Exhibition News November 2019 | Page 13

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