The Compromise!
‘The Sword of Davalon’ by Tom
Jolleys is the first book published
by The Kids (Keeping Informed of
Dyslexia Services) Press.The layout
of this book has been specially
designed to make it Dyslexia
Friendly. However, this does NOT
mean that every dyslexic child or
adult will be able to read it with
ease. The book comes from a
manuscript that was written over
twenty years ago. We have adapted it
and made it ‘easier’ to read.
The book is actually for all
children in roughly the age range of
8 to 12. In fact the layout should
make The Sword of Davalon easier to
read for all children including
those with poor eyesight, and we
hope to improve the layout in future
editions as we receive more
feedback. Very simply, what we have
tried to do is make the printed word
just easier to see and therefore
read.
This layout may not be beneficial
for everyone, but in the main, the
print in this book should be easier
to read than many other books of a
similar length. We will also do the
same with the sequel, ‘The Trek of
the Rainbow warriors’, so any
comments will be most welcome.
We could have gone even further in
making this book Dyslexia Friendly,
but then we would be drastically
altering the appearance of the
printed page, and we feel that this
would be wrong for this particular
book. There is a certain stigma
surrounding dyslexia, so we are
trying to keep this book like most
other books, and a book that many
dyslexic children will feel
comfortable with, especially for
example when taking a novel into
school. We are trying to achieve a
compromise. So this is what
we have done:
1: An Arial font which is a sans
serif font. It is generally
recognised that a sans serif font
i.e. a font without the little
platforms, is easier to read for
dyslexics. This sentence is in Times
New Roman – a serif font. If you
look closely then you will notice
the ‘platforms’. Back to Arial. It
would be a great help to us at The
Kids Press if you would write to
us/email us regarding your favourite
font for reading or your child’s
favourite font. Research is ongoing
with dyslexia, and we want to get it
right. Some children with dyslexia
may indeed prefer a serif font – if
so then please let us know. Most
children’s books are printed in a
serif font although sans serif is
becoming more popular.
2: A 12-point font size. This is
larger than most books of this
length. We think this will be
beneficial for anyone with dyslexia
and definitely better for many
children with poor eyesight. The
larger font means less words on the
page and should make words easier to
see and therefore read. Please
contact us if you have any
preference for size of font. Most
similar books use a font size of 11
or 11.5.
3: An 18-point leading
(line-spacing, although future
editions and other books in the
series may have a 17-point leading).
This is the distance between lines.
We use a very large line spacing
which should make reading easier for
everyone, but especially dyslexic
children. This is because it creates
more space around each word.
This is double line spacing.
Publishers tend to prefer author’s
manuscripts with this spacing. It
should make each line easier to
read.In the next few lines the font
is smaller and the line spacing has
been reduced. The print should be a
lot more difficult to read because
the words tend to merge into each
other. In a way, this is just one of
the problems faced by children with
dyslexia.
This is a script type of font – I
find it very difficult to read, but
I do have very poor eyesight. Most
dyslexic children would struggle
with this type of font.Back to
Arial. We hope that with our size of
font and line spacing, the lines do
not ‘merge’ into each other as they
well might do for dyslexics. Not
only that, but a larger line spacing
makes it easier for the eye to go
from the end of one line to the
beginning of the next
line which can be a problem with
dyslexia. Some dyslexic sites will
recommend a ragged or unjustified
right-hand margin – absolutely
nothing wrong with that at all, and
we recommend that you seriously look
at Dyslexia Action and The British
Dyslexia Association websites for
advice because we believe that they
are the experts in the field of
dyslexia. However in this particular
case, we think that this would
dramatically
alter the appearance of the page,
and we think that a larger line
spacing solves this problem whilst
retaining the appearance of nearly
all other books. We are trying to
achieve a degree of balance.
4: We use a cream paper which is
generally recognised to be
beneficial for children with
dyslexia. Apparently a bright white
paper can be too bright. Again
please contact us if you agree or
disagree. Other colours can also be
beneficial but again we are trying
to make our books appear just like
any other book.
We have looked at various papers
– different colours, thickness and
weight, and again we have struck a
balance using a Munken Cream 80 gsm
paper with a high volume. A heavier
paper could be even better because
the aim is to stop any print coming
‘through’ the paper, but then using
a heavier paper means more expensive
paper and this results in increased
postage charges.
5: No underlinings. Originally there
were many underlinings in The Sword
Of Davalon, but these have been
removed because underlinings can
cause confusion. They can get in the
way of the words, but we would like
your comments.
6: No italics. Italics can be used
to great effect on the printed page,
but they can be difficult to read,
just as handwriting can be
difficultto read, so none are used
in The Sword Of Davalon.
7: Few all upper case words. Some
are used in The Sword Of Davalon,
mainly for emphasis. They can also
be very effective for headings,
however we have tried to limit their
use.
8: More commas to split up longer
sentences. When The Sword Of Davalon
was first written, approximately
1984/5, it was written in the manner
of nearly all other books and was
not specifically written for
children with dyslexia. That is why
the book is for all children.
However, with dyslexics in mind, I
have added more commas to split up
certain sentences. Dyslexic children
prefer shorter sentences so I am
hoping that by
splitting up the sentences further
with more commas then hopefully I am
making it more Dyslexia Friendly.
9: We have replaced semi-colons with
hyphens. This is another way of
splitting up longer sentences, and
the hyphen gives a much more visual
division than a semi-colon.
So as you can see, by relatively
simple measures we have attempted to
make our books Dyslexia Friendly.
Dyslexia – good or bad!
Just a few words to say about the
stigma that surrounds dyslexia. Some
parents view dyslexia as a handicap
whereas some view dyslexia as a
‘gift’. I suppose it depends on your
outlook on life. At The Kids Press
we try to give a positive outlook.
But whatever you think there is
little doubt that seeking out
professional help is the best step
forward, especially if you can have
a private tutor and especially one
to one. If not provided by local
authority funding then it can be
expensive at £20 and upwards per
hour, although you may be able to
get half-hour lessons.
My wife, Rowena, is a dyslexia
consultant who teaches part-time
mainly on a one to one basis with
her pupils, and she has achieved
some extremely encouraging results.
Her pupils have shown great progress
at school. Some people may say that
they have a quick fix cure to
dyslexia – and fair enough, everyone
has their own view, but we think
that conquering dyslexia is a
long-term job with a lot of hard
work. What we have tried to do as
said before is produce children’s
books that are for all children but
are designed to be Dyslexia
Friendly.
There is one main point about these
books and that is that the actual
writing of the story has not been
altered to make them ‘easy’ to read
– but the layout should make them
‘easier’ to read. Some dyslexic
sites will say that to make a book
Dyslexia Friendly the content, the
words, should be simple,
and the sentences short, – quite
correct. However we give you the
choice – a book that looks like a
book – a book that has a great story
(this is so important in any type of
novel), and a book that we are proud
to say is Dyslexia Friendly!
Does
Your
School or local
Library
Ensure that
DYSLEXIA
Information is
Available?
What does your library and dyslexia
have in common? They both have a lot
to do with reading. So if your
library does not have information
about
dyslexia or dyslexia friendly books
such as this one, then tell the
librarian or a teacher or the
head!Please remember that children
with dyslexia may
still struggle to read this book.
Dyslexia friendly means that the
layout should make it ‘easier’ to
read. It is always advisable to seek
out specialist
help.
So The Sword of Davalon may indeed
be too difficult for yourself or
your child to read, but there is
nothing wrong with reading the book
with your child,and the main point
about our books is that if we can do
it then other publishers can produce
Dyslexia Friendly Books. Hopefully
it will be just the start of a great
change in book publishing! |
