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Dyslexia Awareness Week

World Dyslexia Awareness Day, 2021

World Dyslexia Awareness Day on Thursday, October 7th Thursday, during Dyslexia Awareness Week. Dyslexia Awareness Week is an annual event aimed at further understanding and raising awareness amongst young people about dyslexia; what it means, what it is, and what can be done to support people who have dyslexia.

What is Dyslexia?

When commemorating Dyslexia Awareness Week, it’s essential to discuss what dyslexia is. Dyslexia is a very common difficulty that some people face when reading text or words. Because intelligence is not impacted, it is not described as a learning disability but as a Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD). The main disruption that dyslexia causes are difficulty with phonological awareness, which is our ability to understand sounds and letters (phonemes). Each person with dyslexia is different. For some people, it may just slow them down when reading and writing; for others, dyslexia can cause more serious visual interruptions when reading, where words and letters appear blurred. A person with dyslexia might:

  • read and write very slowly;
  • have poor or inconsistent spelling;
  • confuse the order of letters in words;
  • put letters the wrong way round (such as writing "b" instead of "d");
  • find it hard to carry out a sequence of directions;
  • struggle with planning and organisation;
  • understand information when told verbally, but have difficulty with information that's written down.

People with dyslexia often have good skills in other areas, such as creative thinking and problem-solving. Because dyslexia affects an estimated 10% of the UK population, it’s very important to fully understand what it is. This is especially the case for schools, where reading and writing are essential parts of everyday learning. Focussing on Dyslexia Awareness Week in school is a great opportunity for everyone to learn more about how dyslexia can affect people in school and outside of school. Some organisations carry on their dyslexia awareness work and events as part of Dyslexia Awareness Month throughout October. This is because it gives them even more time to spread awareness and get people on board with campaigns. Dyslexia Awareness Month was first adopted by The International Dyslexia Association in 2002. Since then, each year organisations, charities, campaigners, and schools take part in a wide range of activities to raise awareness. Here are some ideas for how you can get involved this Dyslexia Awareness Month:

  • Research what dyslexia means. This could include reading articles and blog posts to see what people say about their first-hand experiences of dyslexia.
  • Educators could set children a research task, to find out lots of information about this learning difficulty to make their own Dyslexia Awareness Month facts sheet.
  • Some children with dyslexia struggle with self-confidence, so running classes and workshops revolving around team-building and self-confidence is another good way to celebrate Dyslexia Awareness Month.

Whether you focus on Dyslexia Awareness Day, Dyslexia Awareness Week, or Dyslexia Awareness Month, this is a great way for you to promote awareness and help every child in your class feel supported. In 2021 the date for World Dyslexia Awareness Day is October 7th. Use the hashtags #dyslexia #dyslexiaawareness #adhd #dyslexic #autism #dyslexiaeducation #education #dysgraphia #dyslexiaadvocate #dyslexiasupport #learningdisabilities #specialeducation #dyscalculia #dyspraxia #specialneeds #saydyslexia  or #EDAdyslexiaday to promote the Dyslexia awareness concept.