In this episode of the Dyslexia Life Hacks Show, host Matthew Head announces taking a pause in the podcast's regular schedule as he takes a break to recharge and focus on personal goals. Since launching in June 2021, the podcast has released over 100 episodes, featuring a diverse range of guests, from politicians to educators and advocates within the dyslexia community. Matthew discusses the decision to step back from the podcast for a while, highlighting the mental load of researching, scheduli...
Mar 26, 2025•4 min
What if school was a place where dyslexic students felt understood, supported, and empowered to thrive? In this special 100th episode, Matt sits down with Michelle Catterson , a leading voice in dyslexia education and advocacy. As the Executive Headteacher of Moon Hall School , Michelle has spent the last seven years transforming the school, growing student numbers from 85 to 200, and leading it to national recognition for specialist provision and personal development. Beyond her role in educati...
Mar 12, 2025•46 min•Ep. 100
How do you turn your personal journey with dyslexia into a thriving business and social media platform? In this episode, I sit down with Jo Rees, dyslexia advocate, keynote speaker, and social media educator, to talk about how her TikTok explosion led to the evolution of her business. Jo shares the story behind her brand transformation, from Another Way Round Dyslexia Support to Dyslexic Life with Jo Rees, and how she is now dividing her work between two ventures—one focused on education and adv...
Feb 26, 2025•53 min•Ep. 99
How do you create an education that truly works for neurodivergent learners? In this episode, Matthew sits down with Jenny Sandler, a specialist teacher and consultant supporting children with dyslexia, autism, and ADHD. Jenny’s journey is anything but conventional, she started in children’s educational television at BBC, then moved into classroom teaching, and eventually transitioned into homeschooling and private consultancy. Matthew and Jenny discuss how home education can be a life-changing ...
Feb 12, 2025•46 min•Ep. 98
Did you know that up to 40% of children in the US struggle with reading by the fourth grade? In the UK, that's the same as years 4-5 in Primary School! In this episode, Matthew Head sits down with Dr. David Hurford, a research scientist, professor at Pittsburgh State University, and founder of CARRD, a non-profit dedicated to helping people with dyslexia become confident readers. Dr. Hurford shares his personal journey from aspiring astronomer to leading expert in developmental psychology, where...
Jan 29, 2025•51 min•Ep. 97
Ever felt overwhelmed trying to find the right assistive technology for your needs or those of someone you care about? The world of AT can be a maze of options, often leaving people unsure where to begin or what solutions are available. In this episode Matthew Head sits down with Lauren Jeffery, Business Development Manager for AT Superstore , a centralised online marketplace for all your assistive technology (AT) needs. This conversation blends Lauren’s passion for neurodiversity, her experienc...
Jan 15, 2025•41 min•Ep. 96
In this special year-end episode, host Matthew Head takes listeners on a reflective journey through the standout moments and stories from 2024 . From CEOs and MPs to former Olympians and tech innovators, Matthew revisits conversations with guests who brought diverse experiences of living with dyslexia. The episode highlights powerful narratives of discovery, resilience, and success—many guests shared how dyslexia shaped their lives, careers, and identities. Matt Hancock MP recounted his Oxford U...
Jan 01, 2025•33 min•Ep. 95
“I’ve been juggling work, creativity, and burnout in 2024…” For the final episode of 2024, Matthew Head invites you into his personal journey—a year of juggling work, creativity, and burnout, and the lessons he learned to regain balance. It’s early 2024, Matthew is working full-time as a lead engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, where his days are filled with designing complex prototypes for concept cars. Passionate and driven, he spends his mornings at the computer editing podcasts in his pajamas, re...
Dec 18, 2024•24 min•Ep. 94
Do people with dyslexia make the best storytellers? There are many strengths which come with dyslexia. One of the more common strengths is our ability to effectively communicate and our typical way of doing that is through the medium of storytelling. Storytelling might come in the form of explaining complex concepts at work, or in the form of telling a joke to friends. Many people with dyslexia take storytelling to the next level by applying it to writing a book. There are many famous dyslexic a...
Dec 04, 2024•40 min•Ep. 93
Could this be the ‘cure’ for Dyslexia? Do you know what is going on inside your dyslexic brain? Until you listen to this episode… you have no clue! In this episode Matthew Head meets with the brilliant Dr. Robert Melillo from New York, USA as they discuss how understanding the brain’s neuroanatomy and how if is different in dyslexic brains from neurotypical brains, is the key to understanding how to get the most out of our brains and practically eliminate the challenges of dyslexia whilst keep a...
