Medical disclaimer: This content discusses weight loss medications and mental health. This information is not medical advice and should not substitute for consultation with qualified healthcare professionals. Powered by Dyslexia is not affiliated with any pharmaceutical companies.

If you've spent any time on Planet Earth in the last couple of years, you've witnessed new tech, new voices and new attitudes.

AI's (Artificial Intelligence) latest bag of tricks has changed the world forever and it's only the beginning.

Social media's influence continues to rule but the voices are different.

Now influencers dominate tech, mental and physical health, even weight loss.

And typical of social media, you click on a topic once and it follows you around for days.

As someone who could use being 25-30 pounds lighter, I clicked on an Ozempic post and got sucked into a phenomenon I didn’t know existed. 

While scrolling, I got sprayed with ads from a gaggle of weightloss sellers on the web - I felt something brewing but couldn’t lock in on it.

As I tried collecting my thoughts, I got a message from someone in the dyslexia community about them being shamed for using Artificial Intelligence (AI) on a work project.

Boom! That message crystallized what I was feeling but couldn’t articulate.

I declared out loud to no one! Ai is the new Ozempic! 

Ai IS THE NEW OZEMPIC! 

Here's how I came to this conclusion, what it reveals about the cruelty we accept as normal, exactly why it matters to you as a dyslexic adult, and what you can do about it.

Although weight loss is mentioned here, this isn’t weight loss advice.

I chose to write about Ozempic because it's the most recognized of these weightloss meds and because it also plays well with other words = Ozmosis, Oztracized, Ozfended.

WORD MAP 

Ableism: The belief that being non-disabled is better, more valuable, or more 'normal' than being disabled or neurodivergent. It shows up as treating people with disabilities or neurological differences as less than, less capable, or less worthy.

AI: Artificial Intelligence - technology that amplifies human thinking and communication, like ChatGPT, Gemini, Grammarly, mind mapping or text-to-speech tools

AICON: AI Confidence - the mindset and skills needed to use AI effectively without shame or apology

Ai.Shamed: Being criticized or made fun of for using AI tools to help with writing, communication, or thinking - especially when it challenges traditional notions of intelligence or effort

GLP-1s: A class of medications, like Ozempic, that help with blood sugar and appetite regulation

Ozempic: A medication that's revolutionizing weight management by helping regulate appetite and blood sugar. Originally for diabetes, it's now a front-runner in the new weight loss revolution

Ozempified: When someone's been transformed by this new weight management tool

Ozfended: People who feel morally superior about losing weight "the hard way" and resent others using medical intervention to achieve results

NO-ZEMPIC

People struggling with weight have spent decades being told "just eat less, walk more, get on a treadmill." They've been cast out, made to feel like failures, blamed for their biology.

Now along comes Ozempic and suddenly there's medical support working for weightloss strugglers.

But it's not magic. Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen, a triple board-certified endocrinologist states: there are five key factors in weight gain and lifestyle is only one of them. The other four: Genetics, hormones, aging, and environment are largely out of your control.

According to medical experts, doing these things minimizes side effects. "If you're not paying attention to protein intake, hydration and having regular physical activity, (especially resistance training), you can end up with poor nutritional status and substantial muscle loss" when taking GLP-1. 

So…..these drugs aren't about sitting on your couch with a syringe in one hand and double-cheese meatlovers pizza in the other, magically dropping pounds between Netflix binge-athons.

Ai.SHAMED

Dyslexics have spent a lifetime being told "just try harder, proofread more carefully, pay attention." 

You've often been made to feel stupid, lazy or not good enough.

Now along comes AI - ChatGPT, Grammarly, text-to-speech tools and suddenly you’ve got  digital assistance that helps you communicate with more confidence and clarity than ever before.

For the first time in history, dyslexics and the neurodivergent aren’t being asked to adapt to the system; the system now adapts to you.

Visual learners get mind mapping. Audio processors get text-to-speech. Big picture thinkers get content summaries. Pattern seekers get real-time feedback. 

Brainstorming, trouble shooting and improved reading comprehension are at your fingertips. 

This is the groundbreaking shift dyslexics never dreamt possible. 

Dyslexics now have access to systems that level the playing field. The frustration, resentment and shame from having to do things the Neurotypical Way for entire lifetimes is disappearing. 

2023’s Randstad report says that “72% of dyslexics see AI tools as a vital starting point for their projects and ideas”.  

But just like Ozempic’s Ozfended (medical ableism), there's backlash from those hellbent on making you feel Ai.Shamed (digital ableism).

AI is changing neurodivergent lives in droves. 

And it has the juice to positively affect so many more - if treated as a tool, not a threat.   

