy. It is also a call for parents, teachers and communities to look beyond conventional measures of academic performance. Chinelo does not see dyslexia solely as a childhood or educational issue. Her own experience has shown her how an unrecognised learning difference can continue to affect a person’s life long after leaving school. The consequences of missed understanding can extend into higher education, employment, relationships, confidence and mental wellbeing.See more Punch stories on Google.Add Punch on Google Her advocacy, therefore, speaks not only to parents and teachers, but also to adults who may have spent years wondering why certain aspects of learning or working seemed unusually difficult. Her professional background gives another dimension to her perspective. Chinelo has a background in mental health nursing and social work and currently works as a Mental Health Practitioner with the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. She has also previously worked as a disability assessor. However, she distinguishes this professional experience from her advocacy. She speaks and writes primarily from her lived experience and believes specialist questions about dyslexia diagnosis, educational assessment, and treatment should be addressed by appropriately qualified professionals. In June 2025, Chinelo began developing a storybook project to help others understand experiences similar to hers. The manuscript was completed and submitted to publishers around June 2026. Although it has not yet been published, the project reflects her belief in the power of storytelling. A child may not immediately understand a clinical explanation of dyslexia, but a story about another child who struggles, is misunderstood, discovers how they learn and eventually understands that they are not “less” can create recognition and empathy. Tinubu rules out return to fuel subsidy Nigeria @66: Difficult reforms over, prosperity next – Tinubu Nigeria@66: From resilience to enduring capability For Chinelo, storytelling makes conversations about learning differences accessible to children and families. What began as a deeply personal journey is now taking Chinelo beyond Nigeria. After her conference proposal was accepted, she is scheduled to speak at the International Dyslexia Association conference in Las Vegas on November 13, 2026. Her contribution will bring a Nigerian lived-experience perspective to a collaborative session examining dyslexia support across Africa. The international opportunity marks an important step in her emerging advocacy journey and provides a platform to draw attention to a conversation that remains relatively underdeveloped in many African communities. For Chinelo, however, the international stage is not the destination. Her real goal remains closer to home: helping Nigerian families, schools and communities recognise that a child who learns differently should not automatically be viewed through the lens of failure. At the heart of Chinelo’s advocacy is a challenge to assumptions. When a child repeatedly struggles with reading, writing, spelling, memory, processing information or examinations, the immediate question can sometimes be: What is wrong with the child? Chinelo wants that question to change. What if adults instead asked: What does the child need? What if teachers were better equipped to recognise possible learning differences earlier? What if parents had greater access to information and appropriate assessment? What if adults who struggled through school were given an opportunity to understand their experiences rather than carrying unexplained difficulties into later life? These questions increasingly define her public work. Her advocacy is ultimately about replacing judgement with curiosity, stigma with understanding and assumptions with appropriate support. Chinelo’s journey from an undiagnosed child in Nigeria to an adult advocate preparing to speak on an international platform illustrates the potential power of understanding. Her story does not suggest that every academic difficulty is dyslexia, nor does it replace professional assessment. Rather, it makes a case for paying closer attention when a child consistently struggles and for creating environments where asking for help is not seen as weakness. A diagnosis can sometimes do more than identify a condition. It can help a person reinterpret the past, understand themselves and discover a new sense of purpose. Chinelo writes, speaks and tells her story in the hope that another child will not have to wait until adulthood to understand why learning feels different. Perhaps that is the real meaning behind the words that have come to define her journey: Difference is not less. Ami-Okhani is a public policy researcher and journalist Kindly share this story:

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