May 26, 2025 • 29 mins
In this heartfelt and empowering episode, I sit down with Liz—a devoted mom, passionate advocate, and powerful voice in the world of neurodiversity. Liz opens up about her family’s journey with dyslexia, the emotional highs and lows of seeking support, and the moment everything changed with the discovery of the Touch-type Read and Spell (TTRS) program.
Together, we explore what it means to raise a neurodivergent child in a world built for the neurotypical, how typing became a turning point in her son’s confidence and communication, and the deep transformation that happens when parents step into advocacy.
Whether you’re a parent navigating similar challenges, an educator seeking insight, or simply someone who cares about creating a more inclusive world, Liz’s story will leave you inspired, encouraged, and equipped with hope.
Interested in trying TTRS?
Use discount code: MGA
Thank you for listening to Dyslexia Decoded! Remember, every journey begins with a single step, and progress always beats perfection.
Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and if you found this story inspiring, please share it with someone who might need to hear it.
Until next time, stay strong, stay curious, and stay fearless. 💚
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Teacher Maggie (00:00):
Hey there and welcome back to Dyslexia,
decoded by Strong Minds.
This is the podcast where weuncover the strengths of
dyslexic minds and equip parentsand educators with tools to
support and celebrate everylearner I'm your host teacher,
Maggie, and I'm thrilled to bejoined by Liz Day.
spending time with me.
(00:20):
today And she's a fellow mom andan advocate who has walked this
path that a lot of us are on.
So Liz is here to share herstory, one of discovery and
advocacy.
she supports her amazing sonthrough his dyslexic journey.
I think we're gonna find herstory really relatable and
encouraging.
welcome to the podcast, Liz, canyou start off by introducing
(00:43):
yourself and tell me a littleabout where you're from and your
family.
Liz Day (00:48):
Yeah, sure.
So I'm from, the south ofEngland, and, I started my
career as a teacher, becamestrongly involved in making sure
that, everyone had, Theopportunities they should,
right?
From my first teaching job whenI met a gorgeous little dyslexic
boy who cried every night'causehe thought he was stupid.
(01:09):
And I only discovered thisbecause I was telling the
parents at the parents eveninghow amazing he was and how I was
really impressed that he didn'tlet his dyslexia hold back.
And then they explained this tome and I was.
Devastated This boy isn'tstupid.
He needs to know that and therest of the world need to know
it.
So I've been sort of passionateabout dyslexia and other
neurodiversity since then I wenton to have my own delightfully
(01:31):
dyslexic son, and I've alwaysreferred to him as my
delightfully dyslexic son werealized that was probably what
was going on to empower him Ican honestly say he's always
been quite proud to be dyslexic.
We've highlighted the positivesof how he thinks differently
without belittling thedifficulties and challenges it
inevitably brings.
(01:51):
So over the years throughteaching, and I've also worked
in communications and marketing,a lot of my work has been
around.
Advocating and trying to bringabout change and knowledge and
understanding.
And I'm a great position nowwith my son where he's
officially an adult.
he turned 18 in March, and isactually off to university in
(02:14):
September, which at one point wenever thought would be a path
that he would.
Follow, but he's being able todisplay his intelligence in a
way that suits him by choosingthe right kind of options at 16,
and having more practicalcourses rather than lots of
written exams.
So, yeah, it's great.
And actually we've only justaround the time he turned 18,
(02:37):
had the formal diagnosis ofdyslexia because he needs it.
Yeah, ready for university.
up until that point I kind ofknew with all the work I do,
that's what was going on, but wevery much focused on his
strengths and his challenges andusing his strengths to overcome
his challenges, and that seemsto have worked well for him as
(02:59):
an individual and educationally.
Teacher Maggie (03:01):
So I love how you were open with him about
having dyslexia and what itlikely is and this is what it
means.
And I see either way, I seeparents are like, I can't tell
them it needs to be a secret.
And then I see parents that arereally honest there are amazing
strengths and challenges, buteveryone has challenges.
if you can't name them, youcan't do anything about it.
(03:22):
So let's name them
Liz Day (03:22):
I agree with that.
And I've had a lot of, parentstalk to me because they know of
the work I do and things.
And some have been quite angrywhen maybe a teacher, a parent's
evening has suggested that theirchild might be dyslexic.
they said, how dare they saythat in front of them.
I was sort of taken aback tostart with.
I thought, I don't understand.
This is great that the teachersrecognize and they're addressing
(03:44):
it, over time I've understoodhow sort of why people feel
differently, I think a lot of itis misunderstanding and that
kind of terrible idea that I.
To be dyslexic means you're notas intelligent, which is
absolutely nonsense.
you may not look as intelligentwhen you're tested in the same
way as all the standard teststhat aren't designed for a
(04:07):
neurodiverse mind, but it's notabout intelligence at all.
I just think it's so positive,and as you say, it's really
important we all can name ourchallenges, our emotions, and
then address them if we can'tname these things.
We're just confused.
And that's when people startthinking they're stupid.
especially with children who aredyslexic, they tend to know,
(04:29):
it's almost that feeling of Ishould.
Be doing better.
Be doing better.
I should be able to do that.
And I can't know somethingdifferent.
Teacher Maggie (04:37):
They know something's different and, they
don't have the title dyslexia,then they just blame themselves.
I got a letter home inkindergarten.
My teacher is like, there'ssomething going on.
You need to get her checked.
My mom was just offended like,how dare even say that about my
child.
And we just went on with nodiagnosis until I was an adult.
even when I was diagnosed, mymother was like, well, you were
always just lazy.
If you had applied to yourself,you would've done better.
(04:57):
Which I'm doing great in lifenow, so it's fine.
Liz Day (05:00):
And thankfully you've obviously developed resilience.
But the sad thing is it can goone of two ways a lot of people
who could be really successfuland wonderful.
Become successful in the wrongareas of life.
'cause they feel like a failure.
Mm-hmm.
So they kind of go againstsociety.
when we look at prisonpopulations there are a high
percentage who areneurodivergent.
They're also a high percentageof entrepreneurs.
Teacher Maggie (05:22):
my own life got really close to either, I could
have been in prison, I couldhave been dead.
by the grace of God, I made itwhere I am because amazing,
amazing to happen along the waythat I just kept seeing little
glimpses that there was more tome
Liz Day (05:35):
Out my spine actually, because I just think that's my
real passion of, you know,people feeling good about
themselves and knowing they'reworthwhile, and then choosing a
fantastic path of helping othersand teaching others.
as you say, it's such a close.
Call as to which way it couldhave gone.
So yeah, that's really powerful.
Teacher Maggie (05:55):
This is why I love so much.
Why I do, and I'm working withthe families like I work, you
know?
You do too.
Being able to come beside them,not just as someone's gonna
teach your child to read, butsomeone who's going to repaint a
whole new picture, right?
Yes.
Of dys.
