I am a citizen of planet Earth

The words state of independence from this song got me thinking. When life began on planet earth there were no walls, no countries, no capitalism just a few cells / chemicals coming together in a primordial puddle of goo and creating the first life. Planet earth gave birth to life on this planet. 

Today we have politicians advocating the building of walls to separate us, we have post truths and alternative facts etc. 

Maybe all of us should declare our own individual independence separate ourselves from our states and countries and just become citizens of planet earth because that's the one thing that really unites us. 

My name is Steve McCue and I am no longer a citizen of the UK I am a citizen of planet earth.

Thanks for reading 

Steve McCue

Finally, finished the business plan of my social enterprise Dyslexia Pathways CIC

My latest tee shirt logo design logo idea

Hi blog readers hope you are all feeling #fab?

Whooop de doooo, eureka and stuff life that lol, finally completed the business plan for my #fab #socialenterprise #Dyslexia Pathways CIC, ok still got to proof read it but it's essentially completed, phew. 

Been a roller coaster ride of mixed emotions it really has.

A big thanks to my mentor for his support and help.

Huge thanks to my wife without her support and occasional boot up my backside none of this would have been possible.

Thanks for reading

Steve

Social model of dyslexia and social enterprise



Dyslexia a difference that reflects diversity

Hi blog readers hope you are feeling fab

The objective of Dyslexia Pathways CIC / Unique Dyslexic is to support, promote, celebrate, develop and nurture the talents and abilities within all in the dyslexic and all other neuro diverse communities.

My organization Dyslexia Pathways Community Interest Company is a not for profit social enterprise. We support and promote The Social Model of #Dyslexia through social enterprise: Where difference is not considered a deficit. #dyslexia is a difference that reflects diversity, that's why we say vivadiversity vivaladifference

We promote and support the social model of dyslexia through social enterprise. We see this as a positive, empowering and inclusive way forward. A way forward that challenges the medical discrepancy model of dyslexia.

We see dyslexia as a difference that reflects the diversity. Where society sees disability and deficit we see diversity and difference and what a fab diversity and difference being dyslexic is.

Support our work, support the dyslexic community please buy one of our tees. Designed by dyslexics for dyslexics and those who love or support us.

http://stores.clothes2order.com/dyslexia-pathways-cic---unique-d/dyslexic/p/neuro-diversity-bag-westford-mill-maxi-bag-for-life/

many thanks for reading........ If anyone does buy a tee shirt would be fab to see you model it for us please.

Thanks for reading

Peace love and groovyness

Steve McCue Founder of Dyslexia Pathways CIC and Unique Dyslexic

Happy new year all

My wife and I 

To all our wonderful family and friends for 2019:

A guid New Year tae ane an' aw, 
An' mony may ye see! 
An' durin aw the years tae come, 
O happy may ye be! 
An' may ye ne'er hae cause tae mourn, 
Tae sigh or shed a tear! 
Tae ane an' aw, baith great an' sma, 
A hearty, Guid New Year! 

Noo let us hope oor years may be 
As guid as they ha'e been, 
And trust we ne'er again may see, 
The sorrows we ha'e seen. 
And let us wish that ane an' a' 
Our friends baith far an' near, 
May aye enjoy in times tae come 
A hearty guid New Year! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! from Anne and Steve xxxx

Ps this is in Scottish 

Social model of dyslexia and social enterprise a positive and inclusive way forward.

I am a fab one in ten dyslexic

Hi blog readers hope you are all well

I have no problem with being dyslexic. I am very happy that I see and experience the world through my dyslexic prism.

I do have a problem with our #Dyslexia unfriendly education system and society that quite simply has failed us. 

#dyslexia is about diversity and difference and it is society that disables us.


That's why I, and my organization Dyslexia Pathways CIC, say the #dyslexia is a difference that reflects diversity and not dyslexia is a condition that disables us.


The negative medical discrepancy model has also resulted in:


Over 50% of people in our prisons are dyslexic


Dyslexics are 6 times more likely to be long term unemployed than non dyslexics


Only 19% of dyslexic adults were actually assessed as dyslexic while at school

Many of us leave school with long term mental health issues, poor self confidence and low self esteem because of our negative experiences in education

This is not acceptable and cannot continue.

We ourselves have to change how we think and talk about #dyslexia, the medical discrepancy model way has not worked for us. Society will not just do it for us.


All the medical discrepancy model has done is isolated and marginalized many of us. Its created a negative medical discrepancy model stereotype around dyslexics that disables us in our own eyes and in the eyes of society. It is a model that has been imposed upon us by society.


We need to challenge it and fight for change because if we don't future generations of dyslexic kids will continue to be failed. Of course some positive change is happening. However, it is far to slow and we have had to fight for that change every step of the way

We need to celebrate and recognize dyslexic culture and all that dyslexics have achieved across all areas of society.

That's why my social enterprise Dyslexia Pathways CIC supports and promotes the social model of dyslexia and social enterprise model. It is a more positive and inclusive way forward.

A model that celebrates and embraces dyslexia and recognizes our diversity, neuro diversity and difference. One that does not try to turn us into copies of non dyslexics.

