My dyslexia means I can’t spell, but I can be a spy

Apparently, I’d make a good spy. I may not be discreet or fluent in Russian, but I do have one rare quality that GCHQ prizes: I’m dyslexic.

The intelligence agency apparently employs more than 100 dyslexic and dyspraxic spies, who lend ‘neuro-diversity’ to the war against terror. Speaking to The Sunday Times, the head of dyslexic and dyspraxic support at GCHQ praised dyslexics’ ability to analyse complicated information in a ‘dispassionate, logical and analytical’ way.

Dyslexia doesn’t have to be a ‘learning disability’: it merely means that you learn in a different way to the majority. My mild dyslexia made primary school difficult, but I’ve since come to see it as an advantage. It often gives those it affects what GCHQ describe as a ‘spiky skills profile’ – it can make you very good at some things and terrible at others.