Like, I'm so glad there's peoplelike this.
I wanna go back to you knew whatdyslexia was your first year
teaching.
Liz Day (06:14):
that's interesting.
Teacher Maggie (06:15):
they don't train us on that.
Even my first year teaching, Ihad this poor little guy who
wasn't making it, and the schoolpsychologist told me that if
dyslexia was real, it was veryrare,
Liz Day (06:26):
I was lucky.
I've never thought about thatbefore.
that was back in 1999, so quitesome time ago.
it was very briefly mentioned inour training, we had a bit more
on things like visual stress.
and how it can sometimes belinked with dyslexia because one
of our lecturers had a child whohad visual stress.
(06:48):
And that's often how it comesabout, isn't it?
If someone's got a personallink, you get told about it.
If not, you don't find out aboutit.
I guess being a mom makes you anexpert, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then, and so passionateisn't it?
If, if, you know, if you wannahelp your child, you will do
anything.
and then because that firstteaching job, it was actually a
private school and.
(07:09):
Some private schools I'veexperienced have less
understanding and knowledge ofdyslexia.
This particular one, they werefantastic and they had an expert
who came in who actually at thatpoint, very on the quiet because
MPS didn't want to admit to bedyslexic.
She worked with quite a few mpswho were dyslexic.
(07:30):
And she could see the potentialthese people had, and tried to
help them.
she was coming in and workingwith the children and taught me
a lot in a short space of timeand gave me that sort of, yes,
okay.
There are things that can bedone.
ultimately that's me, how I'vealways been, that I will fight
for injustices it just seems sowrong that children could think
(07:52):
they were stupid when they wereabsolutely far from it.
Teacher Maggie (07:55):
Brilliant.
Yes.
Kind of a dyslexic.
Trait too, to like, I want tofix a problem, I want to solve
it.
There's a problem.
I'm gonna just not stop untilit's corrected.
Liz Day (08:05):
I think with me, my mind is more of an A DHD mind
than dyslexic and the same thingI think, and I've only really,
you're in the same familyrealize, and it's kind of that.
Oh, no wonder I've always feltuncomfortable about that kind of
injustice.
'cause actually I had similar ina different way and I had that
constant feeling of I wasn'tachieving what I should do and
(08:27):
there was an element ofembarrass around not getting the
grades I was predicted So yes, Ithink it ties in and there's so
much overlap within.
Neurodivergence.
Yes.
Teacher Maggie (08:36):
thank you so much for sharing all that.
So we often stumble upon toolsthat change everything when you
discovered Orton Gillingham orphonemic awareness I wanted to
talk to you today to see abouthow you heard about touch type,
read, spell, and how that hasimpacted your journey with your
son.
Liz Day (08:55):
Yeah, so it's been a long journey with touch type,
read and spell, originally Ifound out about it as a parent,
trailing through Facebook groupsabout how to help your suspected
dyslexic child.
someone mentioned touch, type,read and spell.
And I have to be entirelyhonest, I kind of ignored the
reading and spelling part.
(09:16):
My son's dad is.
Undiagnosed dyslexic, butdefinitely dyslexic and has
always found he learned to touchtype at school and has always
found that such a useful tool.
Both my son and his dad haveslow processing and typing
really helps them and just beingable to go back over things and
edit.
So I thought, this is great.
(09:37):
It says something about beinghelpful for dyslexics and it's
touch typing, and it'd be greatfor him to touch type.
So it must be about nine yearsago now.
I signed him up and actually atthat point I was teaching
full-time in a school, so hadvery little extra time I
sometimes feel quite guiltybecause I now train other people
(09:57):
in how to support their ownchild or children in school as
to how to use TTRS and all thebest tips and what they can do.
I paid for the subscription.
I paid for it monthly ratherthan saving money and doing
annually.
'cause I thought, oh, it mightnot work.
Or we might not use it for long.
I gave him a reward chart wherehe ticked off three times a
week.
He'd done TTRS and after so manyweeks of that, he could go to
(10:22):
pound land and choose a pound,pound prize.
And that was on with it.
And we did it very slowlybecause anything we did at home.
I wanted to be about fun andenjoyment and the things he
found easier like sport and justhaving a laugh rather than
spending even more time doingthe things that he found hard.
(10:42):
So he just did about 20 minutesa week over three years.
Generally within TTRS, they sayif you spend an hour a week,
you'll complete the main coursein a year.
We just took it at a much slowerpace that worked for him, His
reading and spelling improved somuch that he went from at 11,
transitioning here from primaryto secondary school.
(11:05):
He'd always had a reading agebelow his chronological age.
He started secondary school andhe had a reading age above his
chronological age.
And I just ama and we'd donelittle things along the way,
that I'm sure all added to it.
But for me, I noticed thebiggest difference was touch
type, read and spell.
And because it's constantrepetition.
(11:27):
You see it, you say it, you hearit, you type it, and it's
gradually building up words.
And they're real words.
It's not like other typingprograms where you're typing jk,
jk, jk, jk, and it meansnothing.
it's real words like cat, hat,pat, pit, pot, and that just
really helps with the whole.
(11:49):
Overlearning, I suppose.
one thing I would say, and Ialways say this as a parent and
a teacher, there's never a onesize fits all approach.
Some children and adults won'tenjoy it.
my son was quite happy with astraightforward sort of, I know
what I've gotta do, I'll get onwith it.
Approach.
So we never.
had any problems withencouraging him to do it.
(12:11):
I have known of other childrenwhose parents have had the best
intention of them doing it andit just hasn't worked'cause they
haven't enjoyed that style andobviously that's fine.
you can never get one thingthat's gonna work for everyone.
But for Josh, it really worked,really supported him.
And actually my daughter, who'snearly two years older, probably
(12:32):
isn't dyslexic she has slighttraits and her spelling is.
Terrible.
but she's academically much moreyour typical academic student.
And now her spelling is farworse than his, and I wish we'd
put her through touch type, readspell as well.
By the time I realized she wastyping very quickly the wrong
(12:52):
way and I thought, she's notgonna slow down to go backwards.
So that was my initialintroduction to touch type, read
and spell.
I became head of communicationsat the British Dyslexia
Association.
while I was there, I did a lotof partnership work and touch
type, read and Spell.
Were one of the real, reallystrong supporters of the
Dyslexia Association.
they were amazing father andson.
(13:14):
as the directors the amount oftimes I'd phone them up to help
with charitable things becausewe didn't have the resources to
help.
We had to charge for trainingand things like that.
So I would phone up, the fatherwho was in charge then and say,
look, is there anything you cando?
We've got this school or we'vegot this, homeless center.
I remember one time who haverealized that if they can help
(13:35):
the people coming to them tolearn to read and write better
or type.
They're gonna be able to getjobs, which means they can get
homes and cope in the world.
they would just say to me, giveus their details.
We'll give them a freesubscription.
