Part of PSL's "Neurodiverse Maine" Series
(Our intern, Jacquelyn, picks some interesting brains around Maine.)
Interviewed and written by Jacquelyn Taylor
This blog is part of an ongoing series that spotlights neurodiverse individuals hiding in plain sight around Maine. People rarely discuss what life is like with hidden disabilities such as dyslexia and ADHD, but our intern wants to change that. She will ask them questions about living and working as an adult with learning differences or learning disabilities.
Our hope is that getting to know about how “everyday adults” have coped, overcome, and benefitted from their learning disabilities, will inspire students who are currently facing similar challenges.
Brooklyn Moran has her own business, Brooklyn’s Curl Suite LLC, which is located at 800 Technology Way, Suite 34, Scarborough ME 04074.
She has been styling hair for eight years and opened her own salon in March of 2021. Moran is passionate about American Sign Language (ASL) and signs with clients who are deaf or hard of hearing. She is the mom of a three-year-old daughter and also lives with an orange cat and a Chiweenie dog.
What is your learning disability and when were you diagnosed?
“I am dyslexic and I was diagnosed at a later age…but I’ve known for a while,” Moran added that she was diagnosed with ADHD at the same time as she received her dyslexia diagnosis. In her earlier school years, she said that the school put her in special education classes for reading and math. However, none of her teachers brought up that she may have learning disabilities.
What are some of your challenges due to your learning disability(s) and what is at least one way you’ve overcome one of your struggles?
Many of Moran's struggles stemmed from what she calls “neurotypical educational settings” where she dealt with undiagnosed learning disabilities. “[Throughout] elementary, middle, and high school I was just getting by.” Moran said this caused her to think of herself as “a dumb kid.” She also thought, “obviously these other kids have something that I don’t.” This mindset of constant negative self-talk really started to deteriorate her self-confidence. “What made me overcome a lot of that was having patience with myself and realizing the standards (for which) I set for myself are not the standards other people have.”
What are some ways in which your learning disability has benefited your life?
“Dyslexic people think three-dimensionally … and I’m actually learning ASL which is a three-dimensional language.” Since learning ASL, she said, “I actually understand it a lot more than I do when I’m speaking with someone or reading something.” This has benefited not only her personal life but also her career. “I have a few deaf clients…and I realized I only knew their name and their color formula.” Moran didn’t feel comfortable with so little information because she said as a hairdresser, a big part of the experience is getting to know the clients. So, she took it upon herself to incorporate signing for her deaf clients. Moran received a lot of positive feedback as well as attracting more deaf clients.
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