Letter an insight onliving with dyslexia

A Rockingham boy captured the heart of a well-known author when he put pencil to paper to explain to others what it is like to live with dyslexia.

Kieran Chard won the Make it a Red Letter Day competition, which was organised to help raise awareness and influence change.

It was judged by fellow dyslexic Jackie French, who chose his letter as the winner in his category.

“My mum told me about it and I thought it was a cool idea,” Kieran said.

“I did a lot of planning, which helped me, and I brainstormed some ideas and then wrote my letter.

“I am really excited and proud to have won — I never thought my letter would get picked.

“My letter was sent to the principal of my new high school and he has sent copies of my letter to all of the teachers at the school, so I hope it will help lots of other dyslexic children too.”

The 11-year-old attends Makybe Rise Primary School and is part of the Rockingham Stingrays swimming team.

Kieran’s mother, Emma Chard, said it was great to see his pride when he won and of the response he had had since winning the competition.

“We were absolutely amazed, really pleased and proud for him,” she said.

“He’s never really had any recognition for things he’s done at school, so it’s really amazing to see how happy and confident he was.

“It was the longest piece of writing he has ever tackled. I felt there were some real positives with his letter — it’s good that he can start to see the good things about being dyslexic.”

Kieran won a C-Pen Scanning and Reading Pen and a specialised piece of software for dyslexics from Ghotit.