We'll get someone to go in anddo a talk if need be.
And it was just amazing.
So empowering.
So then fast forward a bit more,and I became a freelancer.
(13:59):
And that was six and a halfyears ago.
ever since then, I've beenworking on a freelance basis for
TTRS in various capacitiesalongside other work that I do.
So I help them on the dyslexia,neurodiversity specialist side,
help on the marketing, theteaching.
I write some of the content.
It's great for me with my A DHDmind,'cause a little bit of
everything.
A little of everything.
(14:19):
I know that.
yeah.
and they're continuallydeveloping.
TTRS keeping the essence of it,keeping that Autumn Gillingham
approach, which is so important.
And then just sort of seeingwhat works and improving on it
and looking at research.
So yeah, I've got sort of quitea long history with TTRS and
it's lovely being able to haveit in different settings.
(14:39):
The other thing is I still tutorand I use it with some of the
children I tutor, so I actuallyteach.
Teacher Maggie (14:45):
you use it while you're tutoring or assign it for
them to do at home?
Liz Day (14:49):
A bit of both.
we have some people who are TTRStutors and they will do full
touch typing sessions, so theirtutoring is all touch typing.
I don't use it like that.
I use it within my tutoringsession.
it may be 10 minutes out of thehour they're typing with me and
then at home they do extra ones.
But so that I can just check howthey're getting on that they're
(15:10):
using their fingers correctly,that ideally they're looking at
the screen.
If there's any extra input Ineed to put in, I will see them
most weeks in the session for 10minutes doing TTRS.
and then they do the rest athome.
and again, that's another thingI love about it, that because
it's online, once they've gotthat subscription, they can use
(15:30):
it from anywhere where they'vegot a connection.
It doesn't have to be loadedonto one computer and then they
can only use it at thatcomputer.
so yeah, it works
Teacher Maggie (15:39):
Very cool.
I love that.
I love how it's blending theping, which is just going to
open doors with the repetitionand the orthographic mapping
that's gonna come with the Yes.
And the reading.
Liz Day (15:48):
You should try it out.
it's that whole idea of musclememory, there is research about
that.
Often people will find it takesup more of their brain space.
And working memory to thinkabout how to form letters when
they're writing them.
Whereas when they're typingthem, it's almost like an
extension of their fingertips.
and we've had people, and one ofour tutors has said this to me,
(16:10):
and then more recently I wasworking with some postgraduate
students who were becomingdyslexia specialists, and they
were using TTRS as part of theirresearch.
And one teacher said.
I was really confused.
I was giving a spelling test tothe class and this one child put
their pencil down and juststarted moving their fingers
around I didn't know what theywere doing.
(16:30):
and then I realized they werethinking about where the keys
were.
On the keyboard and thenfiguring out the spelling.
So it was really amazing to seethat inaction, that idea that's
like a
Teacher Maggie (16:42):
dyslexic group for you we're so special.
Liz Day (16:44):
there's other tutors said she did that and other
tutors have said they've seenstudents do it.
And yeah, it really does helpwith that recall of memory
without having to think aboutrecalling it.
It's much more a naturalprocess.
Teacher Maggie (16:58):
Okay.
I wanna get into some of theadvocacy work you've done.
I got really inspired hearingyou talk about, going to the
homeless shelter or other areasand how you got into the
Dyslexia Association?
The British Dyslexia?
Yeah.
How did you get into all thatand where do you find, need?
I just have a tutoring centerand people come to me sometimes
(17:19):
and I do scholarships based onneed, but it's.
You know, how do you reach morepeople and get, like providing a
resource like this to a largerneed?
Liz Day (17:30):
Yeah.
it's about networking andfinding other people and seeing
what's there.
the job with the BritishDyslexia Association, was my
full-time paid job.
it was because of my backgroundwithin teaching and in marketing
and communications, that I wasable to combine that and.
Offer what they needed for therole, plus my personal interest
(17:50):
in dyslexia, A lot of it hasbeen, I've done it.
For free.
I've done it out of my owninterest.
I've had clients like TTRS whosay, go into the local prison
and see if you can get them totrial, TTRS, because they've got
a shared passion like me fortrying to help everyone and for
making it accessible toeveryone.
(18:10):
a lot of what I've done isthrough networking with other
people, throughout the communityFor me now, it's wider than
dyslexia.
It's the neurodivergentcommunity.
I'm part of a group of fivepeople who have recently, where
we're literally in the stages ofsetting up.
We're gonna stay as fiveindividuals working on our own
projects.
We're gonna work together onthings like papers about
(18:31):
neurodiversity, the state ofneurodiversity, and talking at,
conferences as a panel.
we are all quite different inwhat we've done and what we're
doing now.
when we met up, we realizedevery one of us was a teacher at
one point.
I think it's fair to say all ofus are neurodivergent in
different ways.
So yeah, it's just gettinginvolved with people and seeing
(18:53):
how you can help.
we've all said recently howempowering it is.
'cause sometimes it's easy tolose that fight and fire to
change things and make thingsbetter when it's just you.
Doing your thing and you think,well, no one else is listening.
it's only those few people I'mworking with.
And it's so important toremember, even if it is just a
few people that's making adifference.
(19:14):
hopefully they will then go onto help others and share
understanding.
when you meet with others, itkind of ignites that fire again
You are ready to keep going.
I still do some work for DTRS,but instead of just doing all
freelance projects now foreveryone I've launched, my own
community interest company.
it's a not-for-profit calledcollectively diverse.
(19:35):
Which offers training tocommunities, sports clubs,
schools, businesses, aboutNeuroD diversities to really
keep sharing that message.
so I'm going into rugby clubsand organizations to say, look,
this is what it means.
if we don't understand.
Everyone thinks differently andfor some people that environment
is really hard, so we have tomake adaptations.
Teacher Maggie (19:57):
gonna
Liz Day (19:57):
lose people
Teacher Maggie (19:58):
like from sport and neuro divergence is
everywhere.
if dyslexia is like one in fiveand then you add in autism and
ADHD and all the other thingsthat people could be working
with.
We're missing on so much ifwe're not.
Liz Day (20:11):
I've had an ongoing conversation on LinkedIn about
neurodiversity and what itactually means and how actually
we are all NeuroD diverse in thesame way as biodiversity means.
All the different living thingsin a certain area that work
together, that isneurodiversity.
Now those of us who areneurodivergent have something
(20:32):
like a DHD or dyslexia, butwe're all neurodiverse.
We all think differently andit's so important we understand
that.
Work together on things insteadof kind of battling with, well,
why do they need thatadjustment?
It's just because they're lazy,or they're this or that.
They've just got to get used tothe noise or they've got to get,
and actually when we think ofthings that we really dislike,
(20:54):
we can't just get over it.
And just slight tweaks toenvironments can make a huge
difference.
And the thing I've always triedto get across in everything I do
is.
