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Disability Awareness Spotlight

Updated: Apr 11, 2023

๐Œ๐š๐ซ๐œ๐ก ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ƒ๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐Œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ. ๐“๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐„๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐š๐›๐ž๐ญ๐ก ๐’๐ฎ๐ง๐, ๐š ๐ฅ๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ฎ๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐›๐š๐ค๐ž๐ซ.


๐“๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐Ÿ.

I own Sundbakes home bakery where I create luxury hand-painted cakes, cookies, and macarons. When I become interested in something, I tend to go all-in. My first love was philosophy, which took me to my PhD program at Monash University in Australia. I then worked at Minot State for several years with international students. I'm now an entrepreneur and cake designer, and couldn't be happier.


๐“๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ƒ๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ.

I am dyslexic. My main difficulty comes with translating spoken words or thoughts into writing. Itโ€™s difficult to explain, but thereโ€™s a reason I never let anyone see my unedited notes! My errors can be astoundingly off-base, and I canโ€™t identify them on my own without the help of technology. I also have a difficult time reading short passages, passages out of context, lists and poetry.


A new challenge has been running social media for my business Sundbakes. The casual and quick nature of social media goes against my slow and deliberate coping methods that I used throughout my education. I triple check my work, but I literally cannot see the mistakes. For me, mistakes that look like careless typos are just an unavoidable part of who I am. I avoid writing on my cakes at all costs.


๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š๐๐ฏ๐ข๐œ๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐š ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐š๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ?


t's better to write slowly than to not write at all. I think this is one of the main reasons dyslexia has not held me back academically. I write slowly, but I write. I don't judge myself when I need to switch to audio books or rely heavily on spell check.


Learn as much about the human mind as you can. Learning about brains in general, and mine in particular, has unlocked so much happiness. My entire business is set up with my own brain's functioning in mind. I work entirely alone and at my own pace.


Do your own thing. My dyslexia and related issues only are a problem when I am in a situation where I'm supposed to function like everyone else. I'm easily over-stimulated and need to avoid physical touch and noise to be able to think clearly. If I'm in a loud or crowded situation, I give myself permission to let everything else go. I'll never be the meeting notes-taker, I was also a really shitty waitress!


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