June 2023

Happy month of June! 

We are in the midsummer month of June ! Everything is still so lush and green, even my veggie seeds are forging ahead!

FUNDRAISING:

We at The Whole Dyslexic Society are also forging ahead with our Bursary Capital Fund goal … more applications to foundations for grants are on their way, and we are investigating the world of legacy giving. Some of you know that T.J. Firenze kindly volunteers her time to help you apply for the Disability Tax Credit; well her husband, Carmelo, was kind enough to talk to us about Legacy Giving and we would like to make a list of financial planners and estate lawyers who would be willing to offer our cause to their clients.

SO please… if you know of someone just email us?  Thank you ! info@thewds.org

ICE CREAM FUNDRAISER:

Ice Cream goes hand in hand with summer, right ? Well…next month we plan to announce a competition centred on ice cream flavours… so get those taste buds honed into a new flavour you would love to enjoy, with maybe a quirky dyslexic title … ?  more soon !

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Julie Brewer discovered this award … the deadline is very soon, June 9, sorry for the short notice… we have so many students to be proud of! To read more and nominate HERE

Come to The Dyslexic Table Live Chat

Sharon Roberts has penned another excellent article for us - this month it is 'Resilience - What’s Change Got To Do With It?'.
We will be talking about this at our next Come to the Dyslexic Table Live Chat on Tuesday August 1st at 4.30pm (Pacific Time). To read more and RSVP visit our page HERE.

Resilience - What’s Change Got to Do With It?Sharon Roberts, Davis Dyslexia Correction Facilitator, Kitchener, ON

Good mental health is often linked to being resilient.  Resiliency is the ability to bounce back from difficult life experiences or challenges, otherwise known as change. The idea of change is something that is often unwelcome by many experiencing dyslexia. Change simply means ‘something becoming something else’ and can be found in both the external and inner worlds. Knowing the difference is the key. Experts believe that resiliency is a taught skill requiring qualities such as confidence, competence, and control.

Some of these qualities can be absent in a dyslexic’s repertoire. The gift of altering your perceptions readily, without the ability to control when needed, undermines one’s confidence as mistakes are a common occurrence. Dyslexia isn’t just a reading problem; it can affect how we follow instructions and conversations and getting along with others. These misperceptions undermine our confidence and competence and without tools to control our imaginations, we can easily let our minds wander to a place filled with anxiety and /or depression. This can be even more magnified because we have that ability to experience our imagination as reality. Meanwhile this ability helps us in other areas such as creative endeavors or sports but is detrimental to bouncing back from unexpected changes.

Confusion is commonplace with a dyslexic person, so structure provides a sense of security or grounding. Changes in their orderliness of environment such as furniture rearrangement, moving households, scheduling changes, feeling rushed or any kind of loss or strife will further lower their threshold of confusion.  This is why parents often see emotional outbursts associated with change in their dyslexic child. Being able to “roll with the punches” is a great life skill and a Davis concept program tailored to this need can provide someone with tools to manage themselves while facing a change.

These concepts, often meaningless to a picture thinker, are necessary to acquire some of the ingredients for resiliency such as: viewing change as a challenge or opportunity, relying on past successes, seeing their choices, having patience, confidence, and competence. This helps one adapt to change and become more resilient.

In addition, the Davis Method offers tools to relax and control the perceptual abilities when needed.  In addition, we model the concepts of change, consequence, time, sequence and order, to place these abstract concepts into the real world. It goes beyond memorization or understanding.

Ron Davis’s book, The Gift of Dyslexia, says “When someone masters something, it becomes a part of that person. It becomes part of the individual’s thought and creative process. It adds the quality of its essence to all subsequent thought and creativity of the individual”

For example, riding a bike involves more than understanding. It’s the experience of riding it that provides the mastery. The same principle applies to mastering these concepts. Mastery inputs the meaning in a concrete way and provides the experience to fall back upon. Repeated experiences using and applying these tools builds confidence to manage changes and increase resilience. Life is unpredictable and riding the wave makes those ups and downs more manageable.

Sharon Roberts, Davis Facilitator, Ontario https://dyslexia.ca/

EXCELLENT ARTICLE – ‘Dyslexia and Reading Science’ - as always from Abigail Marshall, DDAI Webmaster. Read article HERE.

CALENDAR

We thought you might like to see what we are up to:

June 7th - Laura attends CRA webinar

June 10 – Nadine is hosting her students to a pottery class !

June 22nd - Laura attends Grant Connect Webinar

August 1 - Live Chat – Resilience: What’s Change Got to Do With it?

We have #1 Time Blindness and #2 The Invisible Dyslexic Podbean, Spotify & YouTube

September 19,26, October 3,10,17,24 Why Ty Parent Support Course – Online live with Sue Hall

In the Fall – Nadine is hosting an Improv Class with Theatre Sports – unlocking more creative potential !

November 9-12 - DDAI Conference - San Francisco - Sue has been invited to be part of a non-profit session.

Nadine and Sue continue to offer the Why Ty Parent Support Courses.

For more information click on the button below. View a parent’s testimonial on our YouTube Channel HERE.

WE’VE GONE INTERNATIONAL !  The Kakamega Project.

The WDS & The Kakamega Project team are on a mission ! To provide effective dyslexia education training to developing remedial tutors and supporting parents in Kakamega County, Kenya. We are very excited and honoured to be part of this initiative and look forward to telling you how it is unfolding. Visit our Campaign page HERE.

Nadine Schumont from Picture Perfect Learning Solutions in Stratford, Ontario is happy to announce the release of her new “Neurodiversity" T-shirts and merchandise.

With every t-shirt sold, $5 will be donated to the Whole Dyslexic Society to use towards the many services offered. Click this LINK to see, and buy her exciting products.

Our Giving Guide: 

Picture Perfect Learning Solutions Neurodiversity Shirts & Merchandise. Nadine Schumont has create a line of shirts and merchandise celebrating neurodiversity. You can view the range of styles and the image on the back through her store. For every shirt sold Nadine is donating $5.00 to The Whole Dyslexic Society. Check out her shop page HERE.

Purchase our Gifted with Dyslexia Pins.  Purchase our Pins Here

TruEarth Eco-Friendly Laundry Soap and Products.  20% of all sales go to our Society.  Please follow the link to our Tru-Earth product page to purchase.  Tru-Earth Eco-Friendly Products Here

Donate a Car Canada. Looking for simple and free car removal? Donate a Car Canada accepts Vehicle Donations for The Whole Dyslexic Society. When you donate your car, truck, RV, boat, or motorcycle to The Whole Dyslexic Society through Donate A Car Canada, it will either be recycled or sold at auction (depending on its condition, age and location). Read more about Donate a Car Canada…….

See how donations can result in tax credits by reading the article below. Read More…Tax Benefits of Charitable Donations

Partial proceeds go to The WDS from sales and rentals of Ed Roman’s highly acclaimed “Red Omen” video. For more information on renting or buying Red Omen click here 

We gratefully accept donations through our Canada helps charity page. We have a variety of donor options. Thank you !

Canada Helps - General Fund 

Canada Helps Tribute - Donate in honour of or in memory of a loved one.  

Canada Helps Securities - A donation of securities or mutual funds is the most efficient way to give charitably. Since capital gains taxes don't apply, our charity receives the full fair market value when the security is sold, and you get a tax receipt which reflects your larger contribution. This allows you to give more and get more. TO READ MORE ABOUT DONATING SECURITIES OR MUTUAL FUNDS CLICK HERE

We are a registered charity with the PayPal Giving Fund. You can donate to our organization using your PayPal account with no fees. Thank you ! PayPal Giving Fund