Particularly in a sort of,initially, in a teaching
situation, but now also in theworkplace that whatever you do
is actually not gonnadisadvantage anyone.
It's likely to help everybody,whether they're neurotypical or
(21:17):
neurodivergent, and itdefinitely helps the people who
you want to have everyone'sbenefiting.
it's kind of a no brainer.
Teacher Maggie (21:24):
It took me three years of teaching before I even
knew what dyslexia was.
But then once I learned and Iwas able to start, learning
about different curriculums andthings I can add to the class to
help the dyslexic students, Iwas like, this will just help
everyone.
one will learn better this way.
Liz Day (21:39):
a science test, the night bulb moment of like, hang
on, I get it.
I've worked with teachers whoare so bogged down with
paperwork, everything that goeswith it that they think I can't
take on.
One more thing, I can't changemy practice.
the importance of that.
Teaching teachers aboutdyslexia.
if it was in every singleteacher training course, right
(22:01):
from the beginning, and adyslexia or neurodivergent
friendly style of teaching wasjust the norm, it wouldn't
suddenly be I've gotta changeeverything I do.
It's like people wouldn't evenknow that they're using a style
You're diverse, friendly, that'sjust what they do.
Normal
Teacher Maggie (22:17):
Yeah.
I wish I had known early.
it's so hard as a teacher tohelp these students learn and
progress and grow.
And every year there's a handfulof students you just can't reach
no matter what you do.
I was driving myself crazy like,what's happening?
when you finally find whatworks, it's years too late for
some of these students.
Liz Day (22:33):
So you really need to get
Teacher Maggie (22:34):
into the education of teachers.
Liz Day (22:36):
And in a school situation, you are battling
against education systems thatset up for a typical student
that doesn't exist.
so you're not always allowed tohave the flexibility of like,
actually I wanna do thiscompletely different.
And you might have a year leaderor someone above you saying,
well, no, that's not how we doit here.
(22:56):
I will do what's right for mystudents.
I'll close my door.
Yeah.
it's frustrating when you cansee ways you can help.
But the system isn't gonna allowthat.
and even things like I'm, thisyear I'm, GCSE exam examiner
for, psychology papers.
(23:16):
So for at 16 in this country,when they take their GCSEs, I'm
examining.
I've already started some of thetraining, and I can see how
frustrated I'm gonna get becausethere's things where the
question doesn't ask for aspecific answer, but if students
don't give the answer I wasexpecting it's wrong.
And I'm thinking, How does thatwork for the dyslexic brain they
(23:36):
might come up with somethingamazingly clever.
But different to the examiner,and apparently that's wrong.
I'm gonna have to control myemotions over that But actually
I think it's also gonna help mesee how I can advocate more for
change.
I've been talking about wantingto change exam systems and
getting more involved in that.
I can say, can't we see that?
This isn't fair, this isn'tright.
and that we need to make tweaksor big changes, to our
(23:59):
assessment process in thiscountry Oh, the whole school
thing.
I understand.
Teacher Maggie (24:03):
so much time supporting parents.
I wish I'm inspired by you, Liz.
To be able to get in and do thebig work working with families
is amazing.
It is.
helping the parents see theirchildren for who they are and
the children see themselves andthat is going to have a lifelong
effect on them.
But to get into the policy andthe testing and in the schools
(24:23):
and into the disadvantage
Liz Day (24:25):
It's lovely, but there are times when you feel like
you're traveling backwards, soit comes with its frustrations
even if you are workingindividually, meeting with
like-minded people is importantbecause you can get to the point
where you think.
I've been fighting away at this.
Most of what I've done, I've notbeen paid for because it's just
my passion and what's actuallychanged, and you can feel like
(24:48):
nothing's changed.
And then you meet with otherpeople or hear a little story or
a bit of.
Better knowledge in one schooland you think, yes, it's making
a difference.
There are changes coming aboutand then it pushes you to go
Teacher Maggie (24:59):
Awesome.
Your story is such a gift.
Thank you so much for spendingtime with me.
Thank you.
Doing what you're doing, y'all.
I love what I do and I'm so gladyou do too.
before we go today, thank youfor sharing your heart and your
journey today.
It was so inspiring and you havedone so many grand things and
I'm so excited to do more bigthings.
(25:21):
Are there, opportunities forTTRS to do things in prisons
here or tho those type of, ofoutreaches?
Is that a thing that I can reachout to them and ask nicely and
find a population in need?
Because those are things.
Yeah, like I could have soeasily been in prison or dead.
I had such low self worth as, ayoung high schooler with
(25:43):
dyslexia I just thought I wasgarbage.
I didn't, have any confidence inmyself.
So to reach those people andgive them something'cause I do a
lot where I give people my time,but I only have so much time.
So if I can set someone up.
Yeah.
Liz Day (25:59):
touch and spell, have a scholarship program, so if.
If they need a license forsomeone who can't afford it,
people can apply for ascholarship up and it's paid up
to 90% of the license fee.
that's one of the things thatdrew me to TTRS even more.
And.
(26:19):
Ended up with me working withthem is that values led side of
things.
And yet there are all sorts ofopportunities.
So things like, you know, lookout for places that are teaching
adults to learn because theydidn't learn at school often
because of something likedyslexia.
Those people might findA-T-T-R-S license.
Complete game changer.
Yeah.
Maybe.
(26:40):
We think we've been talking moreabout children using the
program, but we've had peopleinto their eighties using it.
It's for all ages.
We specifically keep it so thatit doesn't seem babyish or
childish.
It's suitable for all ages.
in addition to the main course,there are subjects they can do.
some of those will link toschool learning or if they're
home educated than homelearning.
(27:02):
Other things are more to do withreal life sports and hobbies,
gaming, the Olympics, thingslike that.
definitely think about who youcan introduce TTRS to, and let
them know about the scholarshipthat's available.
It doesn't have to be reallyexpensive.
Teacher Maggie (27:17):
Yeah, that's great.
is there a way that my listenerscan connect with you and learn
more about TTRS?
Liz Day (27:23):
Yes.
the best way to connect with usfor TT RS, I'm just trying to
think now, the website is readand spell.com.
Okay.
Its www read and spell.com.
From there, there's a popup chatthat people can go onto.
We're also on a lot of socialmedia.
I am currently doing a newseries of learning videos that
(27:47):
are going onto YouTube, so.
If you search for us, search forread and spell.
Or touch type, read and spell.
But actually the typing read andspell is the important bit
because our, our website name isread and spell.
And then the actual platform forthe typing is touch type, read
and spell.
Okay.
So you have a search and youwill find us.
(28:09):
and yeah, there's lots of us whoare sort of working alongside
TTRS who are happy to helppeople in different areas.
Teacher Maggie (28:18):
Awesome.
Thank you so much.
Liz Day (28:20):
Thank you.
Teacher Maggie (28:21):
Yeah.
