Our two newly appointed Vice-Chairs
Tuesday 11 October 2022
The BDA are delighted to announce new positions for two trustees. Both Arran Smith and Dr. Helen Ross will share the position of Vice Chair for the BDA. Over the years they have made outstanding contributions to the organisation and in this shared position they will continue to support the Chair and other Board Members with the delivery and growth of the BDA’s work, so that we can continue to be the ever-important voice of dyslexic people.
Dr. Helen Ross
Dr. Helen Ross is a fully qualified special needs teacher and former SENCO, working as an independent educational research consultant, specialist assessor and SEND expert.
Helen is a trustee of the British Dyslexia Association and is Chair of the Wiltshire Dyslexia Association. She has consulted for the British Dyslexia Association, The Committee for Science and Technology, and Wiltshire Local Authority. She also works internationally with various third sector and commercial organisations with evaluation, consultancy and resource development.
Helen’s research explores stakeholder experiences of SEND provision within the mainstream education sector, focussing on the empowerment of those supporting young people, to help them to take ownership of their own learning. Her research uses methods grounded within Bourdieu’s sociological project to explore barriers to participation in learning and engagement with institutions.
Helen tweets as @drhelenross and regularly speaks on dyslexia and special educational needs.
Arran Smith
Arran Smith is a severely dyslexic adult that has worked in the field of dyslexia for over 25 years. Arran was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 9.
His parents supported his dyslexia by taking him to the Leicestershire Dyslexia Association after-school workshop. Through this Arran gained confidence and could see that his dyslexia was one of his strengths.
Arran's working career has led him into many areas such as youth work, retail, the not-for-profit sector and more recently as an entrepreneur setting up several businesses that support the areas of special educational needs and dyslexia. He is also the founder of the Dyslexia Show.
Arran has been involved in the British Dyslexia Association for many years. Back in 2009 Arran received his young achievers award for the work he was doing at the Leicester Association. From 2011 to 2016 Arran was the membership development officer for the BDA and Arran joined the BDA trustee board in 2021.
Arran is passionate about supporting dyslexic people and has a great amount of empathy and history for the work of the British Dyslexia Association