Popular Reviews of Move Beyond Words

What do you know about dyslexia? The neurological condition, often viewed negatively, has given power to some of the world’s most successful creative talents. While it can cause challenges, it is also an ‘abler’, a ‘superpower’, and an opportunity. Unravelling its intricacies are Move Beyond Words podcast hosts Elizabeth Arifien and Charlotte Edmonds, who chat gaily, cry sincerely, and laugh often, as their celebrity guests candidly tell their highs and lows of life with dyslexia. Guest Corey Baker’s dyslexia has propelled his creative work into unexplored regions of dance - from a lockdown bathtub ballet performance to the first dance performed in Antarctica, and now, space. Scott Bryan’s recently diagnosed dyslexia unknowingly shaped his alternative journey to becoming a beloved Guardian journalist; now known for his calamitous attempts at The Great British Bake Off technical challenges. MBW, sponsored by Arts Council England, offers an exciting behind-the-scenes look at navigating creative and non-creative careers with dyslexia. Continuing the conversation are upcoming guests Bolanle Tajudeen, founder of the visual art platform ‘Black Blossoms’, and Pip Jamieson, founder of the creative professional network, ‘The Dots’. Tajudeen marks the podcast's journey into hearing neurotypical perspectives on effectively working with dyslexic colleagues. While MBW seeks to spotlight creatives with dyslexia (See their beautiful graphic designs by Alex Colehan), this podcast is for everyone.MBW is made brilliant by its honesty. Listening to an episode feels like listening in on a chat between friends that is sweary, giggly, and completely sincere. The conversation traverses a beautiful mix of light-hearted gossip (dating and TV faves) and heartbreaking life experiences (isolation, discrimination and facing the ignorance of a world obsessed with punctuation and grammar). The guests and hosts are refreshingly open about what makes them great and where they feel they’ve made mistakes. What do we learn? Listening to MBW, it becomes clear that dyslexia isn’t just about reading and writing. It is about resilience in an unequipped education system, about fantastical creativity that only a neurodiverse mind could muster, about dancing with the strength and weaknesses that makes us all unique. Above all, this podcast teaches you that listening to the stories of others is one of the most ethical, enlightening activities. Its wonderfully upfront anecdotes will make you smile on your morning commute and force you to sit uncomfortably with your own assumptions. ‘Everybody I saw with dyslexia was white’. Episode 3 of MBW sees writer and activist Marcia Brissett-Bailey delve into the intersectionality of being a black woman with dyslexia and the unique treatment of neurodiversity through a Jamaican/British lens. She courageously unpacks the trauma of her primary school experience, from the dreaded ‘red pen’ and reading aloud, to her own selective mutism and being told she would never achieve. Her unique cultural perspective joins a mosaic of experience built by the podcast which eradicates the cookie-cutter understanding of dyslexia. It teaches us that dyslexia affects everyone differently and that while you can be wildly successful as a dyslexic, you don’t have to be Richard Branson or Steven Spielberg, you can also just be a ‘great human’.Move Beyond Words demonstrates that in a world where Former Principal of The Royal Ballet Darcey Bussell was labelled a ‘lazy kid’, and where The Royal Ballet Head of Press Ashley Woodfield was dismissed as ‘just slow’, we must all work to dismantle the concept of disability itself - as Brissett-Bailey explains, ‘I don’t say I’ve got a disability, I think society makes me disabled’. The podcast offers a space for community, a liberating opportunity for guests to be among other neurodivergents, and a highly useful set of tools and tips for a flourishing career with dyslexia. For neurotypicals, it is a piece of essential learning, especially for employers who must adapt their environments and reconsider how they quantify employability. Edmonds and Arifien offer all this wrapped up in a podcast that is, above all, fun, accessible, and heart-warming.