Tabla de contenidos para January 2026 en Dystinct Magazine

Hello to the Dystinct Magazine Community! We felt very special to be chosen for the role of Junior Editors. Without this opportunity, we would have not known the amount of work that goes into creating one edition. We loved being able to tell people that we were Junior Editors and communicating with extraordinary people. The biggest challenge was trying to gather articles and photos while everyone was on holiday. We have added a new experience for Dystinct readers by bringing back some past contributors and getting an update on how they have been going since their last contribution. We hope you enjoy hearing their updates. A great experience for us was getting to know Chloe Jackson and hearing about her journey developing the Pride of Neurodiversity tartan. We have Scottish…

Simon da Roza is a passionate educator with over 33 years of experience and is the principal consultant of Exceptional Learners. He supports disengaged, marginalised and neurodivergent children, as well as the families, teachers and communities around them. Flynn and Ava Eldridge speak with Simon about his journey in education, his lived experience of neurodivergence, and his strengths-based approach to inclusive learning. They explore how connection, curiosity and fun can help all children thrive. Ava: Tell us about your business I worked with the Department of Education for a number of years. I learned that neurodivergent kids weren’t really being supported in the way I think they should have been supported. Over the years, I’d learned lots of practical tricks and hacks from having neurodivergent children and from teaching in…

“You dont have to ‌FOLLOW‌ society’s ‌EXPECTATIONS ‌to be ‌SUCCESSFUL”‌ If you’d told 15-year-old me that one day I’d be a best selling author, I probably would have thought you were insane. The 15-year-old who hasn’t read a book in years, barely passes English exams, has the reading comprehension of a primary schooler, doesn’t understand punctuation and grammar, and loses interest in tasks that take too long, will one day be an author with 3 books before the age of 30? Yeah right! But here I am, an unlikely author, living in a world where, frankly, I am not qualified to be. I am 26 years old. I was diagnosed autistic at 21, ADHD at 22, and dyslexic at 25. In between all of that, I also found out I…

Junior Editor, Journalist & Illustrator Ava Eldridge Age 12 Dyslexia & ADHD NSW, Australia Ava loves art, animals, cooking, her family, playing the piano, and she really enjoys reading! Ava embraces her dyslexia strengths, such as her amazing long-term memory and her empathy for others. Junior Editor & Journalist Flynn Eldridge Age 14 Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and ADHD inattentive NSW, Australia Flynn finds reporting fun, even though it sometimes takes him outside his comfort zone. He has always loved Lego and builds a wide range of creations. More recently, Flynn has expanded his innovation into wood and metal. He also enjoys sketching and photography, and uses complex coding to bring his creations to life.…

I’ve been pretty busy since I last spoke with Dystinct Magazine, but the highlight has undoubtedly been a project that is very close to my heart and close to the heart of the message my wife Fernette and I have been sharing for decades. We made a movie! It’s called The Dyslexic Advantage, and creating it has been a labor of love, a journey of discovery, and a reaffirmation of everything we believe about the incredible potential of the dyslexic mind. Why a Movie? Why Now? For over twenty years, Fernette and I have worked with thousands of dyslexic individuals. We wrote our book, The Dyslexic Advantage, because we kept seeing a disconnect. The traditional story of dyslexia was about problems, about what people couldn’t do. It was a story…

In my 28 years working with students (as a classroom teacher, head of learning support in a secondary school, and as a specialist working one-on-one with adolescents experiencing language and literacy difficulties), I've learnt to recognise patterns that aren't in school assessment checklists. “I saw someone drowning in language while appearing to swim. I think of Rachel, a Year 8 student who would spend three hours on assignments her peers completed in forty minutes. Not because she was slower, but because she hadn't captured all the instructions despite nodding convincingly when asked if she understood. She'd mixed up vocabulary, confusing 'analyse' with 'summarise', fundamentally changing what she thought she needed to do. Her teachers saw a conscientious student who sometimes "didn't follow instructions." I saw someone drowning in language while…

The Ro‌le of Power‌ according to Etymonline, the word power, from Anglo, French, and Latin roots, refers to the ability to ‘act’ or ‘do’, to have ‘strength’ or ‘might’. Similar words include dominion, control, and the right to command. Power shows up everywhere, in politics, law, negotiation, and it matters in education. For learners with neurodivergence, particularly those with ADHD and demand avoidance, a drive for autonomy, or a strong sense of social equity, perceived power imbalances can trigger a fight-or-flight response that interrupts learning, even in small ways. Building a strong connection with a learner means understanding your own power, the learner’s power, and the power around you. When you sense you hold too much power, you can intentionally facilitate the learner’s personal power, helping them feel safe, respected,…

LOOKING BACK We reached out to some of our past contributors to see how things have been going since they last shared their stories with us. They shared what has changed and where things are heading next. A big thank you to Dr Dan Peters, Heather Down, Dan Colquhoun and Sharon Scurr for taking the time to record a short ‘selfie’ update and for continuing to contribute to conversations that matter to the dyslexia and neuro divergent community. After listening to these updates, one thing is clear. Progress doesn’t happen all at once. It happens when people keep showing up, keep learning and keep trying. DR DAN PETERS At the end of 2024, Dan finished his podcast Parent Footprint with Dr Dan. In the new year, he started a new…

DUAL FACTOR READING Dual Factor Reading is Dr Johnston’s original contribution to knowledge and is grounded in the Simple View of Reading (Gough and Tunmer, 1986), which identifies reading comprehension as the product of two essential components: decoding and language comprehension. It emerged from years of classroom teaching. When Olwyn began reading a new novel to her classes, she noticed that the next day, a child, usually a competent reader, would arrive with the book, either purchased or borrowed from the local library. As she read to the class, the student would be following along in their copy. This aligns with Stanovich’s (1986) Matthew Effects, in which the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Dual Factor Reading emerged from Study Two of Dr Johnston’s doctoral thesis, Older Struggling…

segregated & labelled At school, I struggled to read, write, stay organised and sit still. Everything that mattered in a classroom felt just slightly out of reach. I could see it, sense it, but never quite hold onto it. I was a latchkey kid, raised by a single mother who had her own battles. She believed, as many did at the time, that hardship built character. That if I toughened up early, I would be better for it later. I learned instead how alone you can feel in a crowded room, how not to be noticed. School did not respond to the difference with curiosity. It responded with fear and control. Smacks. The cane. Detentions. Writing spelling words out over and over again as punishment. Not supported. Not teaching. Just…

Julia Davies-Duff is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Canberra and a PhD candidate researching universal screening for hidden and late-emerging learning needs at secondary school entry. With over 25 years of teaching experience, including leadership roles in secondary learning support, she specialises in literacy, language-based learning difficulties and evidence-informed inclusive education. In this interview, Flynn and Ava Eldridge speak with Julia about learning differences, early identification, and how schools and universities can better support students whose needs are often missed. Drawing on her academic expertise, specialist intervention work and lived experience as a parent, Julia shares practical insights into building inclusive, supportive education systems. Ava What do you do for the University of Canberra? Julia I am a lecturer in initial teacher education, also known as…