Olivia Williamson
Hi, I’m Olivia. I am a dyslexic Fine Art graduate from the Ruskin School of Art and working on Dyslexia at Oxford has been my focus since graduating. It is a merger of visual storytelling and an interest in neurodiversity and access to education.
I have also been part of the team setting up Open/Ended Design. a platform that spotlights innovators at the intersection of culture, technology and design from around the world, with conversations released every fortnight.
If you would like to get in touch about this project, please email dyslexiatoxford@gmail.com, I would love to hear from you.
Please follow the link to the interview.
Dyslexia at Oxford
Dyslexia at Oxford. Three words.
The perceived contradiction,
a reality for many of the people I spoke to
Who were told, or made to feel education was not for them.
If we don’t have access to information around neurodiversity,
We don’t have the toolkit to understand differences in the people we meet.
This can cause repetitive and unnecessary microaggressions,
A dismissal of others who are not like us.
Perpetuating invisible structures that say:
‘Why are you not performing in the way I expect you to?’ More simply still:
‘Why are you like this?’
…
Surface level stereotypes
Rooted in Deficit
Rather than Difference
A different way of thinking, learning and doing.
That has its own strength.
STATISTICS - (Taking these figures as a rough guide)
Despite 10-15% of the population being dyslexic (Source/S )
50% of people in prison are dyslexic (S)
50% of people experiencing homelessness are dyslexic (S)
40-50% of people living with suicidal thoughts and behaviour are dyslexic (S)
40-50% of people that are unemployed in the UK are dyslexic (S)
Gut-wrenching, heartbreaking statics. But - it adds up.
Neurodiversity and access are often treated as an inconvenient problem.
Exclusion is the norm, inclusion is the afterthought.
EDUCATION
52% of Teachers in the UK report they have no dyslexia training. (s)
9 in 10 of those that did said that the training was under an hour. (s)
The British Dyslexia Association think that dyslexia diagnosis and support
is worse now than when government funding started in the 1980’s
with schools 'failing to diagnose at least 80% of dyslexic pupils'. (S)
Think about a child
Daydreaming
Not handing in homework
Punching holes into a page
Doodling in the margins
Making spelling mistakes
Being stressed at reading aloud
Struggling, falling behind, or being uncooperative
It would be easy to label this behaviour as disruptive
A sign of laziness and lack of ability.
The people I spoke to - talked about having to prove
Their teachers and schools’ low expectations wrong.
2-3 years of neurodivergent kids won’t get that chance during the pandemic.
This isn’t a criticism levelled at teachers, but a wider structural issue.
Learning differences like (but not limited to)
Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, ADHD, Autism, Tourette's syndrome
Should be included in teacher training.
How can an hour, to cover a different learning processing style
in a full year's training - be sufficient?
WHAT IS DYSLEXIA?
Break down the root of the word:
DYS - for bad, abnormal, difficult
LEXIS - for ‘speech’ (S)
… Bad with words?
Dyslexia was originally called word blindness
A visual problem caused by unstable eyes.
Now it is mostly defined as phonological (sound-based)
leading to challenges with spelling and reading.
There neither appears to be an agreed definition nor an agreed theory of dyslexia.
From what I have understood,
It is a different brain wiring, geared towards big-picture, holistic thinking
That is weaker at fine-detail and linear processing.
CHALLENGES
Muddling and recalling words
Not remembering names of people, places, streets, songs etc
Poor short term memory
Confusing left and right
Difficulty following a string of directions or instructions
Inventive Spelling
Slow reading speed and comprehension
Slow processing speed
De-coding sound and separating it from background noise
Little sense of linear time (from hour to date to year)
Struggling with coordination & eye-movement control
STRENGTHS
Holistic, big-picture thinking
Interconnected reasoning (seeing connections)
Spotting patterns in complex and shifting systems or data sets
Vivid imagination
Highly Creative
Thinking in pictures rather than words/ non-verbal thinking
Strong 3D Visualisation - the ability to manipulate images in the mind's eye
Spatial awareness
Intuitive & Highly empathetic
Quick Problem-solving
Narrative reasoning - good at remembering personal experience
Multi-tasking
Practical - learning best hands-on
ASSESSMENT/ DIAGNOSIS
As many of the speakers said, the assessment made perfect sense
‘I realised I wasn’t stupid, just different’
‘It was a weight off my shoulders’
An assessment for dyslexia costs 300-700£ in the UK.
I can still remember how stressed I was about that cost as a child
Being raised by a single parent. A cost my grandparents stepped in to cover.
Access to assessments for neurodiversity
should not be behind financial barriers.
THE PROJECT/ CONVERSATIONS
I was assessed as dyslexic just before IGCSEs at 15.
At 21, trying to support a sibling through education,
I was passing on the tools I was learning through
Oxford University’s Disability Advisory Service.
It was confusing to me as to why I had access to that support
In an incredibly privileged space - and a child did not.
It was exciting to talk about dyslexia for the first time.
Learning about how people were playing to their strengths
And sharing strategies for the challenges.
In every corner and community
There is a network of neurodivergent people.
Our differences make us human.
Neurodiversity is essential.
It starts with a conversation.
It starts with a question
Not ‘Why are you like this?’
But, ‘What is it like for you?’
