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independencecil

Disability Awareness Spotlight

Updated: Apr 11, 2023

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫.


𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

I own Sundbakes home bakery where I create luxury hand-painted cakes, cookies, and macarons. When I become interested in something, I tend to go all-in. My first love was philosophy, which took me to my PhD program at Monash University in Australia. I then worked at Minot State for several years with international students. I'm now an entrepreneur and cake designer, and couldn't be happier.


𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

I am dyslexic. My main difficulty comes with translating spoken words or thoughts into writing. It’s difficult to explain, but there’s a reason I never let anyone see my unedited notes! My errors can be astoundingly off-base, and I can’t identify them on my own without the help of technology. I also have a difficult time reading short passages, passages out of context, lists and poetry.


A new challenge has been running social media for my business Sundbakes. The casual and quick nature of social media goes against my slow and deliberate coping methods that I used throughout my education. I triple check my work, but I literally cannot see the mistakes. For me, mistakes that look like careless typos are just an unavoidable part of who I am. I avoid writing on my cakes at all costs.


𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲?


t's better to write slowly than to not write at all. I think this is one of the main reasons dyslexia has not held me back academically. I write slowly, but I write. I don't judge myself when I need to switch to audio books or rely heavily on spell check.


Learn as much about the human mind as you can. Learning about brains in general, and mine in particular, has unlocked so much happiness. My entire business is set up with my own brain's functioning in mind. I work entirely alone and at my own pace.


Do your own thing. My dyslexia and related issues only are a problem when I am in a situation where I'm supposed to function like everyone else. I'm easily over-stimulated and need to avoid physical touch and noise to be able to think clearly. If I'm in a loud or crowded situation, I give myself permission to let everything else go. I'll never be the meeting notes-taker, I was also a really shitty waitress!


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