Dyslexia at Oxford is a visual film and photography project in conversation with students, alumni, staff, tutors, researchers at both The University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University and members of the local community about dyslexia, exploring the strengths and challenges of having a different brain wiring. Grounded in human storytelling, threads from conversations with speakers are woven together to generate a sense of both shared and diverging experiences, a network of neurodivergent people in one city.

‘Oxford’ has an international reach, and the city provides a clear contradiction to the false narrative that dyslexia & dyslexic traits = dumb. Many of the stories point to a structural lack of inclusion in education and access to information about dyslexia and neurodiversity more widely. Visible conversations around neurodiversity create the opportunity for learn and be empowered by different ways of thinking, creating moments of recognition and opportunities to share strategies when facing challenges. This project celebrates our different ways of thinking, the stronger teams that can be created and the benefit to society if difference is valued, supported and seen as part of what makes us human.

The project takes the form of an extended video conversation with 21 speakers, alongside a series of portraits, and short texts about the speakers.

If you would like to bring this project into a local community space, school or workplace to help widen the conversation, contact dyslexiatoxford@gmail.com