I’m Not Lazy—AI Helped Me Find My Voice
Summary: A personal reflection on how assistive technology like talk-to-text, Grammarly, and ChatGPT empowered me as a dyslexic, autistic parent and advocate—after years of being told I just "needed to try harder."
It wasn’t that long ago that I was in high school, constantly hearing how smart I was. People praised my leadership skills, my public speaking, my ability to adapt and learn quickly. But there was always a catch.
I “just needed to learn how to write.”
I was told I wouldn’t get anywhere until I “sat down and tried harder.” That message stuck with me—and not in a good way. It hurt.
Because the truth is, I did try. I tried so hard.
I had to be taught phonics and grammar over and over and over again in elementary school. I gave up on myself at one point, and I think a lot of people gave up on me too. Things didn’t really click for me the way they did for my peers, and it wasn’t until much later in life that I started to feel capable.
I was diagnosed with dyslexia (and a bunch of other learning disabilities) somewhere around third or fourth grade. I usually say third grade, even though I’m not totally sure—that year was just one of the hardest for me. That was the year I realized how far behind I was. How hard it was to sit still, stop tapping on the table, keep from spacing out, or not daydream. Everything we were being taught felt irrelevant.
Why memorize multiplication tables?
But I loved finding patterns in them. One teacher noticed that, and they showed me tricks and patterns that made it all click. Same with reading. Another teacher taught me that you didn’t have to read every single word—you could guess based on context. That blew my mind. It was like a cheat code.
To this day, I still “read” by memorizing words and guessing. I’m not really reading, not in the traditional sense. But my brain fills in the gaps so well that most people can’t tell. Writing, though? That was a whole other story. Writing was a wall I kept hitting.
That is, until I found talk-to-text.
I discovered it when I was pregnant with my now 13-year-old daughter. I was trying to go to college and struggling so much. Someone told me about Dragon software—it was expensive, but I also found a free version that kind of worked… as long as your house was completely silent (not ideal with a 2-year-old).
So I typed the best I could. I mixed up words, messed up grammar, capitalized random letters, but spellcheck was my best friend. I’d copy and paste one or two sentences into Google to see if it sounded right. I found little workarounds.
Still, it wasn’t sustainable. My daughter was born with medical complications, and I dropped out of college again. I became a stay-at-home mom. I volunteered at the library and on the PTO. And I carried this deep fear that I’d always be “unhirable”—that I’d be stuck in a factory or no job.
I hated that idea. I wanted to do more.
So I pushed myself. I got certified in Google Workspace. I learned Microsoft Office. I figured, if I didn’t have to write a 10-page essay, I could still be really good at other things.
By 2019, Google Docs had way better talk-to-text. Grammar tools improved. And that’s when I started to get my confidence back. I could finally take my thoughts—the ones that had always been in my head—and get them on paper.
Even so, I ended up working in a warehouse anyway. They said I’d move into the admin side, but that never happened. And the environment? Awful for me. Loud. Cold. Overstimulating. As someone with undiagnosed Autism and sensory issues, it drained me. Racist comments didn’t help either. My mental health took a nosedive, and I had to leave.
While I was unemployed, I kept trying to better myself. I got my Level One IT certificate. I almost got my Level Two, but I couldn’t focus long enough to finish. Still, I kept going. I earned my Google Workspace certification again and threw myself into advocacy—LGBTQIA+ rights, Indigenous visibility, mental health.
Eventually, I went back to what I love: working with kids. I landed another job in a before-and-after school program. I love the work so much I hated never seeing my kids. Four months later, someone who saw my work ethic offered me a job I didn’t even apply for. That was such a powerful moment—it meant they saw me. They believed in me.
That job was with the Parent/Professional Advocacy League (PPAL), and it was then that I discovered Grammarly. I knew I needed something a little bit more efficiently to get work done on time. Through some quick research I fell in love with this program.
Grammarly changed everything. It cleaned up my emails and notes without changing my voice. It caught the backwards sentences and small mistakes that dyslexia brings. It didn’t write for me—it supported me.
Fast forward again: now I use ChatGPT. Not to cheat. Not to replace my thinking. But to help. It lets me research more efficiently, organize my thoughts, and say things clearly. I still ask it to keep my tone, my words, and my ideas.
I’m seeing so much judgment right now about AI tools. People think it’s lazy or dishonest to use them. But for someone like me? They’re liberating.
AI doesn’t make me less smart—it helps me show my intelligence in a world that wasn’t designed for my brain.
Yes, there should be guidelines. I’m not saying it should replace everything. But let’s stop pretending that using tools makes people less worthy. Would you shame a parent who uses AI to write a letter to request an IEP for their kid, when they know their child needs help but have no idea how to ask for it?
Because I wouldn’t.
For some of us, these tools aren’t cheating—they’re finally a way in.
