Thesis Statement:

Dyslexia affects one in five or roughly 20 percent of people. There is inherent variability in humans, no one part of the brain is responsible for reading and writing; instead, the brain uses multiple pathways through different parts of the brain. Multisensory learning approaches are the best way to learn, not only for dyslexia but for many individuals. However, when teachers receive their education; they don't learn about the biological and cognitive aspects. If teachers understood what dyslexia is, teachers would have more respect for their dyslexic students and would be more open to teaching the entire class with things they can hear, see and feel.

Website:

     I designed a learning tool for teachers to give educators a way to teach their colleagues about dyslexia. Dyslexia in Latin dyslexic is difficulty with language. It is challenging to process phonemes, the basic units of sounds. However, it is more than just challenges with reading and writing the brain processes. Dyslexia affects 20% of the world's population. In my experience as an army brat and moving around the country and being a part of multiple school districts, I found that teachers still often believe stereotypes of what dyslexia is. 

     Many states do not recognize dyslexia, and currently, there are no laws in Michigan yet, but there is one currently on the floor. However, it does not say the word dyslexia, and also, in many states with laws, they do not say dyslexia in the law. Instead, they call it a specific learning disability. You cannot help what you do not understand. So, when thinking about what I was going to create to address this problem. I talked with a few teachers, one being. Mr. Cronin, an English teacher, has dyslexia and informed me of personal development days where teachers come in and teach their peers about anything. So why not dyslexia?

Research Images:

     I was looking at other designs that already existed. I felt like they were really busy to the eye and wordy, which is problematic for someone who also has dyslexia and not very aesthetically pleasing, drab. Designs that were okay enough but I found boring. Moreover, they did not address the strengths that people with dyslexia have, and they have so many strengths, not despite their challenges. Designs out there also do not address the problem of teachers not understanding the cognitive aspect of dyslexia. 

  

     I feel like, right now, there is more of a push for incorporating material things, at least with what I see on my Instagram pages. I love when designers incorporate more physical aspects into their work. Furthermore, with covid, and being behind a screen, not being able to touch people. I wanted to create something physical. That gave the appearance of touch.

 

     Also, part of choosing to do something handmade was learning about Orton Gillingham, a multi-sensory-based program designed for people with dyslexia. Dyslexic children, when taught the alphabet, a helpful tool is to create the letters in clay. Researching more about multi-sensory learning just better reinforces what you are learning. So creating something tactile was a no-brainer. 

  

     Multi-sensory-based learning solidified my choice to do animation because it pertains to both visual and audio. Creating a learning tool ended up making my play. 

It worked out, it was sticky and hard to work with, and I could not manipulate it in the way that I wanted. 

For more check information about process check out my presentation: