I LEARNT TO READ AT 44

Fed up of feeling ashamed and embarrassed, Tash Smart faced her biggest fear

- ANNA VERDON

I’ve always struggled academically. After being held back a year, I started secondary school in September 1989, but I was in the bottom sets in all my classes and surrounded by pupils who wanted to mess about rather than learn.

Not wanting to stand out or be picked on, I stayed quiet, but deep down I was frustrated. I found reading and writing so difficult. I couldn’t seem to grasp the way the words were formed, or I’d get confused by those that looked or sounded similar like ‘what’ or ‘where’. I felt embarrassed and didn’t want to talk about it, so nobody knew how much I was struggling. Instead, teachers said I was lazy or that I couldn’t be bothered to learn. And after a while, I started to believe it. I just thought I was stupid.

POST-SCHOOL BATTLE

I left school at 17 with no GCSEs and spent the next year in college trying to improve in English. But it was difficult. I thought I’d never be able to read or write. While my parents wanted what was best for me, I didn’t open up to them about it. They didn’t know the true extent of my problem.