October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. In honor of that, a couple of non-profits teamed up to simulate what people with the learning disability go through.
Dyslexia Action Group of Naperville and Everyone Reading Illinois hosted their event at the 95th Street Library, which around 70 community members attended.
What Was The Event Like?
They participated in 10-15 minute activities that simulated what it is like to have dyslexia.
“Each station has some type of purposeful limitation,” explained Jenine Hanson, a board member at Dyslexia Action Group of Naperville. “So maybe there’s code you have to decode, or maybe you have to write something with your non-dominant hand while looking in a mirror to simulate what it would be like to have something called dysgraphia.”
More About The Event
They also participated in math, reading, and writing simulations. The seven stations were run by ERI members who purposefully made the activities more stressful.
“Some people want to quit doing it because the task becomes very difficult and very hard, and they feel very frustrated,” said Jennifer Zvi, a board member at ERI. “And these individuals who are going through these simulations only have to do it between 10-15 minutes, can you imagine a student who has to do it all day and five hours in a school situation?”
The event wrapped up with a community members expressing what they felt during the simulation and a Q&A.
Naperville News 17’s Christian Canizal reports.
