History
The Alan McDowell Foundation was established in 2013 to recognise and carry forward the work Alan instigated within the adult dyslexic population. His dying wish was that funds and support should be made available to give adult dyslexic entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop and run their own businesses.
Alan McDowell was from the UK and had thirty years’ experience in senior management with major international hotel companies, including the Savoy in London. At forty-nine years of age he was diagnosed as dyslexic and, finding there was a lack of support available to adult dyslexics, he started the very first Adult Dyslexic Group in the United Kingdom. You can read about his beliefs and values below in his own words – Dyslexia: One Man’s Story. He wanted these to be applied within the self-employed as well as the employed workplace.
Alan became a champion for changing people’s perceptions about dyslexia and became a board member of the British Dyslexia Association, also chairing the BDA’s Association Board overseeing 130 associations. He was part of the organising committee of the International Dyslexia Conference which brought together 1200 delegates from 47 countries. Alan also acted as an advisor to the British Government on Dyslexia and lectured at universities throughout Europe.
Alan established and ran Fulcrum Dyslexia Awareness Ltd for 15 years. He and his team delivered Dyslexia Awareness Training programmes to major companies, government agencies, commercial and statutory bodies throughout the UK and mainland Europe. Clients included Cadbury, IBM, HSBC, Land Rover, British Telecom and Unilever.
One to one training and development programmes were also provided for individuals within these companies identified as having dyslexia, to help them to address self-esteem and confidence issues.
Alan was keen to spread his message to as many people as possible and was proud to become involved with Dyslexia Victoria Online in Canada. Here he worked with the founders to create presentations and workshops for teachers, tutors and parents of Dyslexic children, life skills workshops for Dyslexic adults and training for Dyslexic employees and their employers focusing on Dyslexia awareness and accommodations for Dyslexics in the work place.
Since being diagnosed Alan’s mission was to change the balance and perception of how Dyslexia is perceived from being a negative to a positive attribute. He advocated the following:
Understanding Those With Dyslexia
- Dyslexics think in a totally different way - in thoughts and pictures, not words.
- Identify a single Learning Style for recall.
- Dyslexics are very fast learners and thinkers.
- Remember that it is their speed of thought (fast) which affects concentration and focusing.
- Establish that their sight and hearing are good.
- Do not use medical terminology for dyslexia, as it compounds their notions of failure.
- Help establish their abilities, not difficulties.
Some Positive Attributes of People With Dyslexia
- Excellent overview capabilities.
- Speed of thought.
- Multiple perceptions.
- Excellent intuitive skills.
- Good inter- and intra-personal skills.
- Excellent supervisory and management material.
- Excellent teachers and trainers.
- Very good problem solvers.
