Presenter profile

Presenter Profile - Ginny Stacey

Ginny Stacey is dyslexic, though she didn't know that before completing her doctorate in physics at Oxford University.   Ginny was accepted to study physics at Somerville College, Oxford on the strength of her maths, but to this day she cannot do mental arithmetic and has to take extreme care when using pencil and paper.  She also has no internal sense of time.

Ginny’s dyslexia first caused difficulties when she wanted to play the classical guitar in adult life. There are no spellcheckers or proof-readers for playing music: you must play the right note at the right time. She had to find out how her dyslexic mind could learn music. That led to being curious about the way other dyslexic people use their minds and a career in supporting students at both Oxford's universities.

Ginny says: “I knew I wouldn't believe what I was saying about being dyslexic if I couldn't see it from the inside, so I devised activities that generate dyslexic effects in non-dyslexic people's minds. Once people can see for themselves what the effects are, most are willing to put adjustments in place to enable dyslexic people to use their full potential.”

Ginny ran workshops which included these activities and which showed how support could enable dyslexic students to gain agency and confidence, and produce work that matched their full potential.  These workshops were instrumental in helping key officials at Oxford Brookes University to understand the support system that Ginny developed from scratch over 13 years as Support Tutor for Dyslexic Students at the university.

Over 30 years, Ginny has been privileged to gain insights from the many people she ahs worked with.  The breadth and depth of the insights contribute to the materials on this website and related social-media platforms.