‘The right tools for the job’ is the theme for Dyslexia Voice this autumn, in response to our research finding that less than half of adults with dyslexia receive reasonable adjustments at work – and a quarter of them don’t find them helpful.
This ties in with our theme for Dyslexia Awareness Week which takes place from 28 September to 4 October. .
People often ask us for examples of reasonable adjustments they can use for themselves, or others, in the workplace, at school or at home. We know that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ but as you’ll see, respondents to our recent questionnaire have offered inspiring, practical and useful suggestions which you may also wish to try.
Elsewhere in this edition our contributors have also described what works for them and those they support. Furthermore, we have included articles about useful resources such as Barrington Stoke’s books and a new cooking app to help dyslexic cooks.
The Young Changemakers we have featured in this magazine have excelled themselves by taking actions to help other dyslexic children and young people. Special congratulations go to Alba who donated £100 of her own money to buy dyslexia-friendly books for her school and to Erin who lobbied the Parent Council to do the same. Others, like Duloch primary school Young Ambassadors and Harry, have been busy raising awareness about dyslexia in their schools.
Our news
Behind the scenes here at Dyslexia Scotland, we have some exciting updates:
- Welcome to new Director, Sharon Stewart, who joined the Board in August. Look out for an introduction to Sharon in future editions.
- Congratulations to our Ambassador Mamta Singhal, who has recently been appointed Vice President of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (better known as the IET) – read all about her achievements in our interview on page 16.
- A warm welcome to our newest Young Ambassador Ruth King.
- We have launched a new branch focusing on Gaelic Medium Education.
- We’re delighted to announce two new members of staff who joined our team in August as Education Programme Co-ordinators. Victoria Armet and Carol Graham are job sharing this important new role, which will oversee the Dyslexia and Inclusive Practice programme for educators. A hundred practitioners will start the sixth cohort of the programme in September. This expansion has been made possible thanks to support from the Scottish Government.
I would like to thank the sponsors of this year’s Education Conference – Grammarsaurus, Cormack Consultancy Group and Blair Drummond Smiddy: Farm Shop, Butchery and Café for their generous contributions to this year’s event.
Many thanks to all our contributors for your thoughtful, informative and entertaining submissions to this edition. I hope you enjoy autumn’s content – if so, please do encourage others to join Dyslexia Scotland.