Update and progress with my mini stroke and dyslexia news

 

Dyslexia is not about disorders, discrepancies and deficits its about diversity and difference

Dyslexia: a difference that reflects diversity

Good day to you all hope everyone is well,

First, a little update on the mimi stroke in my left eye. 

Its about one year since I had my mini stroke that made me lose about 70% of my sight in my left eye. 

I can't really recall the exact day or time. All I know is it happenned. But it must have been sometime around this time in January last year. 

I call my left eye my 8 bit eye. It will never recover. There is nothing that can be done to repair that eye. Lucky enough I can still see pretty well with my right eye. I have been passed fit to drive. I went though a period of grieving for my loss eye sight.

It has made it more difficult to compensate for my dyslexia, My good eye gets tired more easily when I am reading.

When I was going through all the medical examinations on my sight as a whole They found baby cateracts in both my eyes. Not enough to interfere with the sight in my right eye as it is now. But it will not go away by itself. So i have decided to get the cateract it my good eye removed. This will happen some time in March 2026. 

I could leave it for a while until it impacts on my sight in my right eye. But, I have decided to get it done as soon as possible. There are risks involved but they are small risks. 

There are risks involved it I do nothing. Had a chat with my wife and decided to get it done.

I am accessing support from the RNIB, Royal National Institute for Blind People.  I am involved with a weekl chat group and getting counelling, both over the phone.

Dyslexic news:

Today I went into Heriot Watt University to pick up a new laptop for my work. It came with a lot of new assistive technology helpful for my dyslexia. My own Windows 10 laptop works ok but it just not  secure or safe enough to use any more.

I am going to go to the Buisiness Gateway nextweek to get advice on doing my dyslexia work online. I will look around for any possible support for disabled entrepreneurs. 

I got Adobe software from the Uni included with the new lapto. So I can start recording and editing new vlogs and blogs again.

Thanks for reading;

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness from me:

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

Well, here we are again, on our way to welcoming in another new year, namely, 2026

Video from one of our Unique Dyslexic Get creative workshops. This was from one of our trash to treasure workshops supported by Furniture plus is Fife

Hi all, hope Christmas was good to you all

Well, it's nearly time to wave goodbye to 2025. It's been a tough time for so many of us.

Time to wish a happy new year to all my family, friends, stroke survivors and followers across my social media. 2025. Its safe to say, has not been such a great year for a lot of people. Lets hope for better times ahead in 2026.

I recenty revamped out Unique Dyslexic website: Below is a link to the revamped site. Please let me know what you think?

Please support our work by sharing the link, or by giving us a thumbs or becoming a follower.

Unique Dyslexic website link

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness 

from me,

Steve #UniqueDyslexic Mccue

Carl Sagan a true genius talks about life on Earth, our Pale Blue Dot

Earth, a pale blue dot suspended in a sunbeam

Hi all, hope you are all doing away, as we say up here in Scotland.

I have always had an interest in astronomy, in science fiction and fact. Below is a video by Carl Sagan called Pale Blue Dot. He talks about planet earth and humanity. Sagan was. American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. 

His best known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by exposure to light.

Maybe many will be aware of the movie and book Contact authored by Sagan, which explores first contact between Earth and extra terrestrial. 

Its a pretty good movie for me. It appeals to the dyslexic dreamer in me.

Anyway, the video is called Pale Blue Dot. Its an iconc photo or planet Earth taken by Voyager 1 in 1990. Taken when Voyager explorer was 6 billion kilometers away from Earth,

 Thanks for reading, 

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness from me

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

New Unique Dyslexic Website

 

From the Unique Dyslexic Exhibition

Hello everyone, hope all is well for you all

Wayyyy, way back in 2015 we launched Unique Dyslexic campaign. The Unique Dyslexic website was part of that.

My social enterprise, Dyslexia Pathways CIC, is focussed on supporting dyslexic and neuro diverse University students. We have support many thousand of students in that time.

Unique Dyslexic was all about nurturung and supporting dyslexic and neuro diverse creative talents and their mental health. 

The basic premise of the website was to support our successful Unique Dyslexic, Get Creative campaign.

The objective of Unique Dyslexic Get Creative is to support, promote and celebrate the creative talents of the dyslexic community across the full range of creative spectrum. At Unique Dyslexic, we promote and support the social model of dyslexia. We see dyslexia as a difference that reflects the diversity inherent in humanity. The Unique Dyslexic website is a celebration of that successful campaign.

