It started with a twinge. In 2006 I was a new freelancer who jumped at every job offered me. Sometimes that meant working 50 hours a week, but I’d happily do it because I knew that next week, there might be no work at all. I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to write; the very idea of turning work down seemed ridiculous.
When someone you love celebrates a significant birthday, do you send flowers – or pay for them to experience something unforgettable? The idea of giving “experiences” as gifts went mainstream with Red Letter Days in the early 1990s, but until now there’s been a huge gap in the market.
If you have a disability, it’s not easy finding an activity provider that meets your needs. It’s not impossible, but the extra work involved - contacting operators, explaining your disability and asking questions – is offputting.
Alexa Raisbeck remembers shop assistants laughing at her because she couldn’t work out the correct change. It took her five years of searching to find out that her problems had a name: dyscalculia. Now she’s a successful artist.
Her current exhibition, Hidden, runs for three days next week in London and explores what it’s like to have an undetected non-verbal learning disability (NvLD).
You probably didn’t realise it, but today is International Dyscalculia Day. You may not be sure what dyscalculia is; well, that’s the whole point of having a day about it. Dyscalculia Day is a grassroots effort organised by ordinary dyscalculia sufferers to raise awareness of this learning disability.
“Everyone’s kicked a football at some point in their lives,” Nicky Malson says. “It’s something everyone can relate to.” It’s also something a lot of people take for granted, just like a trip to the swimming pool in summer or a jog in the park or a kickabout with friends.