John Dunn

Study Skills Tutor (SpLD)

Pronouns: he/him

John has a background in English and American Literature, studying that subject at UEA,  Goldsmiths and Queen Mary University. Halfway through his PhD, after many failed attempts to write down his thesis, he realized he had Dyslexia. Simultaneously, he understood that there was a lot of misconception about what that word meant. In 2018, he started an advocacy group for students and researchers who identified as Neurodivergent in his department, during a time when it was generally assumed that if you were doing a PhD, you couldn’t possibly have an SpLD.

After successfully defending his thesis in 2019, with support from his DSA-funded tutor, John then went on to work at a performing arts HEI as a Learning Support Coordinator, helping to build from the ground up a student support department that recognized learning diversity, the connections between SpLDs and creativity and good mental health. He is now a study skills support tutor and English as a second language educator. He also publishes academic work on Disability Studies and poetry (forthcoming in the Journal of American Studies). He lives in Santiago, Chile with his cat Scout, where he practices cycling, creative writing, photography and his Spanish.