Dan Carter is someone who overcame challenges and serves as the current mayor of the City of Oshawa. Dan struggled in school due to undiagnosed dyslexia, which led to low self-esteem and contributed to a lifetime of challenges, including drug abuse and homelessness. However, at age 31, with honesty and determination, he tackled his dyslexia and eventually turned his life around, enjoying a long and successful career.
Dan Carter attended school in the 1960s and faced difficulties due to his undiagnosed dyslexia. He failed both grades one and two. “At that time, there wasn’t the same patience…and they looked at it as a behavioural issue,” he recalls.
He often spent time alone at a desk in the hallway. “Going to school in the early days and being dyslexic and not knowing what it was, and not understanding why it was that I couldn’t do the work, and then getting angry and frustrated with myself… that put up a bunch of hurdles.”
As a child, he tried to fit in, but not being able to do the work in class became a source of shame. To fit in, Dan learned to hide his disability: “You create these mechanisms so you can mask what you are, so that nobody knows because there is a lot of shame that goes with it. And then you find coping mechanisms to deal with it so you hopefully don’t embarrass yourself. I think a lot of dyslexic people have gone through that.”
Between the ages of 14 and 31, after his brother’s death in a motorcycle accident, Dan spiralled into alcohol, drugs, and homelessness. He turned his life around in 1991: “When I got sober, I had to be honest with people and say by the way, I have dyslexia and it’s a learning disability, and I struggle with reading…and by the way, I don’t spell.”
Dan then worked in broadcasting for two decades, developing strategies to manage the effects of dyslexia. For example, he didn’t use a teleprompter for his scripts. Instead, he spent a lot of time preparing and memorizing his lines. During this time, he also made a concerted effort to improve his reading skills.
“I started facing my fear. My fear was to learn how to read – and it really is like riding a bicycle, playing golf, or anything else – it’s one word at a time, and it’s about being methodical…picking up a grade 2 reader and starting there.”
As he learned to read better, he felt better, and that boosted his confidence. “I think that honestly part was the aha moment, that I didn’t need to be ashamed of it, just understood that I was different.”
His advice for young people with dyslexia: Don’t lose hope! There are possibilities that await you, and if we can just embrace our differences and be honest with people – there’s an amazing opportunity that awaits us all. But it’s about seeing ourselves as gifted, talented individuals who have something to contribute. I think when that happens, amazing things happen.”
To listen to Dan Carter’s story, tune in to Dyslexia Canada’s Spotlight – Mark it Read series, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you typically access your podcasts.