Global Social Leaders Podcast

#7: Dilara Isik - Democratizing education for students with dyslexia

January 08, 2021 Global Social Leaders Episode 7
Global Social Leaders Podcast
#7: Dilara Isik - Democratizing education for students with dyslexia
Show Notes

Dilara, the founder of team DySlexia, a team of 3 young girls who are dedicated to eliminating special learning disparities in education and promoting social and economic inclusion for all irrespective of learning difficulties.

They achieve this by building upgrade education tools that are dyslexia sensitive and by providing inclusive and effective learning environments for dyslexic children.

In order to achieve this goal faster, they are closely partnering with NGOs such as Turkish Dyslexia Foundation.

Find our more about the project:

Introduction from our guests:

At least 1 in 10 people are dyslexic. Dyslexic brains are ‘wired’ slightly differently, having a different way of processing, causing challenges in reading, writing, spelling, rote learning, memory and concentration. 98% say teachers need more training in how to support dyslexia. 

We had been volunteering at Turkish Dyslexia Foundation for over three years. Çınar, one of our most creative and intelligent students, had to leave 1st grade and start school again because his teachers and parents did not have the resources or training to help him. Unfortunately, without the proper support, confidence and love of learning of a struggling student with dyslexia like Çınar can fade. Thus, in order to empower millions of children with dyslexia around the world like Çınar to excel in their academic journey, we got involved in the GSL movement. In our project, to raise awareness and provide tools to meet the special education needs of Dyslexic children, we facilitated and organized workshops, seminars, and conferences. 

We hosted academicians, psychologists, special education teachers, pedagogues, and language therapists. In collaboration with universities, municipalities, special education centres, schools and Turkish Dyslexia Foundation, we reached out to 3200 parents and teachers all around Turkey.

With Covid-19 pandemic, we shifted our focus to technological tools to equip dyslexic children globally and remotely. Currently, we are developing a mobile app to effectively teach letters to dyslexic children by creating graphic awareness due to our special illustrations of letters and continuing to organize seminars online. 

We launched a series of online trainings this week, and in our first three live broadcasting events, we were able to reach to 250 participants. We will continue to democratize education so that every dyslexic child is understood and given the right support to reach their brilliant potential.