Marcy Rice, Author at Helen Arkell

Beautiful donation from Castle Quilters

We held annual drinks evening on 30 November for friends and supporters including the Mayor, Councillor Alan Earwaker. This is the first Christmas event at our new home on West Street.

The evening was made extra special by a fantastic donation from Farnham’s Castle Quilters who handmade a beautiful quilt to raffle in memory of a very special member of their quilting circle.

Jan Ashwell lived in Bordon for over 40 years and taught for 26 of those at Mill Chase School. As well as being a talented quilter, Jan was passionate about supporting young people with dyslexia and additional learning needs, including getting support and a diagnosis for her son. Sadly, Jan passed away last July.

The Christmas Drinks raffle made over £350 for the charity.

Huge thanks to the Castle Quilters for their enormously kind and beautiful donation – a long-lasting symbol of friendship both to Jan and to the charity. We are thrilled that the quilt was won by Lorna, one of our amazing supporters who ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon for Helen Arkell back in October. The quilt is now taking pride of place in Lorna’s home.

By Marcy Rice|2024-07-23T16:51:20+01:00December 1st, 2022|Fundraising news|0 Comments

Handwriting research – invitation to join

At Helen Arkell, we use a test called DASH-2 (Detailed Assessment for Speed of Handwriting, second edition) during our dyslexia assessments. Pearson Clinical UK, the publishers of the test, alongside academics at Oxford Brookes University, are developing a new edition of the battery of tests that the DASH test is part of. They are currently particularly interested in recruiting children and young adults with dyslexia to take part in their research. Could you or your child take part?

This is the message from Pearson Clinical UK:

At Pearson Clinical UK, we develop and distribute assessments for professionals in psychology, allied health, general education, special needs education, and other areas serving people of all ages and cultures.

What is happening? Pearson Assessment is collecting data for a new project involving the development of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children – Third Edition (MABC-3) and the Detailed Assessment for Speed of Handwriting (DASH-2). For this project, we will measure children’s movement ability and handwriting speed. By testing a large number of children and adults, we can understand how they typically perform. The results from this project will help develop the new assessments. The published assessment will then enable professionals to identify children who require intervention and support with movement activities and handwriting. We welcome your/your child’s participation in the project.

What will the project involve? If you agree to be involved, Pearson Assessment will first determine whether you/your child fit the criteria for taking part based on the demographic information you provide. If you/your child are chosen to take part, we will contact you via email to arrange an assessment session. This should take around 45 minutes, although this will depend on age and ability of the person being tested. The assessment will take place either at home or at a convenient public location. The tests will be conducted by a trained professional (with an enhanced DBS check). They will ask you/your child to complete some movement activities such as throwing, catching and jumping and/or handwriting tasks.

Being part of this research means that you can help make tests more accurate for those being assessed so that they can get better and more directed intervention and support. If you would like to be part of this project, please follow the links below. By clicking on the links, you are not committing to taking part in the research.

Children aged 3-15 years

Young adults aged 16-25 years

Thank you!

By Marcy Rice|2024-07-23T16:51:28+01:00November 22nd, 2022|Research news|0 Comments

Research into counselling for young people with dyslexia

Clare Field is a Masters student at the University of Roehampton and she is looking into the effects of counselling and psychotherapy on children who are diagnosed with dyslexia. Are you a young person who fits the criteria and may be able to help Clare? Details are below.

Aim: Study into the experience of counselling and psychotherapy for dyslexic children and young people
“…without asking the client themselves what has been helpful, the research can
only make assumptions as to why an individual may or may not have benefited from
therapy.” (Stamp & Loewenthal, 2008, p.350)

• As a child or young person, did you receive support through counselling and/or psychotherapy?
• Are you diagnosed with dyslexia?
• Would you like the opportunity to talk, explore and share your experiences of counselling and/or psychotherapy you had as a child or young person?

***I am looking for***
● Participants aged 18-24 years
● Diagnosis of dyslexia
● Received counselling/ psychotherapy or play therapy as a child or young person
● Willing to talk about experiences of therapy and dyslexia
● Available to talk over Microsoft teams for a 1-hour interview
If you are interested in taking part in the research, please contact me via email: Clare Field at fieldc@roehampton.ac.uk

By Marcy Rice|2024-07-23T16:51:36+01:00November 21st, 2022|Research news|0 Comments

Please support us this Black Friday!

Please click on the graphic below to sign up and help us support children and adults with dyslexia while you shop this Christmas. Thank you!

By Marcy Rice|2024-07-23T16:51:44+01:00November 21st, 2022|Fundraising news|0 Comments

🎅 Celebrate a green Christmas 2022! 🎅

Send cards, save on postage and help children and adults with dyslexia!

Send eCards and donate the cost of greeting cards to Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity.

With DontSendMeACard every e-card you send saves time, helps a charity, and reduces carbon and they are not just for Christmas – you can browse birthday, thank you, Mother’s Day and other occasion cards all year round.

Send an eCard now.

