Understanding and Accommodating Dyslexia in Schools

Dyslexia is one of the most common forms of neurodiversity, yet it remains one of the most misunderstood. This practical and engaging workshop will help you understand how dyslexia affects learning, why it can present so differently from one learner to another, and what simple changes can make a profound difference in the classroom. Through real-world examples, lived experience, and evidence-informed strategies, you’ll leave with greater confidence, practical tools, and fresh insights to help every learner feel understood, included, and able to thrive.

Discover how dyslexia presents in diverse learners, what it feels like to experience school with dyslexia, and practical ways to boost confidence, belonging and achievement.

Find out about the importance of understanding and accommodating dyslexia within teaching and learning, and how to apply adaptive approaches and strategies to support all your students. Every student is unique, but for our dyslexic learners, the traditional school environment can present significant challenges. Understanding and supporting dyslexia – a lifelong difference which can present in a number of different and sometimes unexpected ways – can be transformative in reducing barriers to learning, unlocking the door to success, and creating a sense of belonging for all students.

In this workshop you will learn:

• how dyslexia presents differently in different learners
• how to identify the common indicators
• how common dyslexia is
• how it can feel to have dyslexia in school environments
• how to better connect with dyslexic learners
• some practical strategies which are easy to apply in your own context to better support your students
• reduce some of the stresses that can accompany teaching this diverse yet often misunderstood student demographic

  You will be introduced to key concepts of dyslexia and how to support learners to cultivate confidence by recognising diverse strengths, extend engagement through inclusive teaching practices, optimise environments for different learning styles, maximise potential by adapting to individual needs, and reinforce belonging for all students.

  Whether you’re a teacher, TA, school leader, or SENDCO in all phases you’ll leave with actionable insights to reduce stress, adapt to different learning needs, and help every student thrive.

About the facilitator | Dr Martin Bloomfield

Martin has worked in the field of neurodiversity for over twenty years, helping organisations and educators create more inclusive environments. He received a British Council Commendation for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and co-founded the National Dyslexia in Business Awards with the UK’s National Federation of Enterprise Agencies. An experienced trainer, teacher trainer, and international keynote speaker, Martin has delivered talks and workshops in India, Singapore, Dubai, Qatar, Ghana, and across Europe. Alongside this, he is editor-in-chief of the neurodiversity-focused academic journal NeuroConverse, and serves as a Trustee of the charity the Accessible Learning Foundation.

Accessing the online event

Following registration for this event you will receive an email from Eventbrite confirming your place. If you do not receive the email within a few minutes, please check your junk or spam folders and check that the correct email address was provided at the time of booking. If you did not create an account at the time of booking or someone else booked on your behalf, you will need to create an Eventbrite account. Open your booking confirmation email, select ‘Claim Your Order’ and then choose a password. Make a note of your email address that was used to make the booking and your new password – you will need these to access the Eventbrite page containing the link to the event.

A minimum of 48 hours before the event begins you will receive another email from Eventbrite containing a direct link to the event and to the Eventbrite Online Event page. Login to Eventbrite, using the same email and password you used to create your account. You will now have access to the online event link and any pre-event materials. This link must not be shared with other people.

Please test the link the day before the event to make sure you can connect. If you need help please email info@otsa.org.uk or call 01865 647999 in good time before the event begins. We will be unable to help during the event itself. Please note, if you unsubscribe from Eventbrite before the event takes place you will not receive any further emails from Eventbrite and therefore will not receive the email with the link to the event.

We do not provide refunds if you are unable to access the event due to technical issues that are beyond our control.

Participation in online events

In all cases, at the beginning of the session to confirm your identity please ensure that your camera is on, your username matches the name you registered with and that you register in ‘chat’ with your first name, second name and organisation. This is for security and registration purposes and we may remove, without refunds, participants who have not confirmed their identity as described above.

Our online events aim to be interactive and at times you may be expected to have your camera and microphone on during the session, although usually your microphone should be muted.

We may use ‘Raised Hands’, ‘Reactions’, ‘Chat’, ‘Polls’, shared whiteboards and shared screens during the session. We may also use ‘Breakout Rooms’ to allow you to work in a smaller group.

This event will not be recorded for copyright and privacy reasons.

Payment

Payment is required at the time of booking by credit card, debit card or Paypal. Unless otherwise stated, a ticket gives admission to one person at face-to-face and online events. In the event that you share an online event link with other people who then attend the event, including sharing your screen, or you arrive at a venue without a ticket and we are able to admit you, we will invoice you or your organisation for additional tickets retrospectively.

Refunds

No refunds will be given with less than 30 days notice.

In the event of a refund request, please note that the Eventbrite booking fee of 6.95% plus 0.59p per ticket is not refundable.

To keep our event fees as low as possible, we are not able to issue invoices for payment by cheque or bank transfer and we are not able to reserve places without payment.

We strongly recommend that you take out ‘event ticket insurance’ which may cover the cost of your fee should you be unable to attend the event.

Technical difficulties

Should an online session encounter any technical difficulties we will do our best to continue with the session, this may be on a different online platform. In the event that we are unable to do this we will rearrange the session, if you are unable to attend the new date a full refund will be given.

Restriction on AI and Automated Participation

Our online training sessions are designed for human participants only. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) bots, automated systems, or any non-human entities to attend, participate in, or interact with the training content is strictly prohibited. We reserve the right to remove any unauthorised participants and take appropriate action if this policy is violated.