Nov 20, 2024•54 min•Ep. 92
What if it was possible to beat dyslexia? Maybe Neuro Linguistic Programming can help? In this episode, host Matthew Head sits down with Lou Barnes as they explore how Lou’s experience as a teacher led her to seeking alternative ways to help children (and adults) with dyslexia. As a primary school teacher for 20 years, Lou loved teaching, being in a classroom, and watching children flourish. However, Lou always met children who simply couldn't get to grips with reading, writing and spelling bran...
Nov 06, 2024•49 min•Ep. 91
“Life was dance, and dance was life…” Telling your story of life with dyslexia isn't always expressed through the written word. Our guest in this episode, Aakash Odedra, shares his experience of the challenges with dyslexia through dance. In Aakash’s currently touring production ‘Little Murmur’, he shares his story of never fitting in at school, being cast aside by teachers and being moved from school to school, never finding his feet and never getting the support with the challenges of dyslexia...
Oct 23, 2024•39 min•Ep. 90
35% of entrepreneurs have dyslexia. Up to 50% of people in prison have dyslexia. It's clear that, for people with Dyslexia, the path between success and ending up on the wrong side of the law can be narrow. So what's different between these groups of people and what's the thing that sets them head on the right path? For entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author, Jamie Waller, it all comes down to the support from people in your early years of your life. Jamie is a serial entrepreneur and the auth...
Oct 09, 2024•46 min•Ep. 89
If you're an adult just having been diagnosed with dyslexia, if you're a parent whose child has been diagnosed with dyslexia, there is often a lot of confusion and questions that need answers. It can also feel so isolated and lonely. Where do you turn? How do you know the advice you're getting is legitimate? Who can you trust to talk to to seek answers? Our Guest in this episode of the podcast is that person who, as a person with dyslexia, has seen it all. He was written off at school and at wor...
Sep 25, 2024•38 min•Ep. 88
7 Marathons, 7 Continents, in 7 Days! This is the World Marathon Challenge, the ultimate endurance running competition! Our guest in this episode, Jared Blank, shares with us his amazing journey with dyslexia and how running became his outlet for escaping and coping with the stress and challenges from dyslexia at school and college. Jared completed the World Marathon Challenge in aid of raising awareness and money for Dyslexia charities. What goes into preparing for the ultimate running challeng...
Sep 11, 2024•41 min•Ep. 87
Have you ever been on a ‘digital detox’? Do you think you could do it? Would you know what to do? Well, in this episode of the podcast, Host Matthew Head is joined by Neil Jones, a coach from Lincoln, UK. Neil has had a varied career over his life and has spent some of that living abroad in Switzerland. Throughout Neil’s career, Neil has become specialised in Mental Health, and more so Mental Fitness, describing mental fitness as something you do with intention so that you don’t have to treat th...
Aug 28, 2024•51 min•Ep. 86
“I’ve been helped and supported so much through my life, I want to give and help as much as I can to give back.” We’re going to share with you a story of a person who is so incredibly willing to want to help others with so much drive, enthusiasm, empathy and passion it is infectious. This story is about Akua. Akua is a Senior EUC Engineer at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and whilst she is a very accomplished Engineer, this is just one of the many things that Akua does and is involved in...
Aug 14, 2024•44 min•Ep. 85
Meet Roxanne Varzi, an Anthropologist, Artist, writer, Professor, filmmaker, playwright, and this episode's guest on the Dyslexia Life Hacks Show! Roxanne's interest in anthropology started when she wanted to study something that would pay and still allow her to enjoy her passion for writing. What she found was that she had this huge passion for people and what made people tick. Now a professor in Anthropology, Roxanne shares her passion with her students. Alongside being a full time Anthropolog...
Jul 31, 2024•47 min•Ep. 84
In this episode of the podcast, we’re talking again about Assistive Technology, this time about mind mapping and how it can help people with dyslexia organise and make sense of all the ideas flowing through their heads. People with dyslexia typically have lots of great ideas and can sometimes link seemingly unconnected topics or themes to one another. The challenge that we face is getting those ideas down in a coherent way which makes sense. Mind mapping those ideas can help get those thoughts d...
Jul 17, 2024•49 min•Ep. 83
If you’re a person with dyslexia and had assistive technology you will have had at some point a scan pen. In this episode we meet the Founder and CEO of Scanning pens and Empowering Technology Group , Jack Churchill OBE. Jack’s story is not unlike most people’s stories who have dyslexia. During the school years, Jack felt that dyslexia was holding him back from keeping up with his peers. It was a relief when, at 14 Years Old, Jack got assessed and diagnosed with Dyslexia so that he could access ...
