News Focus
T
he Dyslexia Show, the first national
exhibition of its kind, is already set
to be a huge success.
Having been born with severe
dyslexia and then working in the
dyslexia sector for over 15 years,
Arran Smith realised that there
was a gap in the events market.
Whilst there may have been larger
exhibitions like Special Needs
London that included dyslexia
through the many disabilities
featured, there were no individual
shows for dyslexia.
So, the Dyslexia Show was born – an
exhibition focused solely on dyslexia
and aimed at parents, educators and
employers, with the aim to inform,
train and empower both those with
dyslexia, and their parents/carers.
Smith was not starting from
scratch; he had previously worked for
the British Dyslexia Association for
five and a half years, and ran events
for them, as well as exhibiting at
events and speaking at conferences.
Playing to
strengths
Olivia Powell catches up with
Arran Smith, the director of The
Dyslexia Show, who turns his
learning difficulty into a new
national event
» » Around 6.5m people in the UK have
dyslexia
» » The word dyslexia comes from
the Greek words ‘dys’ and ‘lexis’,
‘dys’ meaning poor/bad, and ‘lexis’
meaning words or language
» » A dyslexic person’s intelligence is
not affected by dyslexia
» » Whilst people with dyslexia may
have issues with reading, writing or
spelling, they often excel at creative
thinking and problem solving
» » 50% of people with dyslexia are
left-handed, whilst only 11% of the
general population are left-handed
» » Those with dyslexia only use the
right side of the brain to process
language, whilst non-dyslexics use
three areas on the left side of the
brain
Whilst the shows he was involved in
may have been small, they gave Smith
the drive he needed to develop.
Smith commented on his experience
building the event: “Being a dyslexic
I love to learn, and that’s obviously
asking lots of questions, having the
experience and the knowledge of
talking to lots of people, so finding
the right contractors, finding the
right team members has been really
important, but that’s why we’re so far
ahead of where we thought we’d be”.
Due to his extensive work in the
dyslexia sector, Smith had the right
contacts to create the event that
he had envisioned. He approached
dyslexia-based companies he had
worked with in the past and asked
them to sponsor the event.
Smith recognises that it was his
standing within the dyslexia sector
which allowed him to create the show:
“Our workplace sponsor, Dyslexia
Box, they’re one of our biggest
sponsors, and they helped us
November — 13