More importantly its a model created by dyslexics for dyslexics.

If you think my blog has something to say please share and like it. If you have something to say please leave a comments. We will never see any change unless we all talk about and share our experiences.

thanks for reading

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness from me

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

Steve McCue Founder of Dyslexia Pathways Community Interest Company

PS: my dyslexia blog has now had nearly 380.000 reads

Unique Dyslexics are #fab

My Unique Dyslexic Eye show logo

Hi to all 

Some of the brilliant Unique Dyslexic Get Creative participant feedback

Last year was a brilliant year for us especially with our Unique Dyslexic Get Creative Campaign

Our Unique Dyslexic Celebration of Creativity event was held on 29th October 2014. This was the first event of its kind to be held in Scotland by the first dyslexia focussed social enterprise, Dyslexia Pathways CIC constituted in the UK in 2009. 

I thought I would share some of the great feedback we received from people who attended:

• I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot
• How creative dyslexic people are
• I have found out some useful information that has made me feel happy
• Informed and confident
• Inspired and happy
• Like I have kindred spirits in Scotland Fantastic
• Very happy so interesting to hear so many and empowered speaking about the creativity of dyslexics
• Inspiring and Insightful
• Amazing justified in how I speak about dyslexia 
• Just such a great event loved it
•  Very confident, able and creative
• Fab, Important Valid
• Amazing!!!
• Great fun would love come to another one next year

A big thanks to Dr Ross Cooper (keynote speaker), The Lord Provost of Fife (who opened our event) and to Anita Govan Dyslexia poet and all the other performers at our event.

Some of the great feedback we received from participants who attended out five free Unique Dyslexic Get Creative workshops:

• I feel happy and more confident
• Good banter and love doing anything creative
• I had fun and enjoyed meeting people like myself / sharing
• Inspired and happy
• Included and free to express myself
• Belonging / idea provoking, included
• Happy and not alone with my dyslexia
• I have really enjoyed it and feel more educated on the technical side of music
• I have enjoyed the experience and learned a lot
• Inspired, tired and full
• Free
• Very confident, able and creative
• Absolutely brilliant and a real sense of achievement
• Amazing!!!
• Relaxed, giggly, calm, happy
• Happy, accepted, therapeutic
• Good de stressing relaxing fun
• Great fun would love to do it again
• Clever and energized
• Good about myself and meeting people like me
• Talkative and creative, more confident talking to others
• Food for thought, included, looking forward, satisfied
• I really feel creative and enjoyed this workshop
• Belonging, satisfied, further alerted to my potential
• I felt celebrated about having dyslexia

So please support our Unique Dyslexic Crowd Funding and enable us to share, support and promote our vision of positive social model of dyslexia.

#PeaceLoveGroovyness to you all

Steve McCue

Learning cursive just made me wanna curse lol

Part of an art installation I did a while back. The light over the letter I signifies #iamdyslexic

Good day to everyone hope you are all well and ready for the week end.


I have been talking to and reading on social media about other dyslexics experiences and parents of dyslexics with hand writing. I have to say some of what I hear and read it seems like a nightmare for many of us.

So I was wondering about anyone else's experiences with hand writing and being given hand writing practise at school?  

It didn't matter how much school tried to make me learn a cursive handwriting style I just couldn't get it together.

Please leave me your thought and comments.

I know all the arguments for handwriting and hand writing remediation including developing fine motor control, learning spelling from motor memory etc. 

But what about speech to text or even just the lowly computer keyboard etc. Surely the content of what is written is more important than how its being written?

So is having good handwriting as important as it once was?

Isn't the content of the writing the important thing not how it was written either by hand or speech to text or just by keyboard?

Speech to text software and assistive tech.

I personally don't get on with it because it gets in the way of my train of thought. But it can and does work for many other dyslexics. I have never been able to writing using a cursive style. 

I believe handwriting will become like a lost art maybe 30 years from now. I read somewhere that emojs are the way forward for communication. Business will lead here because speech to text is so much more efficient than typing or writing by hand.

The computer keyboard freed me from that particular little handwriting nightmare. I left school with no qualifications mainly because of my hand writing. Now with a computer keyboard I have my masters degree etc. Without it I might still be driving fork lift trucks or carrying bags of cement for a living instead of a dyslexia and inclusion specialist, social entrepreneur, writer of musician. 

The expectation that everyone should be able to write using cursive and neatly is disabling. It is a non dyslexic world expectation and its disabling. My job as a dyslexia and inclusion specialist is about enabling, finding ways that enable dyslexics to succeed. Its about finding solutions and enabling. If I can do that then I have succeeded.

Dyslexia is a difference that reflects diversity. We must enable that dyslexic diversity to thrive and achieve according to our strengths and talent. It is a non dyslexic society must to learn not shackle it to non dyslexic expectations such as we must write by hand using cursive.

many thanks for taking the time to read my blog.......if you think it has something to say please share it and or like it.

peace love and groovyness to all

Steve McCue (dyslexic dyslexia and inclusion specialist since 1995)