A few days ago, our Department had the pleasure of welcoming back Gaia Gaboardi, an Alumna of our Master’s Degree in Tourism and Commercial Communication. Gaia dropped by to say hello and brought along a copy of Drawing Dyslexia, an intense and delicate book that portrays dyslexia through images and metaphors, offering an authentic look into a different way of perceiving, understanding, and interpreting the world.
As she shared with us, Drawing Dyslexia is the very book she wishes she had had when, during her university years, she was diagnosed with dyslexia—not as a limiting definition, but as the beginning of a new awareness. From that moment on, dyslexia became a space for creative exploration for her, an alternative language to give shape to thought.
In her book, Gaia uses images and metaphors to convey both the feeling of disorientation and frustration, as well as the strength, self-assertion, and confidence that can arise from self-acceptance. Among her favorite illustrations is that of a puzzle: a tangle of letters and pixels that initially appears confusing but, when viewed from a different perspective, reveals its own unique harmony. It is a powerful metaphor capable of building an emotional bridge between difficulty and possibility, between resilience, hope, and self-love.
Today, Gaia is a high school English teacher. Every day, she brings into the classroom her sensitivity, her creativity, and, above all, the firm belief that there is no single correct way to learn or to express one’s potential. Her journey reminds us how vital it is to recognize and value the uniqueness of every single student, transforming cognitive differences into a shared resource. We could not be prouder of her.