So to my listeners, if you'rewalking with your own dyslexia
journey with your child oryourself, you're not alone.
there are resources available.
So reach out to TTRS.
Go on the website, hit that chatbox.
And, see how they can help youon your journey.
Thanks for tuning in toDyslexia, decoded by strong
(28:41):
minds.
If this episode encouraged you,would you consider sharing it
with a friend or leaving areview?
It helps more families find thehelp they need.
Until next time, I'm teacherMaggie cheering you on as you
guide your child with strength,love, and truth.
Hey there and welcome back to Dyslexia,
decoded by Strong Minds.
This is the podcast where weuncover the strengths of
dyslexic minds and equip parentsand educators with tools to
support and celebrate everylearner I'm your host teacher,
Maggie, and I'm thrilled to bejoined by Liz Day.
spending time with me.
(00:20):
today And she's a fellow mom andan advocate who has walked this
path that a lot of us are on.
So Liz is here to share herstory, one of discovery and
advocacy.
she supports her amazing sonthrough his dyslexic journey.
I think we're gonna find herstory really relatable and
encouraging.
welcome to the podcast, Liz, canyou start off by introducing
(00:43):
yourself and tell me a littleabout where you're from and your
family.
Liz Day (00:48):
Yeah, sure.
So I'm from, the south ofEngland, and, I started my
career as a teacher, becamestrongly involved in making sure
that, everyone had, Theopportunities they should,
right?
From my first teaching job whenI met a gorgeous little dyslexic
boy who cried every night'causehe thought he was stupid.
(01:09):
And I only discovered thisbecause I was telling the
parents at the parents eveninghow amazing he was and how I was
really impressed that he didn'tlet his dyslexia hold back.
And then they explained this tome and I was.
Devastated This boy isn'tstupid.
He needs to know that and therest of the world need to know
it.
So I've been sort of passionateabout dyslexia and other
neurodiversity since then I wenton to have my own delightfully
(01:31):
dyslexic son, and I've alwaysreferred to him as my
delightfully dyslexic son werealized that was probably what
was going on to empower him Ican honestly say he's always
been quite proud to be dyslexic.
We've highlighted the positivesof how he thinks differently
without belittling thedifficulties and challenges it
inevitably brings.
(01:51):
So over the years throughteaching, and I've also worked
in communications and marketing,a lot of my work has been
around.
Advocating and trying to bringabout change and knowledge and
understanding.
And I'm a great position nowwith my son where he's
officially an adult.
he turned 18 in March, and isactually off to university in
(02:14):
September, which at one point wenever thought would be a path
that he would.
Follow, but he's being able todisplay his intelligence in a
way that suits him by choosingthe right kind of options at 16,
and having more practicalcourses rather than lots of
written exams.
So, yeah, it's great.
And actually we've only justaround the time he turned 18,
(02:37):
had the formal diagnosis ofdyslexia because he needs it.
Yeah, ready for university.
up until that point I kind ofknew with all the work I do,
that's what was going on, but wevery much focused on his
strengths and his challenges andusing his strengths to overcome
his challenges, and that seemsto have worked well for him as
(02:59):
an individual and educationally.
Teacher Maggie (03:01):
So I love how you were open with him about
having dyslexia and what itlikely is and this is what it
means.
And I see either way, I seeparents are like, I can't tell
them it needs to be a secret.
And then I see parents that arereally honest there are amazing
strengths and challenges, buteveryone has challenges.
if you can't name them, youcan't do anything about it.
(03:22):
So let's name them
Liz Day (03:22):
I agree with that.
And I've had a lot of, parentstalk to me because they know of
the work I do and things.
And some have been quite angrywhen maybe a teacher, a parent's
evening has suggested that theirchild might be dyslexic.
they said, how dare they saythat in front of them.
I was sort of taken aback tostart with.
I thought, I don't understand.
This is great that the teachersrecognize and they're addressing
(03:44):
it, over time I've understoodhow sort of why people feel
differently, I think a lot of itis misunderstanding and that
kind of terrible idea that I.
To be dyslexic means you're notas intelligent, which is
absolutely nonsense.
you may not look as intelligentwhen you're tested in the same
way as all the standard teststhat aren't designed for a
(04:07):
neurodiverse mind, but it's notabout intelligence at all.
I just think it's so positive,and as you say, it's really
important we all can name ourchallenges, our emotions, and
then address them if we can'tname these things.
We're just confused.
And that's when people startthinking they're stupid.
especially with children who aredyslexic, they tend to know,
(04:29):
it's almost that feeling of Ishould.
Be doing better.
Be doing better.
I should be able to do that.
And I can't know somethingdifferent.
Teacher Maggie (04:37):
They know something's different and, they
don't have the title dyslexia,then they just blame themselves.
I got a letter home inkindergarten.
My teacher is like, there'ssomething going on.
You need to get her checked.
My mom was just offended like,how dare even say that about my
child.
And we just went on with nodiagnosis until I was an adult.
even when I was diagnosed, mymother was like, well, you were
always just lazy.
If you had applied to yourself,you would've done better.
(04:57):
Which I'm doing great in lifenow, so it's fine.
Liz Day (05:00):
And thankfully you've obviously developed resilience.
But the sad thing is it can goone of two ways a lot of people
who could be really successfuland wonderful.
Become successful in the wrongareas of life.
'cause they feel like a failure.
Mm-hmm.
So they kind of go againstsociety.
when we look at prisonpopulations there are a high
percentage who areneurodivergent.
They're also a high percentageof entrepreneurs.
Teacher Maggie (05:22):
my own life got really close to either, I could
have been in prison, I couldhave been dead.
by the grace of God, I made itwhere I am because amazing,
amazing to happen along the waythat I just kept seeing little
glimpses that there was more tome
Liz Day (05:35):
Out my spine actually, because I just think that's my
real passion of, you know,people feeling good about
themselves and knowing they'reworthwhile, and then choosing a
fantastic path of helping othersand teaching others.
as you say, it's such a close.
Call as to which way it couldhave gone.
So yeah, that's really powerful.
Teacher Maggie (05:55):
This is why I love so much.
Why I do, and I'm working withthe families like I work, you
know?
You do too.
Being able to come beside them,not just as someone's gonna
teach your child to read, butsomeone who's going to repaint a
whole new picture, right?
Yes.
Of dys.
Like, I'm so glad there's peoplelike this.
I wanna go back to you knew whatdyslexia was your first year
teaching.
Liz Day (06:14):
that's interesting.
Teacher Maggie (06:15):
they don't train us on that.
Even my first year teaching, Ihad this poor little guy who
wasn't making it, and the schoolpsychologist told me that if
dyslexia was real, it was veryrare,
Liz Day (06:26):
I was lucky.
