One of the hardest things about supporting your child is that sometimes their struggles look horribly familiar.

Your child loses track of time, forgets where they put things, struggles to focus unless they’re genuinely interested in something, finds certain social situations confusing, draining or difficult to read.

Maybe you’ve spent years feeling the same way, even if you never quite put it into words.

I have a confession to make…

I was never a strong reader.

I enjoyed reading and I was ‘good at it’ (whatever that means), but I struggled to find books I enjoyed and often gave up on recommended reading.

My older brother, however, was a voracious reader. So was my best friend. They devoured books like chocolate cake and, although I liked the idea of getting lost in a novel, the disappointment at failing to be meant that I dubbed myself a ‘bad reader.’

I managed to discover my love of books later in my teens, after breaking a few rules and finding my own way into it.

While the benefits of reading are widely known, it’s never been harder to encourage children to read.