A couple of weeks ago, as part of National Dyslexia Awareness Week in Scotland, I was invited by Dyslexia Scotland to give a talk to two Primary 7 classes at Oxgangs Library in Edinburgh. I planned a 45 minute presentation to introduce the children to what dyslexia is and how it can affect those who live with the condition. I’d originally wanted to weave in examples from Jennifer Brown, but in the end decided to keep things simpler and focus on dyslexia itself and give as many real world examples as I could.

I took the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Edinburgh. I enjoy travelling by train generally, and even though it’s sometimes a little exhausting, it’s nice both to have the time all to yourself and be able to watch the country as it rolls by.

I arrived in Edinburgh early in the morning, several hours before I was due to give my talk. It was a few days before Remembrance Sunday, and there were poppy sellers all around. I had a stroll down the Royal Mile, buying my poppy and taking a moment in the Garden of Remembrance. I then went to a coffee shop and spent an hour or so just reviewing my talk and practising (in my mind…!) what I was going to say. You can never prepare too much, in my opinion.

I tend to avoid buses wherever I travel, for the simple reason that it’s (a) not clear how you’re meant to buy the ticket, and (b) it’s not easy to tell where they’re actually going to take you! Or maybe it’s just me, who knows. Anyway, my talk was at Oxgangs Library, down in the suburbs of Edinburgh, so walking there was definitely out of the question! In the end, I decided it would be best to just get a taxi.

There was still over an hour to go when I arrived near the library, so I bought a few snacks from a nearby shop and took a little wander. The area reminded me in many ways of where I grew up–a small town in central Scotland. Places like this still (by and large) have a sense of community that, sadly, has tended to wither away in many other parts of the country. I could somehow still get a feel for that as I walked around, even in the mostly quiet streets. After all, it was a Monday afternoon and most people would be at work.

It was finally time to go to the library. After the various introductions, we began setting up the chairs, stands, and hooking up my laptop to the TV screen (keeping fingers crossed that the tech would just work!).

The children arrived with their teachers, and everyone began to settle down. After briefly introducing myself (cringe!), I moved on to a little chat about words and all the places where we can find them, and how important they are to helping us understand the human world around us.

When addressing an audience, especially children, I always find myself paying keen attention to whether what I’m saying is holding their interest or not, or if I need to adjust in order to keep them with me. When they’re completely silent, it’s sometimes hard to decide whether they’re bored or spellbound (or at least more the latter than the former!).

The talk continued onto an overview of what dyslexia is, and its different symptoms. The parts the children (and I!) really enjoyed were the exercises that helped them gain some understanding of the kinds of difficulties that dyslexic people can face. I had prepared two reading exercises and several writing exercises. The reading ones involved switching the regular sounds of the alphabet to totally different ones, and then trying to read a sentence written out in the new ‘alphabet’. The difficulty in trying to individually remember what sound each is supposed to make gives a good idea of what some of the symptoms of dyslexia.

Before starting, I asked if any of the children were dyslexic themselves, as I thought the exercises would be double trouble for them! I was a little surprised that none of the pupils (out of a class of 30 or more) were dyslexic, but it might be that the children simply didn’t feel like putting their hands up in front of everyone. Perhaps all the more reason for more events such as this to remove some of the myths of dyslexia.

The writing exercises created the most commotion while the staff and I handed out paper and pencils to the children. The first task was to try and write their name using the ‘new’ alphabet from the previous exercise. Next, to try and write their name as if they were looking at it in a mirror.

Next, I got them to try writing their name with their opposing hand. Finally, to make things really hard, and build up the frustration, I asked them to combine both tasks, i.e. to try and write their name in mirror writing using their opposing hand!

The rest of the talk gave a summary of some of the other symptoms of dyslexia, but also to a bit of ‘myth busting’. I also shared my own memories of being at school, and of one or two children who may well have been dyslexic but didn’t receive all the support they might have. As I’ve tried to show in Jennifer Brown, dyslexia doesn’t just stop at reading and writing. The problems caused at school can often have knock-on effects in so many other areas of life, and, if left unchecked, can seriously affect confidence and self-esteem.

Afterwards, I did a short reading from the first chapter of Jennifer Brown and the Dagger. When I finished, the children all lined up to get my…autograph! 😮 I found it so sweet how they all waited patiently for their turn.

It’s always so satisfying to come away from a school or library visit with the feeling that you’ve not only given the children a bit of a fun time and a break from regular lessons, but also contributed to raising their awareness and understanding of something they may not have known so much about. It certainly made the long journey back to King’s Cross a whole lot more bearable!