Author: Matt

Founder of Dyslexia Life Hacks

Categories
Technology

Make your phone more accessible

Building on the “Hey Siri” hack, you can use your phone’s accessibility features to help with reading and visual stress. These include: being able to get your phone to speak highlighted text or even getting the phone to speak the whole screen to you! These features were originally designed for people with visual problems but like using a screwdriver as a pry bar, why not use them for words/sentences you are struggling with.

For features on an iPhone head over to Apples website;

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iph3e2e4367/ios

For Android users;

https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6006564?hl=en-GB

Categories
Podcast

Episode 9 – Delwyn McKenzie on Dyslexia and Teaching the Piano

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In the episode of The Dyslexia Life Hacks Show, Matt talks to Delwyn McKenzie from Accent Music School in West Melton, New Zealand. She comes from a musical family being the youngest of five and both her parents play instruments. They taught her how to play a variety of interments from a very young age. Struggling with sight-reading she excelled in the practical playing and along with her husband has written musicals. She found out she was dyslexic at 45 when her daughter was being assed.

Having three children and two being dyslexic she has experience the different learning styles of these three. Along with this, she has put her lesions learned in teaching music to device her own piano course. She talks about how being dyslexic helps her see teaching music in a different way.

Delwyn has kindly offered listeners of the show free lessons from her online course. Head over to;

https://accentmusicschool.teachable.com/p/headstart-piano-book11

Use the coupon code; 5NOTESFREE

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Categories
Mental Prompts

Find the Colour when Speaking

You have created a brilliant talk or speech and used the hack Record A Presentation And Then Write It Down to get it perfect. On the day of the talk you have printed off at least three copies of your notes and are well prepared. However, part way through the talk you lose your place and are lost in your notes. The continuous black text on white paper is no longer a help.

The solution? Colour code your notes. Have each topic in a different colour. If you get a little lost you can look down, remembering you were talking about the red topic, and BOOM, you are back on track! Helping you achieve a smooth presentation, be more engaging to your audience, and not having to look at the notes as much – everyone can see your lovely eyes more.

If having all your notes in colour is a little too much, use nice bold coloured headings instead.

This hack as submitted by Rebecca – you can hear more from her on episode 3 of The Dyslexia Life Hacks Show.

Categories
Podcast

Episode 8 – Alison Edgar The Entrepreneur’s Godmother

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“When your dyslexic and you got to keep the flow, it was so tiring. Physically I was exhausted, because I has stay on the focus, I had work so hard to try and read the sentence.”

The Dyslexia Life Hacks Show welcomes on Alison Edgar MBE, twice voted one of UK’s top 10 business advisers and author of two best selling books. She has come along way form leaving school and taking a job in a hotel reception, she soon found that she could turn her hand to all aspects of running a hotel. This lead to a career in sales, where she overachieved and rose high in the corporate world. It was during a visit to one of her clients, they discovered she has dyslexia.

As it will come apparent throughout the podcast, Alison is a master of cultivating her straights. They become so strong that any weakness she may have are overwhelmed, she also surrounds herself with grate people who allow her to shine.

Ever wondered what it like to record you own audiobook as a dyslexic? Listen in to find out.

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Support Lifestyle People

Skill Swap

Keisha Swaby outlined this hack on episode 7 of The Dyslexia Life Hacks Show.

Struggling to get something done? Sitting up late at night banging your head against the wall not helping? Then skill swap with your friend who is awesome at it (they can also help patch you up, after hitting your head against the wall).

We all have strengths and weaknesses and no one person is brilliant at everything. Swapping a skill is a powerful way of getting the task done on time and learning new skills from your friends and colleagues, in time teaching them new things too! 

They can help teach that skill you are struggling with, and in return you can help with a skill they’re having bother with. It is a great way of building strong relationships, social connections, and camaraderie.

Categories
Podcast

Episode 7 – Dyslexic and Dyspraxic at 41 with Keisha Swaby

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“”When I came to the UK at 14, I went around with my grandma visiting peoples houses. There’s always a picture of someone in there cap and gown. “”

Having struggled through school and her early working life, Keisha Swaby wanted to full fill her dream of getting a degree. It was during her degree, when she was getting some of her work prof read she discovered she is dyslexic and dyspraxic. This certainly has not stopped her. She has fulfilled her ambition to have a degree and is now studying for her masters.

Around this, she is a radio DJ for Radio Diamond, runs a website, talks on dyslexia in the black community, advocates for Jamaica dyslexia association and Jamaica inspired. If this was not enough she has found time to work on a book!

Matt and Keisha chart her journey from moving to the UK, struggling at school and finding out she was dyslexic and dyspraxic later on in life. They compere notes on going to university as a mature student’s and Keisha shares what it is like living with dyspraxia.

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Categories
Podcast

Episode 6 – Vision and Dyslexia with Bhavin Shah

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“Dyslexia is not a visual condition, but your much more likely to have visual problems.”

Bhavin Shah is a Behavioural Optometrist who specialises in understanding the visual problems faced by dyslexics. Although dyslexia isn’t a visual condition, dyslexics often have difficulties with visual stress,  visual tracking, words moving over the page etc..

In this episode he goes into detail on what is happening with the visual system, why it could be the eyes moving that makes reading difficult, not the brain jumbling the word order. How rock climbing to be very helpful for improving the visual system. We also go into what the difference is between a behavioural optometrist and a high street optometrist, how Bhavin transitioned from a high street optometrist and what its like to have an assessment with him.

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Categories
Podcast

Episode 5 – The Dyslexic Inventor with Jock Boyle

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“On my first driving lesson and I was turning a corner, BANG a cyclist hits me. My instructor told me, you need to be aware that the car pillar is a blind spot. That has always been with me”

Jock Boyle left school with no qualifications and label as slow. Having spent most of his adult life as a lorry driver his brain worked away in the background, if there was a problem Jock would think up a solution while he was out driving. One of these is a new type of lens that can improve road safety by reducing vehicle blind spots. He now has patents in his name and running a business to bring his invention to market.

Join Matt has he speaks to Jock about dyslexia helps him invent, the struggles of bring an invention to market and his learning experience along the way.

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