Sophie Dennington: From dyslexia diagnosis to FA Cup final ref

Dennington’s story spread this week after a proud Instagram post from her mum, external Shelly went viral.

She is dyslexic, and at the age of 13 was told she had the reading and spelling of a seven-year-old.

“I didn’t get diagnosed until year eight,” she said. “In year five I used to cry because I used to get the words the wrong way around. I had to go to year three to do spellings. One day they had to bring my mum in because I was so distraught.

“My Spanish teacher sat me down, and said: ‘I have dyslexia, and I’m a teacher.’ She was so relatable.

“Nothing was really done, then I changed school into year eight and they did some tests. When I got diagnosed, my family realised I wasn’t just lazy. I think they felt a bit guilty in not being able to support me in the correct way.”

She says she was initially “a little bit embarrassed” by her mum’s post on social media.

“My mum didn’t tell me she was going to post it, so when my phone blew up I wondered what was going on,” Dennington said.

“When I started to read the comments, I realised how people were relating to it.

“It has been amazing. I didn’t want to do any media, but I did want to say: ‘Yes I did have a reading age of a seven-year-old at 13, but now I have a degree.’

“There were people at school who told me not to go for sixth form, but I wrote a 10,000-word dissertation – who are you to tell me what to do?”