I've never thought about thatbefore.
that was back in 1999, so quitesome time ago.
it was very briefly mentioned inour training, we had a bit more
on things like visual stress.
and how it can sometimes belinked with dyslexia because one
of our lecturers had a child whohad visual stress.
(06:48):
And that's often how it comesabout, isn't it?
If someone's got a personallink, you get told about it.
If not, you don't find out aboutit.
I guess being a mom makes you anexpert, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then, and so passionateisn't it?
If, if, you know, if you wannahelp your child, you will do
anything.
and then because that firstteaching job, it was actually a
private school and.
(07:09):
Some private schools I'veexperienced have less
understanding and knowledge ofdyslexia.
This particular one, they werefantastic and they had an expert
who came in who actually at thatpoint, very on the quiet because
MPS didn't want to admit to bedyslexic.
She worked with quite a few mpswho were dyslexic.
(07:30):
And she could see the potentialthese people had, and tried to
help them.
she was coming in and workingwith the children and taught me
a lot in a short space of timeand gave me that sort of, yes,
okay.
There are things that can bedone.
ultimately that's me, how I'vealways been, that I will fight
for injustices it just seems sowrong that children could think
(07:52):
they were stupid when they wereabsolutely far from it.
Teacher Maggie (07:55):
Brilliant.
Yes.
Kind of a dyslexic.
Trait too, to like, I want tofix a problem, I want to solve
it.
There's a problem.
I'm gonna just not stop untilit's corrected.
Liz Day (08:05):
I think with me, my mind is more of an A DHD mind
than dyslexic and the same thingI think, and I've only really,
you're in the same familyrealize, and it's kind of that.
Oh, no wonder I've always feltuncomfortable about that kind of
injustice.
'cause actually I had similar ina different way and I had that
constant feeling of I wasn'tachieving what I should do and
(08:27):
there was an element ofembarrass around not getting the
grades I was predicted So yes, Ithink it ties in and there's so
much overlap within.
Neurodivergence.
Yes.
Teacher Maggie (08:36):
thank you so much for sharing all that.
So we often stumble upon toolsthat change everything when you
discovered Orton Gillingham orphonemic awareness I wanted to
talk to you today to see abouthow you heard about touch type,
read, spell, and how that hasimpacted your journey with your
son.
Liz Day (08:55):
Yeah, so it's been a long journey with touch type,
read and spell, originally Ifound out about it as a parent,
trailing through Facebook groupsabout how to help your suspected
dyslexic child.
someone mentioned touch, type,read and spell.
And I have to be entirelyhonest, I kind of ignored the
reading and spelling part.
(09:16):
My son's dad is.
Undiagnosed dyslexic, butdefinitely dyslexic and has
always found he learned to touchtype at school and has always
found that such a useful tool.
Both my son and his dad haveslow processing and typing
really helps them and just beingable to go back over things and
edit.
So I thought, this is great.
(09:37):
It says something about beinghelpful for dyslexics and it's
touch typing, and it'd be greatfor him to touch type.
So it must be about nine yearsago now.
I signed him up and actually atthat point I was teaching
full-time in a school, so hadvery little extra time I
sometimes feel quite guiltybecause I now train other people
(09:57):
in how to support their ownchild or children in school as
to how to use TTRS and all thebest tips and what they can do.
I paid for the subscription.
I paid for it monthly ratherthan saving money and doing
annually.
'cause I thought, oh, it mightnot work.
Or we might not use it for long.
I gave him a reward chart wherehe ticked off three times a
week.
He'd done TTRS and after so manyweeks of that, he could go to
(10:22):
pound land and choose a pound,pound prize.
And that was on with it.
And we did it very slowlybecause anything we did at home.
I wanted to be about fun andenjoyment and the things he
found easier like sport and justhaving a laugh rather than
spending even more time doingthe things that he found hard.
(10:42):
So he just did about 20 minutesa week over three years.
Generally within TTRS, they sayif you spend an hour a week,
you'll complete the main coursein a year.
We just took it at a much slowerpace that worked for him, His
reading and spelling improved somuch that he went from at 11,
transitioning here from primaryto secondary school.
(11:05):
He'd always had a reading agebelow his chronological age.
He started secondary school andhe had a reading age above his
chronological age.
And I just ama and we'd donelittle things along the way,
that I'm sure all added to it.
But for me, I noticed thebiggest difference was touch
type, read and spell.
And because it's constantrepetition.
(11:27):
You see it, you say it, you hearit, you type it, and it's
gradually building up words.
And they're real words.
It's not like other typingprograms where you're typing jk,
jk, jk, jk, and it meansnothing.
it's real words like cat, hat,pat, pit, pot, and that just
really helps with the whole.
(11:49):
Overlearning, I suppose.
one thing I would say, and Ialways say this as a parent and
a teacher, there's never a onesize fits all approach.
Some children and adults won'tenjoy it.
my son was quite happy with astraightforward sort of, I know
what I've gotta do, I'll get onwith it.
Approach.
So we never.
had any problems withencouraging him to do it.
(12:11):
I have known of other childrenwhose parents have had the best
intention of them doing it andit just hasn't worked'cause they
haven't enjoyed that style andobviously that's fine.
you can never get one thingthat's gonna work for everyone.
But for Josh, it really worked,really supported him.
And actually my daughter, who'snearly two years older, probably
(12:32):
isn't dyslexic she has slighttraits and her spelling is.
Terrible.
but she's academically much moreyour typical academic student.
And now her spelling is farworse than his, and I wish we'd
put her through touch type, readspell as well.
By the time I realized she wastyping very quickly the wrong
(12:52):
way and I thought, she's notgonna slow down to go backwards.
So that was my initialintroduction to touch type, read
and spell.
I became head of communicationsat the British Dyslexia
Association.
while I was there, I did a lotof partnership work and touch
type, read and Spell.
Were one of the real, reallystrong supporters of the
Dyslexia Association.
they were amazing father andson.
(13:14):
as the directors the amount oftimes I'd phone them up to help
with charitable things becausewe didn't have the resources to
help.
We had to charge for trainingand things like that.
So I would phone up, the fatherwho was in charge then and say,
look, is there anything you cando?
We've got this school or we'vegot this, homeless center.
I remember one time who haverealized that if they can help
(13:35):
the people coming to them tolearn to read and write better
or type.
They're gonna be able to getjobs, which means they can get
homes and cope in the world.
they would just say to me, giveus their details.
We'll give them a freesubscription.
We'll get someone to go in anddo a talk if need be.
And it was just amazing.
So empowering.
So then fast forward a bit more,and I became a freelancer.
(13:59):
And that was six and a halfyears ago.
ever since then, I've beenworking on a freelance basis for
TTRS in various capacitiesalongside other work that I do.
So I help them on the dyslexia,neurodiversity specialist side,
help on the marketing, theteaching.
I write some of the content.
It's great for me with my A DHDmind,'cause a little bit of
everything.
A little of everything.