SAME STROKES | DIFFERENT FOLKS

Take a step back. The Ozfended and Ai.Shaming are the same script just playing out in different theaters.

These tools don't just help people accomplish tasks - they restore their belief in themselves. 

Confidence in one’s abilities, pride in one’s achievements, and the agency to handle whatever comes next.

The pattern:

• People find relief from lifelong struggle

• Backlash comes from those who claim they "did it the hard way"

• The message is identical: "You didn't earn this. I did. That makes me better."

Culture expects those with advantages to stay advantaged, and those with challenges to stay challenged.

When someone finds a solution that gives their struggle a real chance of success, it threatens those who built their identity around supposedly climbing uphill both ways in a snowstorm with nothing but chapstick and crampons.

These tools don't eliminate effort.

They make the effort meaningful instead of hopeless.

THE COMFORT OF CRUELTY

Here's the psychology behind the shaming: It's not concern for your health or progress.

It's insecurity disguised as moral superiority.

It’s the fear of fair.

When someone attacks your use of AI or GLP1’s, they're protecting their own sense of worth. 

They've built their identity around being natually good at something you're now conquering with help.

Your success threatens their story about why they're special.

This is ableism in action - the belief that one way of existing is "normal" and superior, while everything else needs to be fixed or hidden.

If you think they have your best interests at heart, ask yourself: 

Why do they care more about how you achieve your goals than whether you achieve them at all?

They could learn about the 5 factors in weight gain. They could understand how dyslexic brains work differently. They could recognize that these tools require effort and intention.

But understanding would force them to examine their own cruelty.

Staying ignorant is just more convenient.

EXCLUSION INCLUDED  

Here's what this really exposes: The entire system - how we define effort, intelligence, discipline, and credibility - was built without dyslexics in mind and stays that way.

Academic settings reward perfect prose while penalizing dyslexic minds that think in big pictures and unexpected connections.

Fitness culture worships willpower while ignoring genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors that make weight management nearly impossible for some people.

Corporate spaces favor quick processing while overlooking remarkable minds that need assistive technology to translate their ideas.

Now AI tools and GLP-1 medications are leveling these playing fields.

And the gatekeepers are panicking.

THE WEIGHT OF IT ALL

First, they tell you you're not good enough.

Then, when you find something that works, they tell you you're cheating.

The point was never to help you succeed - it’s to keep you stuck.

Your struggle validates their superiority. 

Ai is the new Ozempic, but wait - there’s more. 

We're so used to being gaslit we forget it's the same scenario playing on a loop.

We've seen this before y’all:

Black Wall Street: Prosperous Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma was literally burned to the ground when their wealth and success threatened white economic superiority.

Women's suffrage backlash: Women gained voting rights, then immediately faced laws restricting their political participation and campaigns to keep them "in their place."

ADA resistance (American with Disabilites Act): People with disabilities gained legal rights to accessibility in 1990, then faced decades of "compliance costs too high" and "special treatment" complaints from businesses and institutions.

DEI rollbacks (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion): Programs that leveled playing fields for underrepresented groups in education and employment get systematically dismantled the moment they show measurable success.

HATERS | SHAMERS | NAYSAYERS

What if you're more talented or more creative despite your so-called 'disadvantages’?

What if you're more capable despite what they said was wrong with you?

Where does that leave them?

Who does that make them?

They got used to you being stuck in the struggle - always trying, never quite making it. 

Now that you're succeeding with legit help, it breaks their worldview about who deserves what and why. 

The fear isn't just that you might be equal - it's that you might be superior while carrying what they think should make you inferior.

FREE YOUR MIND

In the words of George Clinton: "Free your mind and your ass will follow".

The shame isn't yours to carry - it never was.

You don't need to keep earning your place. 

You already know what it's like to show up every day in a world that wasn't made for your thinking style…

and yet you continue to build, solve, create, contribute and lead.

• Stop apologizing for using tools that help you perform. Your accommodations aren't favors, they're equalizers.
  

• Name the shame when you see it. When someone says "That's cheating" or "You're taking the easy way out," recognize it for what it is - their insecurity, not your problem.
  

• Use tech often & responsibly - AI, assistive technology. The future belongs to those who work smarter, not those who suffer louder.

If you're ready to gain AI Confidence without shame and learn to create at the speed of thought - Join the AICON waitlist.

Medical disclaimer: This content discusses weight loss medications and mental health. This information is not medical advice and should not substitute for consultation with qualified healthcare professionals. Powered by Dyslexia is not affiliated with any pharmaceutical companies.

Know someone who’d connect with this? Share it with them.
More Powered to the People!