On the 31st of January 2022, SWD is getting all creative -with a art and comic book workshop from Rossie Stone, the creator of Dekko Comics!
Rossie is dyslexic, and after finding education a struggle sometimes due to his literacy differences, found his passion in creating art that helps people out when it comes to learning. He founded Dekko Comics to turn the school learning experience – which is still quite often characterised by a reliance on text-based media – into something fun. Dekko are experts at creating engaging comic book stories that help people with dyslexia and literacy differences to take in information in a way that’s easier to read, and adds an element of excitement to proceedings that traditional learning texts often lack. You can find out more about his story (in comic form, of course) at Understood.org!
Rossie has won a number of awards such as the Young Edge Award and scoring wins at the SME Business Awards, and has been nominated at many more such as a National Diversity Award and a Dyslexia Awareness Award. He’s also been features on BBC News at STV, as well as done three TEDX talks – all of which was to spread the dream of making education accessible and fun for all, and leave behind the idea that people who are neurodiverse are less intelligent than others.
Dekko comics are on a mission to take wordy information )be it school-related or otherwise) into engaging comic narratives. They understand that words are just one of many ways that we can all choose to communicate, and they believe that it’s old-fashioned and unfair to expect everybody to learn the same way and be good at the same skills. By turning maths, literacy, science and more into comic panels, images and design can support the text elements of the page and make the information easier to understand and take in. They use visuals and take care to break up information into speech bubbles and panels, as well a using narrative to create natural landmarks in the body of the information, and put neurodiversity at the heart of the work that they create.
And in our little slice of festive fun, Rossie will be taking to the sketchbook for SWD in an afternoon of art and design that’s guaranteed to keep even the little ones who are excited for Santa’s imminent arrival entertained! Joining us on Facebook Live, he’ll be taking viewers through his story and explaining just why he does what he does, before launching into an arts and crafts workshop that’s set to be fun for all the family. So grab some snacks, some pals, and some paper – it’s all set to be the event of the season, and we’re looking forward to seeing you all.
You can find out more by joining our event on Facebook - it's going to be a good'un!