The Non-Reading Festival – the biggest event of October, Dyslexia Awareness Month.
Now in its fourth year, the festival is growing. This year, the Lithuanian Dyslexia Association is joining the Lithuanian Audiosensory Library (LAB) as a festival organiser, taking the event beyond the traditional conference format. The festival will spread throughout the Ąžuolynas Library, with a variety of activities taking place simultaneously in different spaces.
This year’s programme is built around four main strands. One focuses on talks and discussions relevant to parents, educators and anyone working with children with dyslexia. This part of the programme will be moderated by Aistė Plaipaitė, a journalist and news anchor at Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT).
Another strand will focus on the experiences of people with dyslexia themselves. Sociologist Paulius Godvadas will moderate conversations with professionals from a range of fields, who will share their personal stories and talk about how dyslexia and reading difficulties have not prevented them from pursuing successful careers in robotics, pharmacy, education and other fields.
The third strand consists of practical sessions for educators. Participants will gain practical skills that can be useful in their everyday work with students with dyslexia – from adapting learning materials to using practical technological solutions. For example, participants will learn how to convert a Word document into EPUB format, making learning content more convenient and accessible for students with different needs.
The fourth strand is dedicated to children, with educational activities and creative workshops.
Nessy team members to join the festival
One of the highlights of this year’s festival will be the arrival of Mike Jones and Tiffany James from the United Kingdom. Nessy is a UK-founded organisation that develops learning resources and programmes for children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties. Mike Jones is Nessy’s founder, while Tiffany James is the organisation’s Director of Education Development.
Their visit is no coincidence: the festival will host the Lithuanian-language premiere of the film “Mical”. Based on Mike Jones’s life story, the film tells the story of his childhood and his experience of growing up with dyslexia.
The festival will also feature the launch of Tiffany James’s book “What I Need”, published in Lithuanian as “Suprask mane”. The book was translated into Lithuanian by the Lithuanian Audiosensory Library this year and will arrive at the festival fresh from the printing press.
It is this book and its central message that inspired this year’s festival theme – “Understand Me”. The theme invites us to see dyslexia not as an obstacle, but as a different way of reading, learning and experiencing the world. Above all, it is about listening to and understanding people who live with dyslexia every day.
For more information and the full festival programme, visit neskaitymofestivalis.lt.