Jul 03, 2024•58 min•Ep. 82
There’s no Money in the NHS for Adult ADHD! These are the words which our guest, Sarah Templeton, heard for NHS GPs time and time again before having to go private to prove that she did in fact have ADHD! That diagnosis of ADHD then kicked off the diagnosis of other conditions for Sarah, such as Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and sensory processing disorder! And all this in her 50’s! Looking back, Sarah shares with us that the turning point in her life was when the un-diagnosed ADHD and Dyscalculia chan...
Jun 19, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 81
This story starts when I turned 18 years old, it was 2002, I was riding a Honda - CB400 Super 4, mid-length hair, at College doing Automotive Engineering, and Dyslexia was not something I talked about. At this point in my life career advisors would push university on you. But I WAS DONE! I poured everything I had into my College course. And this is where I took my life in a Direction I didn't think I would (or could). I started working as a mechanic servicing Trucks for Volo and as time ticked b...
Jun 05, 2024•34 min•Ep. 80
What's the BIGGEST misconception about Dyslexia? People with Dyslexia can’t learn to read or write. Well in this episode of the Podcast, we hear from Kait Feriante from Chicago to share with us why she is on a mission to help everyone struggling with literacy realise their potential and grow confidence to achieve their dreams and aspirations. Growing up in Albania and travelling the world with her parents, Kait was exposed to a wide variety of different educational models from country to country...
May 22, 2024•48 min•Ep. 79
When Emily Gee became that student at school who was left behind and forgotten, it was hard to see where she fitted into the world. Always having that sense at school that something wasn’t quite right when struggling with common challenges of dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia. Emily always found comfort and confidence in the performing arts. Being a talented performer, Emliy found her place in the world, and whilst she would always struggle with the challenges which come from dyslexia, dyscalc...
May 08, 2024•50 min•Ep. 78
When a life changing moment spawned a desire to understand herself more and figure out why she struggled with spelling and reading, our guest in this episode, Usha Patel, put aside all her years of training and experience as an Architect, and retrained as a Neurocognitive Therapist. After setting up her own therapy practice in London in 2008, Usha has helped countless children and parents with dyslexia, dyspraxia, and ADHD. Because everyone is different and each brain works differently, Usha int...
Apr 24, 2024•47 min•Ep. 77
What is it like working in the government? What is it like working in the front bench of the government? What is it like leading a major government department through a deadly pandemic? What is it like doing all that, with Dyslexia? Well, that was the job of the well known and proud dyslexic, Matt Hancock. Most people in the UK will know Matt Hancock as the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and he became a very familiar face during the COVID -19 pandemic. What most people may not kno...
Apr 10, 2024•52 min•Ep. 76
Do you find that, because of your dyslexia, you are interested in loads of different things which seemingly don't go together!? Our host is an Automotive Engineer turned Dyslexic Podcaster, not an obvious link. Well, this is the theme of this podcast. This is a truly amazing life story of navigating dyslexia, travelling around Europe, writing, teaching and Eating Psychology Coaching! In this episode we meet an amazing person, Kathy Elkind! Kathy has lived a full and exciting life all while navig...
Mar 27, 2024•43 min•Ep. 75
When Nathan was diagnosed with dyslexia at 35, he couldn’t believe that this is what he had battelling with all through school and university and then in the workplace. And then finally with the diagnosis of dyslexia was able to access the support needed to thrive in work. Later, Nathan set-up as a coach to help others with neurodiveristies like dyslexia and ADHD so that they too can thrive in the workplace. In this episode of the podcast, Nathan shares with Matthew Head his journey with Dyslexi...
Mar 13, 2024•44 min•Ep. 74
What is Dyscalculia? Dyscalculia is a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics. It will be unexpected in relation to age, level of education and experience and occurs across all ages and abilities. ( BDA Guidance on Dyscalculia ) In this episode of the podcast, Matt Head speaks with the founder of the Dyslexia Show, Arran Smith ahead of the 2024 event which brings Dyscalculia into the show to help raise awarene...
Feb 28, 2024•53 min•Ep. 73
It's a topic not often talked about, the pressure fathers feel to be both successful at work or as an entrepreneur AND be a great dad. For fathers, it can often feel like you get pulled in opposite directions by others but also by themselves to want to be a great dad and a successful career. Historically, fathers have been the bread winners whose role it is to financially support their family by bringing in a secure income to protect the family. Today it is also common that fathers should (and w...
Feb 14, 2024•57 min•Ep. 72
