With a new day comes new strength Eleanor Roosevelt

Welcome to our first Autumn Edition of the Dear Dyslexic Newsletter.  It has been an extremely difficult start to the year as we watch across the country, from fires to floods and now a global pandemic.  It's hard to imagine all of this could occur over such a short period of time. I truly hope you are all doing ok during these extremely challenging and volatile times.

I have to say going to the supermarket and seeing that there has been limited to no food, has been quite distressing.  My mum and dad kept telling us to get some food and we probably should have listened; mum is always right my dad says!  What I have found most difficult to watch is the elderly and most vulnerable in our community who are at greater risk of getting sick are unable to access the essentials that they need.  Parents who can't get nappies or food they need for their children and those on low incomes who can't afford the luxury of purchasing in bulk.  In this time of uncertainty around our employment, social isolation, food insecurity and financial insecurity it is easy to see how our mental health and wellbeing will suffer if we don’t take care of ourselves, our loved ones and our community.

At the Foundation we have been feeling the pressure and as we commenced our fourth year at DDF we couldn’t have ever imagined what a rocky start to the year we would have.  This has been personally very hard for me, watching everything I have built come to a halt.  But these are uncertain times and so we have redesigned our plans to meet the current environment we now find ourselves in and to make sure we can continue to support our community the best way we can.

So please stay connected with us.  If you are feeling isolated reach out to us.  We are a small community but strong and at the Foundation we are here if you need us.  If you haven’t yet done so, join the DDF Facebook community.  It is a closed private group and it is where you will be kept up to date with all the work and activities we are doing.  You can be connected with others who are facing similar challenges but also who are sharing their many successes.

At the Foundation we will endeavour to continue our work.  We will be posting as often as possible and we will be launching a suite of webinars to help people stay engaged and connected.  If there are any topics you would like discussed, please let me know.  We will still be hosting our podcast series as well, so for us, as a small organisation that does a lot of work virtual, we will still be able to keep up with our work of advocating and supporting young people and adults with dyslexia.

Please reach out if needed that's what this community was created for. My thoughts are with you all.

Take care and with much love,

Shae 

CEO and Founder

Webinars now available

From April we will be running webinars on a variety of topics, whether you’re a teacher, student support officer, tutor, employer, the parent or you have dyslexia, we have a webinar for you. The Dear Dyslexic team have developed a series of webinars, bringing you the most current, world-class training with interactive and engaging content.

By joining our webinars, you will have exclusive access to industry speakers and higher education experts, covering many topics that are specific to providing you with the skills and knowledge you need to support and empower those with dyslexia.

Topics will include study skills, social and emotional wellbeing and strategies to support adults with dyslexia in the workplace.

Our first webinar Dyslexia the seven things you should know will be held on the 15^th of April.  Find out more now.

 

Latest Podcast Out now with Lois and Nicholas Letchford

I am excited to launch another mother and son podcast this month. This interview was conducted over three continents and so was technically a little challenging for me!! This interview was so inspiring as Lois and Nicholas take us on a journey of the impact of dyslexia on a family and one mother’s plight to help her son to read and how he went on to become Doctor at Oxford University. Listen now

 

Latest Blog out now

DDF has joined forces with Ross Duncan to bring you a variety of stories from around the world. Ross has joined DDF from Scotland as our blog writer. We featured Ross in our first blog, with our latest blog Working on the Streets. If you are interested in sharing your story contact us to find out how. Don't forget you can listen to all our blogs by using the little headphone icon on the DDF website. 

C-Pen Reader

The C-Pen Reader pen scanner is a major technological breakthrough for anyone learning English, Spanish or French and is a life-saver for those who suffer from reading difficulties such as dyslexia. The C-Pen Reader is a totally portable, pocket-sized device that reads text aloud with an English, Spanish or French human-like digital voice. Find out more

 

Dear Dyslexic Foundation Research

Recruitment for the second phase of our research project in partnership with La Trobe University has now been completed. I would like to thank all who participated in this ground-breaking research in Australia.  I’m excited to announce that shortly I will be able to share with you the findings from our first research project - “The mental health and wellbeing of adults with dyslexia in Australia”.  Our first paper has been submitted to the British Journal of Learning Disabilities for peer review and hopefully publication.  A big thank you to my supervisors Tanya Serry and Leila Karimi who have been amazing in supporting this research and their patience in drafting our first paper for publication.  Further information on all our research can be found here.

 

Pro Bono 2019 Impact Awards

Thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Pro Bono Impact awards.  Out of 430 people I was lucky enough to be shortlisted by the judges.  Although this time we didn’t win, to be recognised for the work we are doing was such an honour.  To have dyslexia acknowledged within the social impact space was fantastic and the profile of dyslexia is rising within our communities.  So, thank you again for your ongoing support. Together we can change the world.