Laura Gowers is joined by author and primary school teacher, Dan Batchelor to discuss how a diagnosis of dyslexia in his late teens had an impact on his understanding of himself. We discuss Dan's personal experiences with dyslexia, the impact of diagnosis, the influence of dyslexia on teaching, challenges within the education system, practical support for dyslexic children and advice for adults with dyslexia.

Key Takeaways

• Diagnosis impact
• Challenges and strengths
• Support and understanding

More about the guest:

Dan Batchelor grew up in West Sussex where with his twin brother where he would spend most of his time playing football, tennis, golf or any sport he could. During his time in college, he learnt that he had dyslexia. Despite this he went on to study Sports Science at University in High Wycombe achieving a 2:1. Dan always had a love for reading, movies and any form of media but it wasn't until he moved to London in 2012 that he started to come up with the concept for his story.

In 2018, Dan had a complete change of career and began working as a primary school teacher - a job he is passion about and loves. Whilst working as a teacher, Dan finished his story as well as deciding on the concept for the sequel.

Although Dan is dyslexic and does not have a background in literature, he knows the importance of reading and often tells the children he teaches,

'Once you have learnt to read, you can read to learn. His love of reading and storytelling is what inspired him to begin writing and continue to build new worlds and stories.

You can connect with Dan through his website:

https://www.jackpalmerseries.co.uk and on instagram: @danbatchelor.author

More about the host:

Laura Gowers is an award winning dyslexia assessor, neurodivergence coach and former teacher and SENCo with over 23 years of experience in education. She is the founder of This is Dyslexia - Dyslexia assessments and coaching and runs a specialist dyslexia assessment centre in Canterbury, Kent, supporting children and adults locally and across the UK through in person and online assessments.

Her work is strengths based, focusing on clarity, confidence and wellbeing, helping people move beyond labels and understand how their brain truly works.

Website: www.thisisdyslexia.co.uk

Instagram: @thisisdyslexiauk

Facebook: LauraGowersUK

Facebook Page: @this.is.dyslexia.uk