Dr Louise Tondeur grew up in Dorset and went on to study

for a degree in Drama at the University of East Anglia. She

became a Drama teacher before returning to UEA to do the

MA in Creative Writing. She is now a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Roehampton University.

Louise has published two novels: The Water's Edge, and The

Haven Home for Delinquent Girls, both with Review, several

short stories and some poetry, as well as a journal articles on

Drama in Education and a textbook called Drama for Students

with Special Needs (First and Best).

Louise contributed to the first collection of essays on body

hair: Women and Body Hair: The Last Taboo, Karin Lesnick-

Oberstein ed (2007). Her research interests include writing

the novel and short fiction, community theatre, women's

history, queer and feminist theory, and cultural

interpretation of the body. Louise was recently made a

Roehampton Teaching Fellow and is working on a Mind

Mapping project.

Qona Rankin, is a graduate of Kingston and the RCA. Having worked; as a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, and a self-employed jeweller, she retrained in 1997 in Adult Dyslexia Support, and in 2002 became the Dyslexia Co-ordinator at the Royal College of Art, where she continues to work. Qona  practices as a jeweller and is an active researcher, regularly contributing to conferences and publications.

Arnaud Touanga, aka Real A, is a nineteen year old rapper who lives in Glasgow. Originally from Congo, Arnaud was forced to leave his home as a young boy because of war and eventually ended up in Glasgow as an asylum seeker. He has faced many obstacles, amongst them his brother death as a soldier, and his move to Sighthill, Glasgow, where he faced growing up as a youngster in a poor and alien community surrounded by drugs, violence and racism.

At school Arnaud found it difficult to fit in and to keep up with his school work, until one day, at the age of 12, it was discovered that he was dyslexic. Around the same time Arnaud began rapping. Hip Hop offered him a way to communicate with other people and express his emotions in a creative and positive way.

Colette Lilley

Is an exhibiting artist and  animator who is interested in adult dyslexia.

Colette Lilley is a recent graduate of Loughborough University, with a Master in Art and Design.

She chose to use the Master to explore the creative side to her Dyslexic and raise awareness of personal issues (the animations are early example of this).

Through this process she discovered that labelling, even if positive, was limiting in her approach, and with the attitudes of other people.

she decided to concentrate upon exploring her creativity. “I want to explore who I am not what I am.”

This did not change her stance upon Dyslexia, and is still an underlying theme, but more successfully shows her point of view, that it is just one of the many aspects to her personality.

This approach allowed her to embrace her difficulties, finding her own personal creative way to work with them and import them into her art. 

She believes for her it is about finding a balance.

Lauren Avery practises as a Freelance Specialist supporting students with SpLD and Dyslexia in Higher Education.

Lauren has a holistic approach to teaching. She supports the ability and strengths of the student using visual thinking techniques that assist students to achieve their potential and enjoy their learning experience.

She is keen on promoting the importance of alternative methods being allowed for students with dyslexia for assessment,

Her film A Visual Dissertation highlights the experiences of supporting a student with dyslexia through an alternative dissertation model - a visual one.

Lennie Varvarides “Coming from a visual art and theatre background, my stories are often mixed up and the styles are quite confused. Once upon a time, this was frustrating.

I don’t like rules, and after spending a few years living and working in New York City–writing, directing and producing my own work–I realised that I don’t need to follow anyone else’s. The old saying, ‘build it and they will come’ motivated me to set up Missfit Productions, with the help of some very good mates. I like people, so email me if you have an idea or want to partner up on a project.”

An interview with Lennie Varvarides about Dyssing Monadys on 101.8 WCRFM

Link; making theatre work

Mike Juggins is a Devon based community artist, film-maker and painter. He has BA Honours: Fine Art in Context from the University of the West of England (1999) and has lectured, shown films and exhibited across the UK and Internationally.

Much of Mikes work has focused on promoting greater understanding and appreciation of dyslexia. To view his work, please follow this link:www.mikejuggins.co.uk