“When I was 16 years old, I was diagnosed with dyslexia. It was a relief, because for the first time I realized why I got so many red lines and corrections in my school styles”, writes Høyre leader Erna Solberg on Facebook.
The words come in connection with a podcast in which the former prime minister talks to professor of special pedagogy at the University of Oslo, Monica Melby-Lervåg, about how dyslexia has affected her, and what has helped her in everyday life.
“Fortunately, both the knowledge and the aids have improved since the 70s,” she writes.
– My spelling was a bit of a pain
“I got the diagnosis in the 70s at Eikelund school for giftedness,” says Solberg in the interview.
You can listen to the entire episode of the podcast “It works” with Erna Solberg on Spotify.
— As a child, I loved to read, and I could actually read when I started school. But my spelling was a bit of a pain. Although I did well at school otherwise and was good at reading aloud, I noticed that I struggled with long words, says the 63-year-old.
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Since she coped so well verbally, it took many years before Erna got help. It was her French teacher who finally brought up the problem, writes the Center for Special Educational Research and Inclusion and the University of Oslo (UiO) in a press release via NTB.
Erna was then 16 years old.
— She wondered if I had ever been tested for dyslexia, as it was called at the time. I remember her saying: “You do well orally, but you write almost unintelligibly”.
– The digital world has meant a lot
Although Erna Solberg still writes and spells a number of mistakes today, her dyslexia does not prevent her from functioning in her job as a politician and party leader.
– For me, the digital world has meant a lot. I have good correction programs that help me, and these have become much better than they were before. Often I also get others to read over for me, and it works well, says Erna Solberg in the podcast.
