Dyslexia campaign in focus
Breakfast planned
Dyslexia Awareness Week is being marked in West Lothian this week with a series of events.
The campaign runs until Saturday (November 11) and this year’s message is being ‘positive about dyslexia’.
The week aims to raise awareness and understanding of dyslexia through an exciting range of events taking place across Scotland.
Locally, the West Lothian Dyslexia Network’s Breakfast Event takes place next Thursday (November 16) at West Lothian College from 8.30am to 11am. This will be a chance for partners to get together to share ideas for being supporting adults with dyslexia and help the network to develop dyslexia- friendly standards for organisations in West Lothian. Places are limited so please book in advance. To find out more or book a place, please contact ruth. hood@ westlothian.gov.uk
Award winning author and playwright, Cathy Forde, will be visiting the West Lothian Branch of Dyslexia Scotland to speak about her writing on Thursday, November 30 at the Bathgate Partnership Centre from 7pm to 8pm.
The branch will also have free books to give away and this event has been funded by the Scottish Book Trust as part of Book Week Scotland. For more information and to book a place, email the branch at dswestlothian@gmail. com.
This y e a r ’ s nat i o n a l programme, put together by Dyslexia Scotland and partners, aims to focus on sources of information, support and advice.
One of the highlights of the week will be the premiere of a new Scottish documentary about dyslexia by filmmaker Trevor Thomson in Glasgow. Other events include a training for teachers on the online Addressing Dyslexia Toolkit and the launch of Dyslexia Scotland’s new website for children and young people, Dyslexia Unwrapped, today ( Thursday, November 9).
In Scotland one in 10 children and adults ihave dyslexia, meaning that they face each day with new challenges.
Dyslexia is not just about spelling, reading and writing – it can also cause difficulties with short- term memory, organisational and processing skills.
But research shows that children and adults with dyslexia have some of the best creative abilities, out of the box thinking and problem solving skills amongst our population.
For all the latest information and resources about Dyslexia Awareness Week in Scotland, including presentations that anyone can download to use in schools, workplaces and in the community, go to www. dyslexiascotland. org. uk/ dyslexia-awareness-week.
People can also show their support during Dyslexia Awareness Week by wearing one of ‘ Ellie’s Blue Dyslexia Ribbons’, 40,000 of which have been distributed across Scotland.
Ellie, Dyslexia Scotland’s first Young Person’s Ambassador, launched this campaign in 2013 to help other young people feel comfortable and confident with dyslexia.
If people can’t get a ribbon, they can attach a ‘ Twibbon’ to their Facebook or Twitter account during the week. Details of how to do this will be on the homepage of Dyslexia Scotland’s website.