The campaign was very successful, however, the web site, looking back on it now, was a bit of a dogs dinner. Some if it worked well and some of it less well so lol.

The idea was to develop the site myself. Bur what with work my heart attacks and life I never managed to do that. I did try to find a volunteer to help us out with it but that never came together. I designed and built a Unique Dyslexic mobile app.

I have been thinking of just closing it down but, well my head is telling me to close it down and my heart to keep it up and running. I believe its worth keeping it up to support dyslexic and neuro diverse communities.

Below  is a link to the new updated versionUnique Dyslexic website, have a good rummage around the site and see what you think:

Unique Dyslexic Website

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness to everyone who helped make the campaign and to all those who share the fruits of their creativity with us.

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

News on my dyslexia work and mini stroke

     The picture is me on holiday, about 2 months after my mini stroke.

Howdy friends, family and followers, hope life is treating you all well.

I know its tough but you have to get out there to try new things after a stroke. I am doing an art group, I met new people made new friends.. Going to start another soon.

But remember, always nurture yourself.

I call my left eye my 8 bit eye, I can still see with it but it a bit like an old computer my. I lost the sight in my left eye due to my mini stroke. My right eye is fine, hence I can still drive. I only drive during the day though, not confident enough to drive at night yet.

I am a dyslexia and inclusion specialist by profession. Have been doing that for 30 years now. do run my own Dyslexia / neuro diversity social enterprise. This year will be the 18th year since founding Dyslexia Patheways CIC.We focus on all things dyslexia and neuro diversity in education and employment.

I founded Unique Dyslexic in 2015, so this is our ten year anniversarry. Unique Dyslexic focusis on all things, dyslexic and neuro diverse and creativity.

I am 67 though so get my pensions as incomes. So I could just stop working altogether and retire. I still might stop working and write my biography and maybe childrens's books.

I used to tell the wee one bedtime stories called Layla's Lemur. I, we made them up as we went along. I could put them down on paper.

I have been planning to write my auto biography. Could do with some support with that though.

Thats it from me today.

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness

from me

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

New ideas and new way forward for the dyslexic community:

 

Wind Scupture fron one of our creative workshops

Hello to you all

New ideas and new way forward for the dyslexic community:

"Almost all new ideas are generated by individuals but they are given life by and nurtured by communities and the cultures they can create". Brian Eno quote I agree with

If we are ever going to move away from a negative medical model of dyslexia that has nothing positive to say to dyslexics or about dyslexia. We, as dyslexics, need to come together and create a coherent global dyslexic community. A community that has a single message. This being that dyslexia is a difference that reflects diversity. 

A global dyslexic community that has a more positive social model of dyslexia vision of dyslexia. A vision which nurtures, celebrates and values dyslexic diversity and difference and recognises all that we have achieved and are still to achieve in the future.

We need to consign the medical model of dyslexia to history where it belongs because it has failed us as dyslexics. The medical model of dyslexia is one that has been imposed on us and does nothing but shackle us to a negative stereotype of dyslexia.

The social model of dyslexia defines us by what we can do and achieve, it empowers us and it frees us from the negative medical model stereotype that tells us being dyslexic means we are disabled is some way.

The social model of dyslexia was developed by dyslexics for dyslexics. It is our own model.

That's why I believe that dyslexia is a difference that reflects diversity and that neuro diversity is as important as biodiversity.

My organisation Dyslexia Pathways CIC was the first dyslexia focussed social enterprise in the world and we have embraced and promoted the social model of dyslexia.

Why not join us and let's create the global community and culture we are dyslexics need to move forward and enable our dyslexic kids to thrive and succeed.


And Finally:

A little something for every dyslexic in the world. May your journey as a dyslexic in a non dyslexic world be a fab one. Every single one of you dyslexics out there are fabtastic. A huge heap of thanks to all those who love and support us.

Well thats all for now follks; #PeaceLoveGrooveyness from me Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

New ideas and a new way forward for the dyslexic community

Participants from our Unique Dyslexic Get Creative Fused Glass Workshop

Good day every one, hope all is well with you all,

New ideas and new way forward for the dyslexic community:

Almost all new ideas are generated by individuals but they are given life by and nurtured by communities and the cultures they can create.

