Chris Packham and the BBC are looking for people with dyslexia, for a programme they will be doing soon.
If you are over 18 and have a dyslexia diagnosis, they would like to hear from you.
Take a look at the short BBC video here and email dyslexia.insideourminds@bbc.com with your name and phone number or your own video if you wish.
Good luck!
We’d love you to come and join us for our Big Walk for Dyslexia on the afternoon of Sunday 12 May. As last year, we will be walking in beautiful Farnham Park – just along from the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity in West Street in the centre of Georgian Farnham. And once again, we’re absolutely thrilled to be part of the Farnham Walking Festival.
Teddy Arkell was all set to eat every crumb of cake last year and this year we are determined not to let him, so he will be on his best behaviour and there should be plenty of tea and cake for you all after the walk, back at the Centre.
Join in wherever you are!
If you can’t attend on the day, why not do a ‘virtual’ walk for us (and virtual cake munching) and tag us as you share your photos on social media?
It’s a fun family day out, with dogs very welcome, but of course, the most important bit is that it is all to raise money to help the charity support adults and children with dyslexia and to raise awareness of dyslexia and the work we do here at Helen Arkell so we would love your support.
You can find out more and register here. See you there!
This is a scheme which gives community projects like us grants of up to £1,500. This money could make a huge difference by helping us to support children or adults with dyslexia who might otherwise be unable to access this life-changing help.
Tesco customers can vote in the following stores during April, May and June to decide how much funding we get, so please support us next time you shop at Tesco!
Alton Express, Anstey Lane, GU34 2NF
Four Marks Express, GU34 5HG
Bordon Tesco, GU35 0AX
Banbury Extra, OX16 1LX
Banbury Express, Middle Road, OX16 3QT
Banbury Express, High Street, OX16 5EG
In January we ran a great Spotlight entitled Empowering Learning: The How of Assistive Technology. This Spotlight gave an overview of Assistive Technology and how it can be used to enhance learning outcomes for neurodiverse students.
People who attended this Spotlight let us know that they are also keen to see the Assistive Technology in action so, we have invited Myles Pilling and Julia Clouter back to do just this!
The Spotlight Assistive Technology: Practical Demonstrations will be held live online on Tuesday 23 April at 6 pm with a recording available afterwards. The live webinar will include a Q & A session. Tickets are £10.
You can find out more and book here
See you there!
New Spotlight webinar on Tuesday 12 March at 6pm.
Join Katie Harris from specialist law firm Boyes Turner to discuss the value of employing people with dyslexia and the challenges and benefits of having dyslexia in the workplace, how employment law protects people with dyslexia, and the practical steps employers can and should be taking to better support people with dyslexia and comply with their legal obligations towards them.
The webinar will include an opportunity to ask questions.
If you can’t join live, recordings will be sent out.
Book here.
Our good friends at Movement for Good will be drawing charities to receive £1,000 on 18 March.
Please nominate us today so that we are in with a good chance! We can do so much with £1,000 and improve the lives of people with dyslexia.
It takes about 30 seconds. Just click here.
Thank you!
NEC, Birmingham
Friday 15 March to Saturday 16 March
Once again, we are delighted that the Helen Arkell team will be there at this national exhibition dedicated entirely to dyslexia.
The Dyslexia Show is open to all and focuses on awareness and understanding of dyslexia in education, parenting and the workplace.
CEO Andy Cook will be a panellist in the Keynote Theatre at 10:15 on Friday alongside friends and colleagues from Patoss, British Dyslexia Association and Nasen. Book here.
Claire Harvey, Head of Education here at Helen Arkell, will be speaking at 11 on Friday, giving a talk entitled: Gaining reading accuracy and fluency: Why is it so tricky and what can we do to help? Book here.
Rachael McMullen, our Head of Dyslexia Support, and Thea Andrews, our Shop Assistant and Administrator, will be on our stand – Stand C302 – and looking forward to meeting people.
Do pop and see us if you are coming along!
For more details and to book your place, see the Dyslexia Show website.
Once again, we are are pleased to offer workshops with neurodiversity expert Fintan O’Regan. These will be useful to parents and teachers who have children with:
All the courses will be held at The Museum of Farnham, 38 West Street, Farnham – just a few doors down from our Centre.
Fintan was the Head Teacher of the Centre Academy from 1996 -2002, which was the first specialist school in the UK for students between the ages of 7-19 specialising in issues related to ADHD, ASC, ODD and PDA.
He is an associate lecturer for Leicester University, Michigan University, the National Association of Special Needs, the Institute of Education, the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity and is a member of the council of CReSTeD and the Special Educational Needs Consortium.
He has written a number of books and published articles and works as a trainer and consultant both nationally and internationally with regard to supporting schools, children and families with SEND and behaviour issues.
Join us at Worplesdon Golf Club for our annual golf day – a morning of golf followed by a delicious buffet lunch and raffle.
This is a wonderful opportunity to play this stunning course while raising money for those in need of dyslexia support. Worplesdon is one of the classic Surrey heathland courses, laid out in 1908 by J F Abercromby. Why not get a team together for a fun day out?
Please register here.
We look forward to seeing you at Worplesdon Golf Club on May 9th!
With Dyscalculia Awareness Day just around the corner, we explain what dyscalculia and we look at helpful tips and tricks to support people who struggle with maths…
The SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC) defines dyscalculia as:
‘Dyscalculia is a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics. It will be unexpected in relation to age, level of education and experience and occurs across all ages and abilities. Mathematics difficulties are best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and they have many causal factors. Dyscalculia falls at one end of the spectrum and will be distinguishable from other maths issues due to the severity of difficulties with number sense, including subitising [perceiving a number of items in a group without counting them], symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude comparison, and ordering. It can occur singly but often co occurs with other specific learning difficulties, mathematics anxiety and medical conditions.’
Around one person in 20 has dyscalculia.
The Dyscalculia Network and Jane Emerson and Patricia Babtie in their book ‘Understanding Dyscalculia and Numeracy Difficulties’ states that indicators include:
We have many resources and books in our shop that can help teach maths and numeracy. These include:
Awesome Games and Activities for Kids with Numeracy Difficulties
GCSE Maths for Neurodivergent Learners
Want to understand more? We were joined by Dyscalculia Network’s Rob Jennings for a Spotlight webinar on the subject. We offer dyscalculia top-up assessments, and we offer specialist maths tuition and maths Personalised Learning in the Easter and Summer holidays to children.
Registered charity in England and Wales (1064646). A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, company number 3432423.