By Marcy Rice|2024-07-23T16:52:03+01:00November 20th, 2022|Fundraising news|0 Comments

CEO Blog – We all need friends

4 November 2022

Life’s a bit easier when you have friends to bounce things off, isn’t it? A problem shared, and
all that? In the charity world, it makes good sense for us to help each other, join forces and
work together when there’s a clear benefit to be had. Particularly when it brings added-value
to the people that our charities are set up to support.
So, I was delighted to be put in touch with Julia this week. Julia is an experienced dyslexia
specialist and founder of Literacy100, a charity that seeks to help people from the homeless
community improve their literacy. Many of the people Julia works with are dyslexic. Julia
also filled me in on all her work with Thames Reach, another charity working with homeless
people in London. We brainstormed ways in which our respective charities can work
together to improve the opportunities of homeless people who are struggling with literacy
and where dyslexia may be a factor.
Also this week I was lucky enough to be put in touch with Dean from NoticeAbility. This is a
non-profit based in the USA, which is doing brilliant work with students who have dyslexia –
Dean is Head Honcho. We have set up a call next week, to compare notes and see how we
can work together and learn from each other. It feels like the pandemic prevented us from
forging these sorts of links over the last two years, and it’s great to start making new friends
again.
Likewise, it was brilliant to meet my newly-appointed opposite number at the British
Dyslexia Association. Chivonne was only appointed Interim CEO of the BDA just last month,
so I felt very honoured that she could find the time in her busy induction schedule to pop
down to Farnham, to hear more about our work at Helen Arkell, to compare notes and
generally just to start forging a productive working relationship.
On Tuesday this week, Tory and I were delighted to make new friends at euNetworks, a
company that has a brilliant way of managing its workforce, and undertakes ‘Watercooler
Chats’ to bring people together and spark off discussions on a range of issues. Tory and I
joined them to introduce the topic of dyslexia and we had some great discussions between
all the 62 participants. We’ll certainly find ways to work together again in future.
Then on Thursday night, we made some friends down the pub! – this was a Quiz Night in aid
of Helen Arkell, at the Hog’s Back Brewery. Thank you to everyone who joined in to support
us and had some fun; beer and pizza at the same time!
Last but by no means least, this week Rachael and I met another group of individuals who
are keen to join our team of dyslexia specialists. It was great to hear all their various
experiences and to see how they might fit into our growing network. Between us, our aim is
to help more people with dyslexia with every year that goes by, so there will always be
room for recruiting more talent into our workforce.
Of course, there’s a very obvious way in which you could contribute to our overall team
effort too, even if you’re not a dyslexia specialist. We are badly in need of more Friends of
Helen Arkell, to become part of a growing ‘inner circle’ within the Helen Arkell community,
contributing small, monthly donations in return for receiving ‘behind-the-scenes’ news. You
will love being a Friend because it will make you all warm and fuzzy inside, and you’ll sleep
soundly in your bed. You will also give off an aura of saintly virtue, and will instantly become
more popular with everyone you know. Even Teddy Edward the Great Bear of Frensham is a
Friend of Helen Arkell. Or he would be if he had any money (which he doesn’t).
Onwards and upwards, my friends!
Andy
PS. We hope you like our new website, which was developed free of charge by our friends at
Delivered Social in Guildford. Our old website was on its last legs, so Jonathan and his team
stepped in with an incredibly generous offer to get us set up with a new one, free of charge.
A big shout-out to Jonathan’s gang, and particularly to office dog Dembe who is the real
brains of the operation. Thank you, guys!! It really is brand new this week, so if you spot any
glitches, typos, or anything else you feel we should know about, please drop us a line and
we’ll put it right. Thank you!

By Marcy Rice|2024-07-23T16:55:55+01:00November 4th, 2022|CEO blog|0 Comments

New book in – The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading

We have a new book in our specialist shop, recommended by Claire Harvey, our Head of Education.

Teaching children to read is one of the most important tasks in primary education and classroom practice needs to be underpinned by a secure foundation of knowledge. Teachers need to know what reading entails, how children learn to read and how it can be taught effectively.

The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading is an essential guide for primary teachers that explores the key technical and practical aspects of how children read with strong links to theory and how to translate this into the classroom.

You can order here or pop into the Farnham Centre.

By Marcy Rice|2024-07-23T16:56:32+01:00November 1st, 2022|Shop news|0 Comments

TCS London Marathon 2023

One last place! Join #TeamHelenArkell in the world-famous London Marathon – which is the largest fundraising event in the world!

The TCS London Marathon is one of the world’s most famous running events. The course follows an iconic route taking in many of London’s landmarks, from the Cutty Sark and the City to St James’ Park and The Mall.

We need your help raising funds to support children, young people and adults who have dyslexia who need our help more than ever.

More information here.

By Marcy Rice|2024-07-23T16:52:18+01:00October 21st, 2022|Fundraising news|0 Comments

VIDEO – Supporting reading during the pandemic

During Dyslexia Awareness Week, Dr Anna Tsakalaki of University of Reading presented the findings of her research into supporting reading with children during the pandemic and how we can learn from these findings. If you missed the webinar, you can watch the video here. Go to University of Reading’s https://littleliteracylessons.org/ to watch and try out literacy activities.

By Marcy Rice|2024-07-23T16:52:28+01:00October 12th, 2022|Research news, Team blog|0 Comments

Research into students with dyslexia

Do you have 20 minutes to help Anna, an MSc Psychology student from Dundee University?

Anna is examining how students with dyslexia have learnt to compensate for the associated reading difficulties in order to cope with the reading demand required to complete a degree. She needs students who are currently at university to complete this study – both with and without dyslexia.

The study is anonymous and consists of a 20-minute session of three online tasks. There is more information on the link below and you are not obliged to take part or complete the tasks once you click the link.

Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity and the University of Dundee take your confidentiality seriously. By clicking on this link, you may be tracked by the provider of the current web page. In order to prevent this, we advise that you cut and paste the URL into a new browser tab or page.

https://research.sc/participant/login/dynamic/25251433-FA54-4BEE-A679-480558511840

Please pass this on if you know of anyone who could take part.

Thank you.

By Marcy Rice|2024-04-24T09:35:40+01:00October 10th, 2022|Research news|0 Comments

About Marcy Rice

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