‘The power of dyslexic thinking’ art and craft festival on 15 Oct.

‘The power of dyslexic thinking’, an art and craft exhibition and festival, will be held on 15 October from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Cinnamon Lakeside.

The main sponsor for the exhibition is Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts and the exhibition is organised by Nhance Recruitment and The Winning underdogs.

The main goal is to provide an opportunity for children with dyslexia to showcase their creativity and talents and help develop their confidence and self-esteem.

Via the exhibition and festival for children between the ages 5 to 19, organisers hope to create awareness regarding dyslexia in the community.

According to published global research, dyslexia can affect between 5% and 20% of a population. It is a learning disability that may cause reading difficulties. Children with dyslexia can face many learning challenges due to their difficulties in reading. Often these children fall behind their peers in school, especially in traditional textbook based and examination-oriented education systems. Unless they are given proper guidance and intervention, the entire learning process of these children will be hindered.

But children with dyslexia are extremely creative and intelligent. They are out of the box thinkers and game changers. LinkedIn also has recognised the potential in people with dyslexia by adding dyslexic thinking to their skill list.

But sadly, due to their academic struggle, these children often get labelled as lazy, foolish, stupid or worse. Due to their struggle children with learning disabilities can also develop behavioural problems.

And often their true potential and skills never gets discovered because they are never given an opportunity. Often parents are also scared to accept their child may have a learning disability due to the social stigma. This can lead to the child always being considered incapable, but if recognised accepted and given proper support and accommodation dyslexic children can thrive and be successful in their own way.

Parents are encouraged to let go of their fear and see that dyslexia is not a barrier to success, if we accept and provide the correct guidance and support to children.

“We hope to create a platform for these youngsters who are talented in their own unique way but don’t often get opportunities to explore their skills. We want to create a positive outlook in our society and most importantly among parents and other children,” Nelum Wijayasekara said.

“This event will not only showcase their artistic and creative talents but also give an opportunity to meet with fellow dyslexic thinkers. Also, to create an understanding that they are not alone and that there are others who face the same struggle and also learn from each other. The parents will also have any opportunity to meet other parents with children who have dyslexia so that they can help and support each other,” she added.

Registrations for the exhibition and festival entries are accepted until 2 October. Organisers will also reach out personally to each registered participant to provide them guidance and support on how to submit the exhibits. Parents who wish to register their children can visit the Google sheet using the following link: https://forms.gle/1wf32WGsyFviTyo18 or visit the Facebook page: “The Power of Dyslexic Thinking” and use the registration link available to register.

On the day of the exhibition, there will be exciting activities including storytelling and games.

“We invite all parents with children who have dyslexia or have a reading difficulty to join us and take part in the exhibition and help their children to become successful by accepting them and supporting them,” Wijayasekara said.

“We also invite all parents who may have doubts or concerns with regard to their child who is a slow leaner or having difficulty in reading to come on the day of the exhibition. We will have a dedicated corner for parents to meet professionals. We have also made arrangements with the support of Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts our main sponsors to provide a private and confidential space for parents to meet and have an initial discussion with professionals who can guide them,” she added.