My SLCN CIC : Where Differences are Strengths and Every Child Belongs
Dyslexia Baby: Every child deserves the chance to read and spell with ease without losing their identity or the strengths often associated with being neurodivergent. Through early screening to identify learning needs and targeted teaching that matches how each child learns best, we are re-routing literacy learning difficulties before they start school. The Dyslexia Baby Project celebrates linguistic and neurodiversity and champions true acceptance of uniqueness and inclusion.
By re-routing dyslexia, we are not taking away the strengths. We are removing the difficulties by embracing learning differences. Prevention is key. We take care of the roots, so barriers to learning never take hold. This is how we avoid the dyslexia paradox. Get involved with the Dyslexia Baby Project and let's celebrate linguistic and neurodiversity!
We screen babies and toddlers to identify children at risk of reading difficulties before formal instruction begins. We’ve set up a CIC to offer this service free to parents and to scale it nationally. Children do not need to be speaking, and no letters are involved.
Early screening is critical because failure, frustration, and long-term harm often stem from being taught in ways that do not align with how a child learns. One-size-fits-all synthetic phonics programmes can cause harm to many children.
Through a unique innovation shaped by neurodivergent thinking, we prevent reading and spelling difficulties before they begin. This empowers children to enjoy their natural ways of thinking and learning, without being trapped in a system that fails to support them, and then punishes them for difficulties that were entirely avoidable.
Let’s avoid the dyslexia paradox.
Dyslexia Baby: Dyslexia Re-Routed
Where differences are strengths and every child belongs
Emma Hartnell-Baker MEd SEN
The Neurodivergent Reading Whisperer.
Director of The Reading Hut Ltd and My SLCN CIC
I am now back in the UK and undertaking doctoral research, following ten years of supporting whole-school literacy improvement in Australia
Launching this weekend for children: The Speech Sound Dictionary – Word Mapping Mastery!
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"Word Mapping Mastery: real phonics knowledge, for neurodivergent minds, not just the GPCs a programme covers."
Emma Hartnell-Baker, The Neurodivergent Reading Whisperer®