OU celebrates Dyslexia Awareness Week

Posted on 8 October 2025 • Childhood, Education, Education, languages and health, University news

To mark Dyslexia Awareness Week 2025, the OU has launched a collection of online resources to help people better understand the learning difference.

Dyslexia is a neurodivergent condition affecting over 10% of the population. It is often linked to reading and writing challenges, but also gives rise to strengths like creativity and problem-solving.

Drawing on the wealth of expertise from across the university, there are a range of resources to explore:

• Hear from students and academics sharing their lived experience and expert knowledge.
• Find out more about the support available to dyslexic students.
• Explore free courses on understanding dyslexia and the powers of dyslexic thinking.
• Discover how you can study education with the OU.

Also available is a brand new course Understanding Dyslexia, that has launched on the free learning site OpenLearn, giving learners the opportunity to learn more about different perspectives on dyslexia and strategies for professional and educational contexts.

Jon Rainford, Senior Lecturer in Childhood and Youth, who was the academic consultant for the 2025 OU/BBC co-production Inside Our Dyslexic Minds, helped create some of the resources on the site. He said:

“It has been a pleasure to draw on my professional experience and research to highlight how the OU supports dyslexic students. It was the care and skills of OU tutors and Student Support Teams in identifying and supporting my dyslexia as a student that helped me get to where I am today.”

To discover more visit: The Open University | Courses and Qualifications