(14:19):
I know that.
yeah.
and they're continuallydeveloping.
TTRS keeping the essence of it,keeping that Autumn Gillingham
approach, which is so important.
And then just sort of seeingwhat works and improving on it
and looking at research.
So yeah, I've got sort of quitea long history with TTRS and
it's lovely being able to haveit in different settings.
(14:39):
The other thing is I still tutorand I use it with some of the
children I tutor, so I actuallyteach.
Teacher Maggie (14:45):
you use it while you're tutoring or assign it for
them to do at home?
Liz Day (14:49):
A bit of both.
we have some people who are TTRStutors and they will do full
touch typing sessions, so theirtutoring is all touch typing.
I don't use it like that.
I use it within my tutoringsession.
it may be 10 minutes out of thehour they're typing with me and
then at home they do extra ones.
But so that I can just check howthey're getting on that they're
(15:10):
using their fingers correctly,that ideally they're looking at
the screen.
If there's any extra input Ineed to put in, I will see them
most weeks in the session for 10minutes doing TTRS.
and then they do the rest athome.
and again, that's another thingI love about it, that because
it's online, once they've gotthat subscription, they can use
(15:30):
it from anywhere where they'vegot a connection.
It doesn't have to be loadedonto one computer and then they
can only use it at thatcomputer.
so yeah, it works
Teacher Maggie (15:39):
Very cool.
I love that.
I love how it's blending theping, which is just going to
open doors with the repetitionand the orthographic mapping
that's gonna come with the Yes.
And the reading.
Liz Day (15:48):
You should try it out.
it's that whole idea of musclememory, there is research about
that.
Often people will find it takesup more of their brain space.
And working memory to thinkabout how to form letters when
they're writing them.
Whereas when they're typingthem, it's almost like an
extension of their fingertips.
and we've had people, and one ofour tutors has said this to me,
(16:10):
and then more recently I wasworking with some postgraduate
students who were becomingdyslexia specialists, and they
were using TTRS as part of theirresearch.
And one teacher said.
I was really confused.
I was giving a spelling test tothe class and this one child put
their pencil down and juststarted moving their fingers
around I didn't know what theywere doing.
(16:30):
and then I realized they werethinking about where the keys
were.
On the keyboard and thenfiguring out the spelling.
So it was really amazing to seethat inaction, that idea that's
like a
Teacher Maggie (16:42):
dyslexic group for you we're so special.
Liz Day (16:44):
there's other tutors said she did that and other
tutors have said they've seenstudents do it.
And yeah, it really does helpwith that recall of memory
without having to think aboutrecalling it.
It's much more a naturalprocess.
Teacher Maggie (16:58):
Okay.
I wanna get into some of theadvocacy work you've done.
I got really inspired hearingyou talk about, going to the
homeless shelter or other areasand how you got into the
Dyslexia Association?
The British Dyslexia?
Yeah.
How did you get into all thatand where do you find, need?
I just have a tutoring centerand people come to me sometimes
(17:19):
and I do scholarships based onneed, but it's.
You know, how do you reach morepeople and get, like providing a
resource like this to a largerneed?
Liz Day (17:30):
Yeah.
it's about networking andfinding other people and seeing
what's there.
the job with the BritishDyslexia Association, was my
full-time paid job.
it was because of my backgroundwithin teaching and in marketing
and communications, that I wasable to combine that and.
Offer what they needed for therole, plus my personal interest
(17:50):
in dyslexia, A lot of it hasbeen, I've done it.
For free.
I've done it out of my owninterest.
I've had clients like TTRS whosay, go into the local prison
and see if you can get them totrial, TTRS, because they've got
a shared passion like me fortrying to help everyone and for
making it accessible toeveryone.
(18:10):
a lot of what I've done isthrough networking with other
people, throughout the communityFor me now, it's wider than
dyslexia.
It's the neurodivergentcommunity.
I'm part of a group of fivepeople who have recently, where
we're literally in the stages ofsetting up.
We're gonna stay as fiveindividuals working on our own
projects.
We're gonna work together onthings like papers about
(18:31):
neurodiversity, the state ofneurodiversity, and talking at,
conferences as a panel.
we are all quite different inwhat we've done and what we're
doing now.
when we met up, we realizedevery one of us was a teacher at
one point.
I think it's fair to say all ofus are neurodivergent in
different ways.
So yeah, it's just gettinginvolved with people and seeing
(18:53):
how you can help.
we've all said recently howempowering it is.
'cause sometimes it's easy tolose that fight and fire to
change things and make thingsbetter when it's just you.
Doing your thing and you think,well, no one else is listening.
it's only those few people I'mworking with.
And it's so important toremember, even if it is just a
few people that's making adifference.
(19:14):
hopefully they will then go onto help others and share
understanding.
when you meet with others, itkind of ignites that fire again
You are ready to keep going.
I still do some work for DTRS,but instead of just doing all
freelance projects now foreveryone I've launched, my own
community interest company.
it's a not-for-profit calledcollectively diverse.
(19:35):
Which offers training tocommunities, sports clubs,
schools, businesses, aboutNeuroD diversities to really
keep sharing that message.
so I'm going into rugby clubsand organizations to say, look,
this is what it means.
if we don't understand.
Everyone thinks differently andfor some people that environment
is really hard, so we have tomake adaptations.
Teacher Maggie (19:57):
gonna
Liz Day (19:57):
lose people
Teacher Maggie (19:58):
like from sport and neuro divergence is
everywhere.
if dyslexia is like one in fiveand then you add in autism and
ADHD and all the other thingsthat people could be working
with.
We're missing on so much ifwe're not.
Liz Day (20:11):
I've had an ongoing conversation on LinkedIn about
neurodiversity and what itactually means and how actually
we are all NeuroD diverse in thesame way as biodiversity means.
All the different living thingsin a certain area that work
together, that isneurodiversity.
Now those of us who areneurodivergent have something
(20:32):
like a DHD or dyslexia, butwe're all neurodiverse.
We all think differently andit's so important we understand
that.
Work together on things insteadof kind of battling with, well,
why do they need thatadjustment?
It's just because they're lazy,or they're this or that.
They've just got to get used tothe noise or they've got to get,
and actually when we think ofthings that we really dislike,
(20:54):
we can't just get over it.
And just slight tweaks toenvironments can make a huge
difference.
And the thing I've always triedto get across in everything I do
is.
Particularly in a sort of,initially, in a teaching
situation, but now also in theworkplace that whatever you do
is actually not gonnadisadvantage anyone.
It's likely to help everybody,whether they're neurotypical or
(21:17):
neurodivergent, and itdefinitely helps the people who
you want to have everyone'sbenefiting.
it's kind of a no brainer.
Teacher Maggie (21:24):
It took me three years of teaching before I even
knew what dyslexia was.
But then once I learned and Iwas able to start, learning
about different curriculums andthings I can add to the class to
help the dyslexic students, Iwas like, this will just help
everyone.
one will learn better this way.
