How I was able to change my son’s path forever.
My name is Davina Noakes, and I’m a mother.
I’m also a writer, one of the co-founders of Bookbot and, well, a little bit of a geek. Hey, give me a break! Nobody’s perfect.
In fact, that’s kind of the point of all this. Nobody, despite how rife with potential, love or talent they are, is perfect.
But that’s okay. Imperfection shouldn’t stand in anybody’s way.
Now, I might be biased because I’m his mother, but my son Forester happens to be one of my favourite people on Earth. I think he has a big bright future ahead of him, and I can’t wait to see what he does with his life.
But even I can admit that, although he’s perfect to me, he faces challenges that others will never have to.
To be more specific, Forester has dyslexia. It’s a disorder (or series of disorders) that affect his ability to read.
For a long time, I tried reading with him and helping him myself. What parent doesn’t want to step in, save the day and be their child’s hero? As a self-confessed geek and lover of books, I relished the opportunity to bond with my son and show him the wonders of reading.
But life isn’t always that simple. Eventually, I admitted that I needed a little help myself if we were going to work through this thing together.
But this dorky mother needed a little help of her own. If I was going to be there for Forester like I wanted to be, I needed to know what reading was like for him. I needed to see the world through his eyes.
I immersed myself in learning all about reading difficulties. I did courses, spoke with teachers, tutors and parents, and got my elbows in the mud trying to understand all the ins and outs of what Forester’s experience was like.
After hours, days, weeks of digging, I had a bit of a breakthrough. Now, I understand how he learns and what he struggles with much better. It’s become a lot easier to help him with his school work and communicate with his teacher.
But I still want to do more for Forester. I still want to don my hero-mom cape and save the day.
Forester’s father Adrian is an app designer. After learning about Forester’s struggles together, he began to develop an app for people with dyslexia. This app would give people the chance to work through their dyslexia on their own time, at their own pace and on their own terms.
It’s called Bookbot, and it doesn’t tire. It doesn’t judge. It doesn’t get impatient. Bookbot exists for the children who need a little extra practice but don’t want to feel like a burden. It exists for the children who feel a bit shy and want to practice alone.
The Bookbot app is about embracing everybody’s imperfections, whether it be dyslexia, shyness, insecurity or just an odd sleeping schedule. It’s about recognizing that imperfection is what makes us human. It’s what makes us beautiful, and it’s okay to embrace it.
We’re thrilled to have you on board, and I promise… this is only the beginning.
Yours truly,
Davina