If we are ever going to move away from a negative medical model of dyslexia that has nothing positive to say to dyslexics or about dyslexia. We, as dyslexics, need to come together and create a coherent global dyslexic community. A community that has a single message. This being that dyslexia is a difference that reflects diversity. 

A global dyslexic community that has a more positive social model of dyslexia vision of dyslexia. A vision which nurtures and values dyslexic diversity and difference. One which  celebrates all that we have achieved and potential to achieve in the future.

We need to consign the medical model of dyslexia to history where it belongs because it has failed us as dyslexics. The medical model of dyslexia is one that has been imposed on us and does nothing but shackle us to a negative stereotype of dyslexia.

The social model of dyslexia defines us by what we can do and achieve, it empowers us and it frees us from the negative medical model stereotype that tells us being dyslexic means we are disabled is some way.

The social model of dyslexia was developed by dyslexics for dyslexia. It is our own model.

That's why I believe that dyslexia is a difference that reflects diversity and that neuro diversity is as important as biodiversity.

My organisation Dyslexia Pathways CIC was the first dyslexia focussed social enterprise in the world and we have embraced and promoted the social model of dyslexia.

Why not join us and let's create the global community and culture we are dyslexics need to move forward and enable our dyslexic kids to thrive and succeed. 

One of the achievements I am most proud of with Dyslexia Pathways CIC is this:

(CIC stands for Community Interest Company) This means we're are a

registered social enterprise and our social aim is to promote and


support dyslexic and other neuro different communities. As with all


social enterprises we are not for profit.

This quote is from an Erasmus academic paper that mentions Dyslexia Pathways CIC:

"There are numerous CICS who have succeeded in providing an intermediation function developing pathways that assist individuals with disabilities to access support to engage in academic courses and vocational qualifications.

These include Dyslexia Pathways CIC, All Inclusive Disability Consultants CIC and Acute Need CIC who have all led the way for social inclusion for those within the disabled community looking to access support to enhance and develop their skillset.

There continues to remain an urgent need for person centered planning rather than relying on generic mechanism for all types of learning disabilities. There is substantial disparity in how these individuals are treated i.e. only 15 % of adults with autism are in paid employment compared to 48% of people with general disabilities (Higgins, 2009)." One in five dyslexics are unemployed.

You can read the whole paper by  clicking on the link below

The message is social enterprise and social model of dyslexic = a new way forward for the dyslexic community.

 http://archive.londonmet.ac.uk/cice/fms/MRSite/Research/cice/pubs/2012/2012_272.pdf

If you read my last blog you can see I am very busy working on a number of things for Dyslexia Pathways CIC. We are currently looking for people who would like to support our work. Or help us crowd fund etc. Of support us in our aim of opening a dyslexia / neuro diverse hub for communities across Fife.

Dyslexia Pathways CIC was the first dyslexia focussed social enterprise in the word We support and promote dyslexia and neuro diversity through social enterprise and social model of dyslexia.




We believe this offers a positive and innovative way forward for the dyslexic community and an empowering alternative the the medical model of dyslexia. A model which tells us our brains do not function normally and that we are broken in some way.

The social model tells us dyslexia is all about diversity and difference. Nature thrives because of diversity and difference as does humanity. That's why we say vivaladifference for dyslexia and neuro diversity as well as for disability.

If we cannot respect and embrace neuro diversity and all other aspect of diversity on planet earth. Then how will we embrace and respect it when we meet it in the universe?

And Finally:

A little something for every dyslexic in the world. May your journey as a dyslexic in a non dyslexic world be a fab one. Every single one of you dyslexics out there are fabtastic. A huge heap of thanks to all those who love and support us.

Together we can touch the stars

Many thanks for reading #PeaceLoveGrooveyness to you all from me.

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

PS;

Had fab convo with Laura Jackson-Cavalleri, a good while back now, via Skype on Sunda about what they are accomplishing for the dyslexic community in Staten Island. We need to have more conversations world wide if we are going to nurture and grow a more positive vision of dyslexia.

A vision that focusses on a positive social model of dyslexia that talks positively about dyslexic diversity and difference and being dyslexic instead of a negative medical model dyslexia vision that has nothing positive to say to us as dyslexics or about dyslexia and has accomplished little for dyslexics.

Always happy to talk to kindred spirits about being dyslexia positive