Why a social enterprise and social model of dyslexia and other news

Dyslexia Pathways CIC logo above

Hi blog readers hope you are all well

Why social model of dyslexia of social enterprise

Everyone who ready my blog will know that I am a social entrepreneur and founded Dyslexia Pathways Community Interest Company, the world's first dyslexia social enterprise in 2009. I went the social enterprise route because I felt it was the best fit for our social model of dyslexia vision. I believe that social enterprise and social model of dyslexia together offer an empowering, innovative and positive way forward for dyslexics everywhere

Being a social enterprise means we have to invest any profits made into achieving our social aims. We must have a strong constitution that enshrines our organisation vision within a legal framework.

Life is a complicated journey

My life has been a long and complicated journey that has been impacted upon negatively and positively by many factors. Many of the roads I have gone down had many pot holes that I fell into. I have travelled some very smooth and happy roads. I have made great decisions and may bad and terrible ones.

Even before I was assessed as dyslexic at about 35 years old I knew I was different. Looking back on the best decisions I made and the achievements I made I will say these happened because I am dyslexic. The single most positive benefit from being assessed was it gave me the opportunity to put my trials and tribulations at school into a more positive context.

Eight years ago or so I was at the lowest point in my whole life. I could not see 100 yards down the road I travelled at that time. But with the support of family and friends, and from Anne especially I have rebuilt my life and the road I travel is good now. Not perfect but good and that's all we can hope for. I would not go back and change one thing because all those roads travelled have taken me to this one a road where I am happy.

I may not have any money, hey how many people do these days lol, but that's not important because money on its own does not make you happy.

I guess that's why I am a social entrepreneur instead of an entrepreneur. I believe this is because I see and make sense of the world through a dyslexic prism. Going into business was not motivated by profit but by a desire to continue to do social good. I know I have made a difference to many dyslexics lives. Not saying that to be big headed it's a statement of fact.

Even though my social enterprise is struggling at the moment and facing many challenges I am still here fighting. Not just for myself but for every dyslexic across the world.

I think what I am trying to say is that for many dyslexics the roads we travel can be full of particularly large pot holes. but that road will not be there forever and there are always better roads waiting to be travelled along.

Dyslexia awareness training news:

The dyslexia awareness training sessions are going well. 8 people attended my last session and I received a lot of fabtastic feedback. 6 participants scored me 5 out of 5 and 2 gave me 4 / 5 which is cool.

Feedback included:

1. I liked the training a lot, great trainer
2. The discussion and opportunity to explore aspects was really beneficial
3. Interesting speaker, good discussions and use of technology
4. The opportunity for professional dialogue with colleagues from a variety of backgrounds was invaluable
5. Lots of audience participation which was good
6. Understanding of the journey dyslexics have been

My next dyslexia awareness training sessions will be on July 22nd at Voluntary Action Flemington Road in Glenrothes. Training starts at 10am and finishes at 1pm. If you want to find out more information or want to book  a place please call me on 01592 756 187.

This training will give employers, employees, organisations and individuals a better understanding of dyslexia issues and ways to become dyslexia positive. We also offer in-house training for organisations if requested.

Donate social

Please consider supporting our work by donating to Dyslexia Pathways CIC Unique Dyslexic donate social cause funding and or sharing amongst your friends.
 
The donate social button is at the top of the page. We would like to raise £1000 to pay for some new assistive tech software for myself and to use to demonstrate at our dyslexia awareness training. To pay to keep our Unique Dyslexic and Dyslexia Pathways web sites up and running. To help pay travel and admin costs and to enable us to take on a volunteer or two.

https://www.facebook.com/Unique-Dyslexic-Get-Creative-1431413910440768/

Above is a link to out Unique Dyslexic Facebook and the Donate Social Button in highlighted in yellow in the above graphic

Dyslexia Pathways CIC, based is Fife Scotland, the first dyslexia focussed social enterprise has a alternative more positive vision for dyslexics. One that focusses on the social model of dyslexia and social enterprise. Please consider donating or sharing amongst your friends.
 
Below is a link to the testimonial page of our Dyslexia Pathways CIC site. Find out what students said about the work we have done with them:
 
http://www.dyslexiapathways.com/#!testamonials/c80m
 
Many thanks for reading I know its a bit of a long blog today so my apologies. I would be grateful if you could share my blog with others you may believe would be interested in reading it

PS

Pecha Kucha is sponsored by CREATE in Fife

Pecha Kucha logo above

CREATE if Fife logo above

Wish me luck for the Pecha Kucha about dyslexia and Unique Dyslexic later this week. I will post a film of it later even if it goes badly lol.
 
For me this is going to have a few dyslexic challenges no the least being remembering my lines and the names ouch. The press is going to be there as well as a large room full of people
 
Below is a little information on Pecha Kucha for anyone interested in finding out more.
 
PechaKucha is a presentation software format that lasts exactly six minutes and forty seconds.
 
Each PechaKucha presentation has 20 slides and each slide is set with the software's timer to display on the screen for exactly 20 seconds before the next slide advances. For this reason, PechaKucha is sometimes referred to as 20x20 presentation.
 
PechaKucha, which means "the sound of conversation" in Japanese, was first conceived by Tokyo architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, who were seeking a way to encourage student presenters to use PowerPoint in a more organized and succinct manner. The format inspires creativity by imposing constraints upon the presenter just as the Haiku format does with unrhymed verses.
 
Because PechaKucha slides progress automatically, the presenter cannot stop to advance a slide manually or go back to a previous slide. This forces the presenter to practice his presentation, a step that many speakers tend to skip when they know they are simply reading slides aloud to the audience. The constraints imposed by the PechaKucha format also make it difficult for the presenter to wander off topic.
 
The format works best when the presenter picks a main idea, writes a script for his presentation that supports that main idea and then breaks the script into twenty "scenes" that become slides. Only at this point should the presenter begin to think about finding or creating images to go with each slide. Part of the spirit of pecha kucha is that an image on a slide should support what the speaker is saying and not be something the audience has to read.
 
PechaKuchu is pronounced "pech-a-kee-shoe" with the stress remaining equal on all four syllables. The format has become so popular that it has inspired PechaKuchu Nights in over 500 cities around the world where audiences gather at bars and other venues to watch presentations, much the same way audiences gather for karaoke. To protect the efforts of city organizers, the name PechaKucha Night is trademarked.