A Labour MP has urged social media users who call him “thick” over his writing mistakes to be more understanding about his dyslexia.
In a candid twitter thread, Peter Kyle, MP for Hove, said the platform could be an “unforgiving place” for people with unseen challenges.
He revealed that he is severely dyslexic but gets challenged on his tweets every day.
“Mostly it’s kindly or humorous which is appreciated. Sometimes it’s sneering or brutal,” he said.
“ Twitter can be a pretty unforgiving place for people with unseen challenges.
“I’m very resilient, but it reminded me of a time when I wasn’t,”
Mr Kyle said the last time he was formally assessed he was told he had a reading and comprehension age of an eight-year-old.
(Image: Jeff J Mitchell)
And he described how his dyslexia had been painful at school, where he was forced to read Shakespeare aloud to the class “one painful word at a time” – although most of his teachers had been kind.
He was accepted to Sussex University aged 25 and left six years later with a degree and a doctorate.
Mr Kyle was praised for speaking out by colleagues on both sides of the political divide.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: “Massive respect to Peter Kyle for speaking out so openly about his dyslexia. Important to remember: being [dyslexic] makes spelling difficult, but it’s not a weakness – it’s a strength.”
