Holy Family SNS, Swords, Co. Dublin 

Jodie Byrne has developed Dyslexic Lens, an animated tool that allows users to experience the different visual distortions that many people with dyslexia experience when trying to read. She developed this tool based on research she undertook with children aged 9–13 with dyslexia who attend a specialist Reading School.

Through animation, the Dyslexic Lens tool allows non-dyslexic people to experience first-hand the incredible challenge that reading can be for people with dyslexia. Jodie visited our school in February 2026 and presented her project to our two specialist Reading Classes and their teachers, along with our SEN support team and teachers in our school who have dyslexia themselves.

Jodie is an excellent presenter. She is an advocate for people with dyslexia and encourages children to use their voices to explain their experiences of dyslexia and to ask for the support they need. Her Dyslexic Lens tool opened up conversations about people's individual and unique experiences of how dyslexia affects them. For many of the children, the tool validated the distortions they have been experiencing when they read and helped them recognise that people with dyslexia can experience multiple distortions in unique combinations. One of our dyslexic teachers said that she felt seen as a result of the tool.

Dyslexic Lens will benefit teachers by helping them understand first-hand the effects of visual distortions that a child with dyslexia may experience while reading. It will benefit parents and guardians by enabling children to show them what they experience when reading. It will also validate the unique experiences of children with dyslexia and give them the confidence to speak up.

We look forward to seeing how Jodie develops this tool in the future and wish her every success.

— Principal, Geraldine Gowen