Here is my Raw Version for an example (This was all talk to texted)
Ok thanks um I just want to go to my blog for a minute I was just curious about that ADHD LOL so I want to write a blog post about how I'm frustrated with people's current viewpoint on AI. It wasn't long ago that I was in high school and everyone would tell me how smart I am and how amazing my ability to adopt and learn was and I had such strong leadership skills and such amazing public speaking skills but I really just needed to figure out my my writing I can't go anywhere until I just learned how to write and I just need to sit down and try harder. And this brought up some seriously intense feelings for me as someone who had to be taught phonics and grammar a million times in elementary school and honestly gave up on myself and I think a lot of people gave up on me too I don't think that a lot of that stuff started to really click until I was much older than everyone else I was diagnosed with dyslexia along with many other learning disabilities in about 4th 3rd or 4th grade I think I say 3rd grade but honestly I have no idea I don't know why I just decided 3rd grade and went with it because I remember that being one of the hardest years I had I had I had realized how far behind I was from my peers how hard it was for me to sit still and not tap on my table and not make noises and not pick my nose and not spaced out and not daydream and to find everything that we were being taught so relevant you know why do I have to memorize all these multiplication tables um but I liked finding the patterns in them so I had a teacher who showed me some patterns of the multiplication tables and I became obsessed and they also showed me some patterns with reading how you could just guess like and this blew my mind and I stopped trying to read every word I still can't read it's actually kind of funny I cannot read I memorized words which is not reading apparently and so I can read really like pretend read really well because my brain fills in the gaps so easily however writing was not so simple it was not so easy to take the thoughts and ideas in my head and put them on paper until I found talk to text I found talk to text when I was pregnant with my now 13 year old daughter and I was trying to go to college and I was trying so hard to type and understand and someone told me about this dragon program and oh boy was it so expensive but then I also found a free version I camp for the life of Maine remember what it was but it did not work very well and you had to be an extremely quiet location and my at the time almost 2 year old was not very quiet most of the time however I could type decently well um I would make a lot of mix up of words and letters and first get some grammar capitalize random letters but spell check was was great but and I you know was able to kind of use that or I would take one or two sentences and like put it in Google and there's a few other ways that I got around it unfortunately this was not sustainable and my daughter had significant medical issues when she was born so I dropped out of college again. I was a stay at home mom I was a volunteer librarian I volunteered on the PTO I was always afraid I would be unhirable and I would only be able to work in factories and I hated working in factories I hated the idea of that I really just felt like my reading and writing disability was going to hold me back forever and that I was stupid and dumb and you know I really tried to to work hard so I tried to get my certificates I got my Google workspace certificate I got my Microsoft office certificates hoping that you know I as long as I have to write like a 10 page essay I probably could do really well and Google Docs talked to text at this point this was in about 2019 their talk to text was so much better and the spelling and grammar correction was so much better so I really started to get some confidence that you know what I can take what I say out loud and finally put it on paper. But of course it wasn't perfect and I ended up working in a warehouse anyways they promised me that I would be moving to the admin side but that never happened and you know the only the only really job experience I had before that was running my own daycare and working before and after school programs which I loved but I didn't want to run before and after school programs while my kids were so young I really just didn't I would rather work in a warehouse because at least I can see my kids however the warehouse job didn't workout and I became burned out from it just my mental health took a toll I got a few races comments said to me and with my autism I really the sensory issues I couldn't deal with in the room they wanted me to be in it was too loud too cold and I became significantly anxious and depressed over going to work so I quit And while I wasn't working I got my level One IT certificate I almost got my level two but I couldn't bring myself to pay attention long enough to finish it and I got my Google Workspace certificate again so I could be a certified Google Workspace manager I can't remember those works the thing is I became certified in Google Docs Google Word all the things I started doing a lot of I was doing a lot of advocacy work at the time too for LGBTQIA and for indigenous community and mental health because mental health was has always been a huge thing for me and at my at the time bonus daughter was really struggling with her mental health as well and then shortly after I got another job working for before and after school program because that's really what I do i'm awesome at and I was excited to do it And then surprise surprise about four months later I was actually offered a job I did not apply for this job I was directly offered or told to apply by some 1 who just saw me and thought I was awesome and that really felt great so I started working for the parent professional advocacy league and I found myself really needed grammarly grammarly was a lifesaver to me at this point II had Googled some tools to help with being dyslexic and talk to text et cetera and yes this isn't AI tool and I really wouldn't have been able to thrive and write my notes and send my emails nearly as well and as professional without grammarly and now I would only ask it to correct grammar and spelling and to make sure that you know sometimes like I might accidentally put a few things backwards or in the wrong place so it would take my exact words and just put them in a more professional format that I was not capable of doing. Then you know Fast forward a few more years um I was about last year I heard about chat GPT which is a little bit more money and it does the same thing for grammarly for me but it's a it's a lot faster and I can do my research on here I ask chat GBT hey let's research this this this and this I read it and then I write a paper and it keeps my words and and my energy and my whatever but so many people are like oh this chachi bt because it has this dash with that dash and while I know some people will literally just have Chuck GPT spit out whatever that's not my story and I think that's how we need to make sure that we're looking at these AI tools is they should be a tool to support you not as a supplement to do things for you. although you know saying that out loud now I'm like yeah but what if a parent wants to advocate for their child to get you know an iep they know their child needs an iep but they don't really know even how to say that they could ask they could ask chat GPT hey help me create AA letter asking for help to get my child in IEP using you know Massachusetts law or or whatever or maybe sharing you know a few papers of what's going on in chat GPT could help them whereas for some people that would be an impossible task. I understand there should be some restrictions on this I really do there should be some regulations but we should not be looking down at this tool as people who need to use it as less than
