Derry Girls actor opens up about his struggles with dyslexia

To mark Dyslexia Awareness Month (October 2022), global assistive technology company, Texthelp has partnered with TV actor, Dylan Llewellyn, to raise awareness of the challenges faced by those with literacy struggles.

Best known for his role as James in Derry Girls, Dylan struggles with dyslexia and says that everyday tasks can be difficult for him. 

He said: “Being severely dyslexic meant I found school challenging and was often behind with my classwork. 

"I struggled at mainstream school but as soon as I went to a specialist school it did help me grow in confidence and develop learning techniques.”

“Acting with dyslexia has thrown up some challenges, for example, if I have to learn a script quickly then this can be difficult to do. 

"Reading and writing is a part of everyone’s lives, so it’s important that there is support for everybody, not just pupils with dyslexia who attend a specialist school.

"I'm working with Texthelp to raise awareness of its campaign 'Words Can't Hold Us Back' which aims to reveal the literacy challenges people in the UK face day to day."

Global assistive technology company, Texthelp, has unveiled new research highlighting the scale and impact that literacy challenges are having on the UK population including Northern Ireland.

The survey is part of their campaign titled “Words Can’t Hold Us Back” and aims to raise awareness of the extent of literacy challenges in the UK.

Over a third (39%) of those in Northern Ireland have admitted to having reading, writing, grammar, comprehension and spelling difficulties.

27% of Northern Irish people said that they find it difficult understanding terms and conditions of applications and contracts. Over a quarter (29%) also admit to finding it difficult reading and filling out lengthy forms, such as medical, insurance or travel forms.  

For people in Northern Ireland who find at least one of these everyday situations difficult the most common feeling they experience is frustration. Over half (56%) admitted to feeling frustrated when they experience difficulties reading and filling out lengthy forms.
 
Martin McKay, Founder and CEO at Texthelp said: “ By carrying out this research, we have found out more about how adults in the UK including Northern Ireland feel about literacy challenges. 

"We have learned how these barriers impact people every day. We are continuing to provide new products in education and will ensure words won’t hold people back. We are helping in both education and in the workplace. We are committed to helping everyone understand and be understood by providing a suite of literacy and numeracy tools to more people across the globe.”

To find out more about Texthelp please visit https://text.help/literacy