Illustrations from Step 1 book My Dog Nick

About Corinna

Corinna Shepherd has worked with children and adults, who struggle with dyslexia, for a number of years. She has set up three Chilterns IDL (Indirect Dyslexia Learning) Centres in Bucks, where she offers assessments and remedial help with reading and spelling.

Corinna is also a national speaker, speaking at different events to raise awareness of dyslexia, its potential and how it impacts people, young and old.

"My interest in dyslexia and my passion to help those who struggle with it started around five years ago. At the time, my son was struggling with literacy and became disengaged in learning. At the same time, I was on a course for work about dyslexia and other learning difficulties. This caused me to realise he might be dyslexic, I had him assessed by an educational psychologist, who confirmed that he was indeed mildly dyslexic. In response the school did not offer much support and advice as they felt he was performing adequately, but I knew he was not reaching his potential. My interest in this subject and the fact that dyslexia is often not picked up or addressed satisfactorily led me to establish The Chilterns IDL (Dyslexia) Centre in January 2007, and two further centres over the next few years.

I was prompted to set up Dancing Kites Creative Learning and to write these books because it became obvious to me that, while many books exist relating to the problem of dyslexia, very few have been written that are doing anything to address the actual problem, particularly for young children.

These observations came from having spent several years working with children who struggle with dyslexia and other learning difficulties at my IDL Centres and from having consulted with a number of professional colleagues and parents of dyslexic children across the UK.

Unanimously, these people shared my frustration that such vital resources did not exist. I decided it was up to me to do something about it. So Dancing Kites Creative Learning was born!”