As a child, Sally Gardner was likened more to a sieve than a sponge. More information was lost than retained, and she was called a problem child, unteachable and lazy.
But there was a reason: Gardner had severe dyslexia, a lifelong learning disorder that typically manifests in reading, writing and spelling difficulties.
According to the Health Department's Child Assessment Service, the prevalence of dyslexia among children is between 9.7 per cent and 12.6 per cent. The condition in about 70 per cent of these is considered to be mild, 20 per cent to be moderate and 10 per cent severe.
Gardner's condition was considered severe. She was actually named Sarah, but she couldn't figure out whether the R or H came first, so her name was changed to Sally: S is like a snake, followed by a little A and two long lines, and a Y to catch it all. That, she could remember.
She was bumped from school to school, had few friends and eventually ended up in a school for "maladjusted" children. Her parents, both lawyers, were mystified. At age 11, she was finally diagnosed with dyslexia.
Miraculously, at 14, her condition took a U-turn. "I think that ... they'd given up on me and, without the pressure, I could finally read."