USAF Staff Sergeant, Husband, New Father & Dyslexic
It can be hard to take the first steps to schedule an assessment for yourself or your child. You may find yourself thinking that labeling the situation won’t make it better. According to, Hansen, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Initially diagnosed with dyslexia in the first grade, Hansen says understanding dyslexia paved the way for him to overcome his struggles with language processing and capitalize on his strengths, leading to his happy, healthy, and successful life – not in spite of his dyslexia diagnosis but because of it. Read our interview with Hansen to learn more about the value of educational assessments, diagnoses, and appropriate support systems. Contact Northern Colorado Assessment Center to learn more about our assessment services.
How Were You First Diagnosed?
People don’t know that you can feel dyslexia. It’s like a weight inside my head. It’s heavy, and it makes doing certain things harder. I’ve always felt it, but I didn’t know what it was or how to explain it. From the outside, I’m sure it just seemed like there was something wrong with me. I didn’t really start talking until I was four. Then, I get to kindergarten and we had to learn to write our names. Everyone else is over there scrawling their letters. Mom always tells the story that my name started with a Q and included every letter in the alphabet except for H-A-N-S-E-N.
Because of the not talking and struggling to write my name, when I went into first grade, I think my mom and teachers were concerned. They sent me to the school counselor, and she would ask me to read stuff or ask me what a letter was. Instead of answering, I would ask if I could draw her a picture or just get quiet. She recommended I go in for dyslexia assessment, and we did that right away. This was in like 1992 or 1993. The assessment was conducted by someone assigned from the school district, and my dyslexia diagnosis was confirmed.
I started receiving accommodations, and I did a little better. Then, we moved, and the teachers at my new school tried to get my accomodations removed because they said I was lazy and there was nothing wrong with me. This was in third grade, and I was really lucky because I had a speech teacher who understood dyslexia. She helped me by showing my teacher that there was really something different about the way I understand things. She used the lessons written on the board. Each day of the week was listed. Then, there was an assignment by each one. The speech teacher asked me to read a line to her, and I did. It said Monday and whatever the assignment was. Then, she asked me what day is Monday? No matter how many times she told me Monday was the first school day of the week then Tuesday was the second, I couldn’t figure it out. She’d ask what comes after Monday, and I’d say a random day like Friday. Then, my teacher started to understand that there really were things that I didn’t understand and needed help to figure out, so I got to stay in the special education program.
Did You Receive Educational Resources?
I went the CLiC (Classroom in Context) just to get more time on stuff and help with tests. I also had to take phonics and speech classes, and I was really good at spelling after that. I think I read and write as well as I do today because of the phonics class. I struggled to understand the words in writing, but I did better hearing them and saying them out loud, which is what we did a lot in phonics and then in speech. My speech teacher, who had helped me in third grade, told us that, with dyslexia, educators can only give people access to tools. Eventually, people find the tools that work for them, and things get easier. I really think that was true.
Did Your Dyslexia Diagnosis Impact Your Education?
I think it made it better. Before that, I was always struggling, but I just tried to be quiet so no one would notice. Once my teachers knew I had dyslexia, they could help me, and they knew I needed help. By the time I got to high school, I started to feel like I didn’t belong in CLiC. It wasn’t really helping me. It just felt like the other kids there needed a lot more help than I did, but in the regular classroom, I felt like the other kids in CLiC. I needed more help.
Then, I had a really good English teacher in 9th and 10th grade. One of the things she would make us do was a spelling bee with our vocabulary words. Whoever won the spelling bee didn’t have to take the vocabulary test for the week. I decided I was going to win the spelling bees, so I didn’t have to take the test. I won all but one spelling bee. This made me realize that competition and challenges helped me learn better.
That’s when I made a decision to challenge myself to get to a point where I didn’t have to go back to CLiC. I had to stay on the A/B honor roll to be eligible for athletics, so It wasn’t easy. I pushed myself really hard in every class, setting challenges the way I did with the spelling bees. Eventually, when m teachers asked if I needed to go to CLiC, I realized I didn’t. I always knew I was just as capable as everyone else, and for me, it was important to prove that and learn to be independent.
Has Your Dyslexia Diagnosis Impacted Your Life After School?
Dyslexia impacts me all the time. It’s never gone, but actually, this self-awareness helps me to deal with it. I know my limits, and I don’t let myself get pushed beyond my capacity. I know that learn better if I set challenges for myself, and I use memorization and habits to help me free up the mental space for dealing with my dyslexia. I try to keep everything really organized, so I can find it easily. I have a big binder with all the information I need for my staff organized with tabs. You know, I just do little tricks like that because I’ve learned what works for me.
I also discovered that teaching other people really helps me learn things. I’m a staff sergeant, and that means I’m in charge of my staff and their programs. If there were parts of my job that I struggled with before becoming a staff sergeant, I know them now because I’ve had to explain it to other people so many times. The first time this happened, I was at a training that used a software I didn’t access often. I had to do one thing with it, and I knew how to do that. Then, I get thrown into this group of guys who knew even less than I did, and we had to finish a task with the software. To get started, I said. Well, I know how to do this one thing. Then, I explained it to the other people in the group. When I explained that one thing, other parts of the program started to make sense. The more I explained it, the better I understood it.
One little thing that still impacts me is understanding how words relate to each other like the days of the week. I also struggled with the difference between “AM” and “PM.” There are a bunch of other related words that I get confused like “fiction” and “nonfiction” or “negative” and “positive” or “fact” and “opinion.” To understand, the difference I start walking myself through each word and the context in my head, but sometimes, I get myself convinced the wrong way. The thing with me is that, once I figure it out, it usually takes so much effort and time that I’m never going to forget it.
What is it Like to Have Dyslexia?
When I was really young, dyslexia was like an insurmountable wall. As I’ve gotten older and learned to manage it, I know how to get around the dyslexia wall. I started developing ways to climb over the wall or dig under it or go around it, but it’s always there. I know that I have to build in mental space to deal with my dyslexia, and I can’t let myself do too much. The Air Force is great for my dyslexia because it teaches you how to handle stress, and I can do a lot more now.
The military is also all about routine, and that makes managing dyslexia easier. Everything I do for my job I do over and over again until it’s a habit. Even outside of work, I create routines that make things easier, so I have more energy to give to dealing with dyslexia. I rely on my schedule and repeated habits, so I don’t have to commit much mental energy to the little tasks. For example, even if I wasn’t in the Air Force, I’d wear the same thing every day. Before I leave the house, I go through this ritual where I tap my pockets. In one pocket, I’ll have my phone. In one I’ll have my wallet, and I’m holding my keys. Every time I leave the house, I do that. It’s unconscious.
