7.10.22 Dyslexia Awareness Week

3 – 9 October is Dyslexia Awareness Week. So what has been happening?

Autumn is well underway in the UK and poet John Keats described it perfectly in his ode ‘To Autumn’ from the opening line ‘Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness, close bosom friend of the maturing sun’. Every autumn, many countries join in Dyslexia Week aiming to raise awareness of dyslexia. Special resources are produced and information readily available to share with teachers, employers and the general public to highlight a different dyslexia-related theme.

British Dyslexia Association

This year during Dyslexia Awareness week, the British Dyslexia Association is ‘reflecting on the barriers that those living with dyslexia often face, while also focusing on how individuals, organisations and the education system have continued to succeed and break through these obstacles.’ On their webpage, the BDA have links to interviews with celebrities who explain how dyslexia has affected their lives. Go to https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/support-us/awareness-events/dyslexia-awareness-week/dyslexia-awareness-week-2022 as Dragon’s Den entrepeneur Theo Paphitis and British Bake Off’s Lizzie Acker share their experiences.

One of my favourite videos to explain dyslexia to children is ‘See Dyslexia Differently’, by the British Dyslexia Association.

Nessy FREE Resources

The educational site Nessy is promoting Dyslexia Awareness throughout the month of October with lots of special offers on their site. Nessy is offering any teacher, anywhere in the world, FREE dyslexia awareness training. Earn the Level 1 Dyslexia Awareness certificate, plus the Level 2 Structured Literacy Awareness certificate at no cost during the month of October. Parents can also go onto this course by choosing the parent’s edition. Go to the page https://www.nessy.com/en-gb/free-resources/dyslexia-awareness-month where Nessy are offering more free resources, including their useful ebook ‘Dyslexia Explained’, which is written by the founder of Nessy, Mike Jones.

Twinkl

Twinkl Educational Publishing have lots of great educational resources and have added special articles for Dyslexia Awareness Week. The SEN Digest and the Parent’s Digest sections are full of really useful information.

Made by Dyslexia

Made by Dyslexia’ is a global charity, led by successful dyslexics.  They have built the world’s largest community of dyslexic people and their allies.  Their purpose is to help the world to understand, value and support dyslexia. In this next video their founder, Karen Griggs, gives her defininition of dyslexia and displays a thought provoking performance poem.

I love the following image, which has appeared a lot on social media recently. It has such an important message to remind us that small, achievable steps in learning can show great progress and help build a child’s self esteem and confidence. Many challenges may seem too overwhelming until broken down into these smaller, attainable stages.

Have a lovely week! PJ 🙂