An estimated one in ten people in the UK is dyslexic, according to the British Dyslexia Association — including more than one million schoolchildren, roughly three in every classroom. Yet many children and adults live with the condition without a diagnosis, without support, and without wider recognition of how much the way information is presented shapes their opportunities. A new exhibition at the University of Brighton sets out to change that conversation.
Making as Enquiry: Dyslexia, Functional Illiteracy, and Alternative Ways of Knowing is the work of Chris Hamer, a master’s student on the Sustainable Design MA at the University of Brighton. Drawing on his own lived experience of dyslexia, Hamer uses craft, objects, and material making to explore how reading, writing, and processing differences affect educational opportunity, confidence, perceptions of ability, and participation in society. The exhibition is free and open to the public from 4–11 September in the 1st Floor Gallery of the university’s Edward Street building.
If you live in or near Brighton, plan a visit to the exhibition — it offers a rare, first-hand look at how design practice can communicate experiences that traditional written formats often fail to capture.
Why Dyslexia Remains One of the UK’s Most Misunderstood Conditions
Dyslexia is primarily associated with difficulties in building reading and spelling skills, but its impact frequently extends further, affecting processing speed, working memory, and reading comprehension. For the millions of dyslexic people across the UK, these differences can influence almost every stage of life — from learning to read in primary school to completing job applications, following written instructions at work, or helping children with homework.
Hamer, who was diagnosed at the age of eight in the 1990s, describes a lifelong struggle with literacy that was often compounded by shame rooted in misconceptions about his ability. His experience reflects a broader pattern: dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence, yet dyslexic people are routinely judged on their fluency with text rather than their ideas, skills, or potential.
At the same time, a significant number of people with dyslexia remain undiagnosed. Without recognition, they receive no adjustments and often internalise the belief that their difficulties are personal failings. The exhibition challenges this framing directly, asking a fundamental question: whose ways of knowing are recognised and valued, and whose are excluded?
Inside the Exhibition: Craft and Making as Alternative Ways of Knowing
Rather than relying on text-heavy interpretation panels, the exhibition communicates through objects. Handmade wooden DIY tools, sculptural metal flowers displayed in a glass vase, and other crafted artefacts demonstrate Hamer’s practice-led research approach, in which knowledge emerges through objects, processes, and material engagement rather than written argument alone.
This method is deliberate. Hamer explains that experiences which are difficult to communicate through text can instead be expressed through making. Craft, by its nature, is slow and reflective; working with materials — including their unpredictability and resistance — allows complex social issues to be transformed into tangible forms that invite conversation. The artefacts become a form of communication in their own right, holding experiences that traditional academic and professional frameworks often overlook.
For visitors, this creates an important shift in perspective. Instead of reading about dyslexia, they encounter knowledge produced through a different mode of thinking — one that demonstrates, rather than merely asserts, that literacy is not the only valid route to understanding.
The Hidden Barriers: How Systems Create Disadvantage
One of the exhibition’s central arguments is that literacy difficulties should not be understood simply as individual deficits. Educational, professional, and institutional systems can create or reinforce barriers for people with dyslexia and functional illiteracy — from assessment methods that privilege extended writing, to workplace cultures that equate fast reading with competence.
The legal framework offers some protection. Dyslexia is recognised as a disability under the Equality Act 2010 where it has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on day-to-day activities, and education providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments. In practice, these can include alternative ways of recording information, assistive technology, additional time in exams, and changes to how information is presented.
But Hamer’s project asks audiences to look beyond individual adjustments and consider the deeper assumptions built into systems of education and work. If a system only functions when a person reads, writes, and processes information in one particular way, the problem lies with the design of the system — not with the person. This reframing has significant implications for how schools, universities, employers, and public services approach inclusion.
Dyslexia, Masculinity, and the Risk of Social Exclusion
The exhibition also examines how dyslexia and functional illiteracy intersect with negative outcomes that disproportionately affect men, including educational disengagement, social exclusion, and limited opportunities. Pressures around identity and masculinity can make it harder for men to ask for help or disclose difficulties, compounding the risk of leaving education early or drifting away from formal support.
By bringing these connections into the open, the exhibition contributes to a wider conversation about how literacy, gender, and social mobility interact — a topic that rarely receives sustained attention in mainstream discussions of dyslexia in the UK.
Collected Futures: Design Research for a More Inclusive Society
Making as Enquiry forms part of Collected Futures, the 2026 Sustainable Design MA show at the University of Brighton, which brings together work by graduating postgraduate design researchers exploring contemporary social and environmental challenges. Dr Sally Sutherland, Course Leader for the Sustainable Design MA, describes the show as demonstrating how emerging design researchers are questioning some of the pressing and complex challenges facing society while imagining more sustainable futures.
The project also reflects the university’s broader commitment to equity and inclusive learning. More than a third of University of Brighton students declare a disability or mental health condition, and inclusive teaching is embedded across the institution alongside specialist support for students who need it. For prospective students who are dyslexic, this matters: the difference between a university that treats adjustments as an afterthought and one that builds inclusion into its everyday practice can shape an entire degree experience.
Explore the Sustainable Design MA at the University of Brighton to see how practice-led research is being used to address real social challenges — and to find out how design can serve as a tool for change as well as a career path.
Practical Support for Dyslexic People in the UK
Alongside the exhibition’s systemic critique, there are concrete steps dyslexic people, families, and employers can take:
- Seek an assessment. A formal diagnostic assessment can open access to support in education and at work, including Disabled Students’ Allowances in higher education.
- Know your rights. Under the Equality Act 2010, education providers and employers must make reasonable adjustments where dyslexia has a substantial, long-term impact.
- Use assistive technology. Text-to-speech software, spell-checkers, dictation tools, and note-taking apps can significantly reduce day-to-day barriers.
- Ask for information in different formats. Audio, visual, and hands-on explanations are legitimate alternatives to written text — in classrooms, training sessions, and workplaces alike.
- Connect with specialist organisations. The British Dyslexia Association provides advice, screening information, and campaigning resources for individuals, schools, and employers.
Have questions about dyslexia support in education or employment? Write to us or reach out to a specialist organisation — early conversations often make the biggest difference.
Exhibition Details: Visiting Making as Enquiry
- Title: Making as Enquiry: Dyslexia, Functional Illiteracy, and Alternative Ways of Knowing
- Location: 1st Floor Gallery, Edward Street building, University of Brighton, BN2 0JG
- Dates: 4–11 September
- Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 10am–5pm
- Private view: Friday 4 September, 5–8pm
- Admission: Free
The exhibition is open to everyone — educators, employers, families, designers, and anyone with an interest in how society values different ways of knowing. Share the event details with schools, community groups, or workplaces in your network who would benefit from attending.
Rethinking Literacy, Ability, and Value
What makes this exhibition significant is not only what it displays, but the question it leaves visitors with: if knowledge can emerge through materials, processes, and making, why do our education systems and workplaces continue to measure ability almost exclusively through reading and writing? With one in ten people in the UK affected, the answer has consequences for millions of learners and workers.
Chris Hamer’s work shows that design research can make hidden barriers visible and tangible — and that lived experience, expressed through craft, belongs in academic and professional conversations about inclusion. For anyone who has struggled with literacy, or who teaches, manages, or parents someone who has, the exhibition offers both recognition and a practical starting point for change.
Have you experienced the barriers this exhibition explores, or found approaches that made a difference? Share your experiences in the comments below — your perspective could help others navigating the same challenges.
