About us

Background
Patron
Board Members
Scientific Advisory Committee
The Dyslexia Consultancy e-Team
Research award
Sponsors and Supporters

 

Background

Dyslexia International (formerly Dyslexia International – Tools and Technologies), a non-profit organisation, was registered in Belgium in 2000. The Association works with leading experts to create and promote tools and technologies that enable dyslexic learners to succeed.

Now as an NGO in operational relations with UNESCO, the organisation’s main focus is to share knowledge globally to promote equal opportunities for people who struggle with reading and writing.

From our Statutes

Excerpts from our statutes

(translated from the French)

Article 3
The Association intends to conceive, adapt, develop, produce, promote and distribute - either singly, in partnership or by sub-contracting - tools, methodologies and technologies designed to enhance, directly or indirectly, the learning, development and social integration of children and young adults confronted by the specific learning disabilities associated with dyslexia …

Article 8
The scientific advisory committee is nominated by the general assembly. It is specifically composed of reputable individuals with teaching, research or practical experience in the field of dyslexia. The role of the scientific advisory is to give, at the request of the directors of the association, written opinions on the tools, methodologies and technologies.

 

Patron

Her Royal Highness Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein

 

Board Members

The Board of Directors represents a panel of experts: educationalists, psychologists, academics and researchers, teacher trainers, community leaders and technological and business professionals.

At local level, a team of high-calibre professionals give their time and skills voluntarily.


Executive Members

  
Judith Sanson educationalist (Executive Director)
Hugh Terlinden business executive (Treasurer)
Petra Zollner policy manager (Secretary to the Board)
Laurence Alexander Moffett business consultant, D.I. regional ambassador, Europe
Catie Thorburn publisher, consultant
Minos Van Joolingen lawyer
   

Honorary Board Members
Ronald Baker founder member and consultant
Gabriel Bara computer scientist and linguist
Sarah Castle consultant in reproductive health
Pauline Cogan special education consultant
Diane de Mas Latrie counsellor
Barbara Del Arbol parent representative
Cecila Gonzalez Spanish-speaking regional ambassador
Karen Hiddink business consultant
Jacqueline Johnston development executive, UK media projects
Carol MacCarthy founder member DYSPEL, Luxembourg
Jipson Mathew business consultant
Dr. Duncan Milne consultant, author, researcher
Adelaide Mkhonza education consultant, regional ambassador
Gunilla Löfgren Nisser consultant, researcher and teacher
Daniel Ofori educationalist, regional ambassador
Donald Schloss Adult Dyslexia Organisation, UK
Elizabeth Scott Vice-President of the Association for Children with Autism
Dr Ian Smythe expert, researcher, World Dyslexia Network Foundation
Regional ambassadors Dyslexia International has designated respresentatives in the Republic of Cameroon, Canada, China, Europe, Ghana, India, Kenya, Kuwait, the Middle East, Lebanon, Peru and Spanish speaking countries, Swaziland, Uganda and the US.
 

Scientific Advisory Committee
(Disclaimer: Dyslexia International is not responsible for the content of external internet sites)
Professor Dirk Bakker Professor Emeritus of the Free University of Amsterdam,
neuropsychology
Professor Ludo Beheydt Université Catholique de Louvain, Dutch linguistics
Dr Maria Luisa Lorusso Universities of Pavia and Milan; developmental neuropsychology and dyslexia. Institute / Family support group
Professor José Moraïs Université Libre de Bruxelles, L'Observatoire National de la Lecture, France; cognitive neuroscience and teaching of reading
Dr Franck Ramus Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique, Department of Cognitive Studies, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
Professor Linda Siegel University of British Columbia, Professor of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education
Professor John Stein (Chair) University of Oxford, neurophysiology and dyslexia
This Committee heads the Dyslexia Consultancy e-Team, specifically formed for our programme in support of the UN Literacy Decade.
 

The Dyslexia Consultancy e-Team
This is a team of researchers, teachers and parents who agree to:

a) collaborate in putting position papers to UNESCO on dyslexia (coordinated through the Dyslexia International office)

b) act as consultants in their own right
Dr Steve Chinn Expert in dyslexia and dyscalculia
Anny Cooreman Teacher and adviser to the Flemish Belgian Ministry of Education
Dr Felicity Fletcher-Campbell Director of the Professional Studies in Education Programme in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at the Open University, UK
Sue Flohr Expert, and Helpline Manager at the British Dyslexia Association (BDA)
Professor Pol Ghesquiere University of Leuven, Centre for Disability, Special Needs Education and Child Care
Dr Vincent Goetry Researcher in psycholinguistics; course director for Dyslexia International’s Online learning
Melanie Jameson Dyslexia expert and legal adviser; adviser to DANDA (Developmental Adult Neuro-Diversity Association)
SR Michael Kalmár Educational language pathologist, Vienna Language Therapy School, senior academy lecturer, Österreichischer Bundesverband Legasthenie (Austrian Federal Dyslexia Association), President of the European Dyslexia Association (EDA)
Paula Morais ICT and e-Inclusion
Jennifer Owen Adams Education Director, British Dyslexia Association
Professor Constantine Porpodas University of Patras; Director, Research and Diagnostic Unit of Dyslexia, Reading and Spelling, Greece
Dr. Gavin Reid Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Edinburgh
Johan Schepens Teacher, Belgium
Dr. Chris Singleton Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Hull University
Judith Stansfield Special Education ICT Consultant
Anne Sheddick Dyslexia Action, Head of Training
Eiko Todo Founder of the Japan Dyslexia Association, EDGE
Susan van Alsenoy Educationalist; Chair, Educational Support Committee
Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas (FAWCO)
Marion Walker Author, trainer and teacher, promoting a structured multi-sensory language programme, using coping strategies, including awareness and self-confidence, and developing life skills
Professor Heinz Wimmer University of Salzburg; developmental psychology, neurocognitive research
Supported by these Dyslexia International Honorary Board Members :
Gabriel Bara Computer scientist and linguist
Pauline Cogan Consultant in diagnosis and teaching of dyslexic learners
Gunilla Löfgren Nisser Dyslexia specialist in research, diagnosis and teaching
Dr. Duncan Milne Educational Neuropsychologist; Director of Tools for Literacy, Dyslexia International
Judith Sanson Executive Director, Dyslexia International; teacher, advocate for people with learning
Donald Schloss Chief Executive, Adult Dyslexia Association
Dr Ian Smythe Dyslexia Consultant in different languages and cultures

 

Research Award

Every two years, on the recommendation of the AGM, an award is offered to an individual contributing to the understanding of dyslexia or remediation of its effects.

More...

The Marcelle Napier Research Award

EUR 5.000 (£ 3.000)

As well as some individual scholarships, awards for excellence in research into understanding and coping with dyslexia were given to:

2007 - Dr Vincent Goetry for the distance learning course on teaching dyslexic children, organized by Dyslexia Action, UK

2005 - Dr. Daniel Ofori, Accra University, Ghana, for fact-finding and final report on special education and e-learning in Africa, following first e-Learning in Africa Conference, Addis Ababa, 2006

2003 - DITT Board Members allocated this year's prize money to 'The Mystery of the Lost Letters' CD-Rom project.

2001 - Dr Hugo Maes, Catholic University, Leuven – vision and learning difficulties

 

Sponsors and Supporters

Dyslexia International warmly thanks all its partners, sponsors and supporters for their vital support which has enabled our projects to flourish.