I found out I was dyslexic at 44.
I was working with a speech therapist on my English. I am a native Spanish speaker, and I wanted to get better at fluency and pausing. During that work, the same thing kept happening. I could not repeat a sentence back word for word. When I had to give a speech, I could not read it from a script. I would mix the words every time. So I stopped using scripts. I learned the topic, picked a few words to anchor me, and spoke from there. That worked. Reading the exact paragraph out loud did not.
The therapist suggested I get tested. The result was dyslexia.
Growing up in Argentina, no one screened for this. The schools did not look for it. Today there are programs that test kids early, but that did not exist when I was young. I think it came from my mother to me. My two daughters were born here and show no signs of it.
The diagnosis explained a lot. It also showed me something I did not expect. I had already built my own workarounds, without knowing why I needed them.
When I read, I swap words that look similar. I noticed this most when I read to my daughters. They knew every word of the book by heart, and they started correcting me. I was not reading what was on the page.
Numbers are harder. A serial number, a Windows BitLocker recovery key, a VIN. I see the number, I say the number, and I still write it down in a different order. I swapped a VIN once while buying car insurance. So now I triple-check anything with numbers. I know my brain will switch them, so I plan for it.
The biggest change I made was to stop forcing what I do badly and start building on what I do well.
I listen to audiobooks instead of reading print. I use AI to proofread my writing. I was always good at storytelling. Grammar was weaker, and saying it out loud was the hardest part. Now I can get the story down and the tools clean up the mechanics. The thinking is mine.
This shapes how I run CIO Landing. I do not pretend to be good at everything. I find the tool or the person that covers my gap, and I spend my time where I am strong. That is a better way to run a business than hiding what you struggle with.
Richard Branson talks openly about his dyslexia. He also talks about the way it shaped how his brain works, and what that gave him. That stuck with me. The struggle is real. So are the strengths that come with it.
If you are an adult and something has always felt like it did not add up, get tested. Not for a label. So you understand how your own mind works, and you can stop fighting it and start working with it.
I waited until I was 44. I wish I had known sooner. Knowing changed how I work, and it changed how I feel about the years before I knew.