Liz Day (21:39):
a science test, the night bulb moment of like, hang
on, I get it.
I've worked with teachers whoare so bogged down with
paperwork, everything that goeswith it that they think I can't
take on.
One more thing, I can't changemy practice.
the importance of that.
Teaching teachers aboutdyslexia.
if it was in every singleteacher training course, right
(22:01):
from the beginning, and adyslexia or neurodivergent
friendly style of teaching wasjust the norm, it wouldn't
suddenly be I've gotta changeeverything I do.
It's like people wouldn't evenknow that they're using a style
You're diverse, friendly, that'sjust what they do.
Normal
Teacher Maggie (22:17):
Yeah.
I wish I had known early.
it's so hard as a teacher tohelp these students learn and
progress and grow.
And every year there's a handfulof students you just can't reach
no matter what you do.
I was driving myself crazy like,what's happening?
when you finally find whatworks, it's years too late for
some of these students.
Liz Day (22:33):
So you really need to get
Teacher Maggie (22:34):
into the education of teachers.
Liz Day (22:36):
And in a school situation, you are battling
against education systems thatset up for a typical student
that doesn't exist.
so you're not always allowed tohave the flexibility of like,
actually I wanna do thiscompletely different.
And you might have a year leaderor someone above you saying,
well, no, that's not how we doit here.
(22:56):
I will do what's right for mystudents.
I'll close my door.
Yeah.
it's frustrating when you cansee ways you can help.
But the system isn't gonna allowthat.
and even things like I'm, thisyear I'm, GCSE exam examiner
for, psychology papers.
(23:16):
So for at 16 in this country,when they take their GCSEs, I'm
examining.
I've already started some of thetraining, and I can see how
frustrated I'm gonna get becausethere's things where the
question doesn't ask for aspecific answer, but if students
don't give the answer I wasexpecting it's wrong.
And I'm thinking, How does thatwork for the dyslexic brain they
(23:36):
might come up with somethingamazingly clever.
But different to the examiner,and apparently that's wrong.
I'm gonna have to control myemotions over that But actually
I think it's also gonna help mesee how I can advocate more for
change.
I've been talking about wantingto change exam systems and
getting more involved in that.
I can say, can't we see that?
This isn't fair, this isn'tright.
and that we need to make tweaksor big changes, to our
(23:59):
assessment process in thiscountry Oh, the whole school
thing.
I understand.
Teacher Maggie (24:03):
so much time supporting parents.
I wish I'm inspired by you, Liz.
To be able to get in and do thebig work working with families
is amazing.
It is.
helping the parents see theirchildren for who they are and
the children see themselves andthat is going to have a lifelong
effect on them.
But to get into the policy andthe testing and in the schools
(24:23):
and into the disadvantage
Liz Day (24:25):
It's lovely, but there are times when you feel like
you're traveling backwards, soit comes with its frustrations
even if you are workingindividually, meeting with
like-minded people is importantbecause you can get to the point
where you think.
I've been fighting away at this.
Most of what I've done, I've notbeen paid for because it's just
my passion and what's actuallychanged, and you can feel like
(24:48):
nothing's changed.
And then you meet with otherpeople or hear a little story or
a bit of.
Better knowledge in one schooland you think, yes, it's making
a difference.
There are changes coming aboutand then it pushes you to go
Teacher Maggie (24:59):
Awesome.
Your story is such a gift.
Thank you so much for spendingtime with me.
Thank you.
Doing what you're doing, y'all.
I love what I do and I'm so gladyou do too.
before we go today, thank youfor sharing your heart and your
journey today.
It was so inspiring and you havedone so many grand things and
I'm so excited to do more bigthings.
(25:21):
Are there, opportunities forTTRS to do things in prisons
here or tho those type of, ofoutreaches?
Is that a thing that I can reachout to them and ask nicely and
find a population in need?
Because those are things.
Yeah, like I could have soeasily been in prison or dead.
I had such low self worth as, ayoung high schooler with
(25:43):
dyslexia I just thought I wasgarbage.
I didn't, have any confidence inmyself.
So to reach those people andgive them something'cause I do a
lot where I give people my time,but I only have so much time.
So if I can set someone up.
Yeah.
Liz Day (25:59):
touch and spell, have a scholarship program, so if.
If they need a license forsomeone who can't afford it,
people can apply for ascholarship up and it's paid up
to 90% of the license fee.
that's one of the things thatdrew me to TTRS even more.
And.
(26:19):
Ended up with me working withthem is that values led side of
things.
And yet there are all sorts ofopportunities.
So things like, you know, lookout for places that are teaching
adults to learn because theydidn't learn at school often
because of something likedyslexia.
Those people might findA-T-T-R-S license.
Complete game changer.
Yeah.
Maybe.
(26:40):
We think we've been talking moreabout children using the
program, but we've had peopleinto their eighties using it.
It's for all ages.
We specifically keep it so thatit doesn't seem babyish or
childish.
It's suitable for all ages.
in addition to the main course,there are subjects they can do.
some of those will link toschool learning or if they're
home educated than homelearning.
(27:02):
Other things are more to do withreal life sports and hobbies,
gaming, the Olympics, thingslike that.
definitely think about who youcan introduce TTRS to, and let
them know about the scholarshipthat's available.
It doesn't have to be reallyexpensive.
Teacher Maggie (27:17):
Yeah, that's great.
is there a way that my listenerscan connect with you and learn
more about TTRS?
Liz Day (27:23):
Yes.
the best way to connect with usfor TT RS, I'm just trying to
think now, the website is readand spell.com.
Okay.
Its www read and spell.com.
From there, there's a popup chatthat people can go onto.
We're also on a lot of socialmedia.
I am currently doing a newseries of learning videos that
(27:47):
are going onto YouTube, so.
If you search for us, search forread and spell.
Or touch type, read and spell.
But actually the typing read andspell is the important bit
because our, our website name isread and spell.
And then the actual platform forthe typing is touch type, read
and spell.
Okay.
So you have a search and youwill find us.
(28:09):
and yeah, there's lots of us whoare sort of working alongside
TTRS who are happy to helppeople in different areas.
Teacher Maggie (28:18):
Awesome.
Thank you so much.
Liz Day (28:20):
Thank you.
Teacher Maggie (28:21):
Yeah.
So to my listeners, if you'rewalking with your own dyslexia
journey with your child oryourself, you're not alone.
there are resources available.
So reach out to TTRS.
Go on the website, hit that chatbox.
And, see how they can help youon your journey.
Thanks for tuning in toDyslexia, decoded by strong
(28:41):
minds.
If this episode encouraged you,would you consider sharing it
with a friend or leaving areview?
It helps more families find thehelp they need.
Until next time, I'm teacherMaggie cheering you on as you
guide your child with strength,love, and truth.
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