girl scouts of the colonial coastOctober is National Dyslexia Awareness month and we want to make you aware of a great new patch program designed by GSCCC! You may have noticed the Dyslexia and GICHY the Bear events being offered - check them out on our Events page on our website. The program is part of recently promoted Girl Scout Cadette Nauri's Bronze Award project from last year.
The patch program draws from the organization Lex Talk which was founded by Aarian Daniels, mom of Nauri, who was diagnosed at age eight with dyslexia. While searching for a support group, Aarian realized there was not a platform that provided both resources and a safe space for parents to connect, so she created one.
“When my family received the news that my daughter had dyslexia, we quickly mobilized to find resources to support her,” Aarian said. “Through that journey, I realized that there are many parents who may not have access to support or know where to start to get help for their child. Lex Talk is a way to normalize conversation around this learning disability and connect families in Hampton Roads.”
When Aarian started purchasing her daughter's troop attire, she noticed there weren’t any items related to dyslexia advocacy, so Nauri was inspired to design a patch of her own and mom strongly supported her.
“Girl Scouts patches are a fun way to explore your interests and have fun,” Aarian said. “Nauri selected a bear for her patch, an item she likes and assumes most girls do as well. A teddy bear is also usually used as a comfort companion, so we named the bear ‘GICHY’ which is an acronym for ‘Glad I Could Help You." The name is significant since that is what Nauri wants to do, help other children who have dyslexia.”
Nauri is part of Troop 65 and earned her Bronze Award - we can't wait to see what she achieves in the future!
Please visit the International Dyslexia Association for more information. Use #DyslexiaAwarenessMonth to post on social media to bring awareness. You can also follow Lex Talk on Facebook @LexTalkDyslexia for updates.
